Free After Dark by Beverly Barton Page A

ago.”
    â€œI don’t see how it can be Johnny Mack. Not after the beating we gave him.” Sweat dotted Buddy’s forehead and upper lip. “My guess is that what’s left of him is at the bottom of the Chickasaw River.”
    â€œThen, if this man isn’t who he says he is, find out who he is and what he wants. And get rid of him!”
    Â 
    â€œEavesdropping, Ms. Cummings?” James Ware asked as he came up behind his stepdaughter’s private duty nurse.
    Jackie gasped and jumped, then turned to face her accuser. “Mercy, Mr. Ware, you scared the bejesus out of me!”
    â€œWhat’s going on in Mary Martha’s room?”
    â€œOh, Miss Edith and Buddy Lawler are visiting with her.” Jackie gave James a provocative, come-hither smile. “I’ve just come upstairs after taking a smoke on the back porch. I wasn’t eavesdropping. I was waiting. Didn’t want to disturb their visit.”
    â€œHmm…I see.”
    James would bet his bankroll that Jackie would be more than willing to scratch any itch he had. She had had that kind of reputation as far back as he could remember. But he wasn’t interested in her. The only woman for him was Arlene. He had loved her since they were teenagers, but had been a gutless coward back then. He’d allowed his family to keep them apart. However, after all these years, finally, if his plans worked out, they would have the rest of their lives together. With Edith consumed by Kent’s murder, now was the perfect time to tie up all the loose ends.
    â€œYou’re in kinda late, aren’t you, Mr. Ware? Business in town?”
    James searched Jackie’s eyes for any hint that she knew about his affair with Arlene, but her expression revealed nothing.
    â€œA mayor’s work is never done,” he replied, hoping he had infused his words with just the right amount of humor.
    â€œIs that so? Would you believe my beautician says the same thing—that her work is never done? You know my beautician, Arlene Dothan, don’t you?”
    Jackie’s tittering laughter sliced like a razor blade along James’s nerve endings.
    â€œYes, of course I know Ms. Dothan.”
    â€œI thought you did.” Jackie snuggled up to James’s side. “I’ll make you a deal, Mayor —you don’t mention anything about my eavesdropping to Miss Edith, and I won’t mention anything to her about how well you know my beautician.”

Chapter 7
    L ight from a full moon bathed the old boathouse with a soft, creamy wash and danced across the river in shimmering ripples. A fresh coat of white paint on the aged wood and new hinges on the side door told Johnny Mack that Lane had kept the structure in tiptop shape. He wondered if William Noble’s boat still resided inside or if it had been sold years ago. Since leaving Noble’s Crossing, he had often thought about this place, about the times he and Lane had met here. She had been so young. So naive. So innocent. God, how he had wanted her. And he could have had her. She would have given herself to him without reservations.
    Johnny Mack tried the door. Locked. In the old days, Lane had always left the door unlocked for him. This had been their place, a sanctuary from the real world. Here, he hadn’t been a trailer trash bastard, and she hadn’t been the princess of Noble’s Crossing.
    Lane sure had been in a hurry to get rid of him tonight. He’d seen the fear in her eyes. Had she been afraid that he would ask to be introduced to her son? Surely she knew that he’d never do anything to hurt her or the boy. Even if Will turned out to be Kent’s son, he would never hurt him. Because he was Lane’s child, too.
    Johnny Mack strolled by the river’s edge, the ground soft beneath his feet, the heels of his boots branding the damp soil. Ancient willow trees dripped their long, feathery branches into the thick green grass,