Free A Man Like Morgan Kane by Beverly Barton

can't change what happened," Morgan told her. "All you can do for Lisa is find Jimmy Farraday's murderer."
    "How will finding Jimmy's murderer help…" SuddenlyBethanyunderstood what Morgan was implying.
    "You think whoever killed Jimmy sent me that bomb, don't you?"
    "It could have been a crazed fan," he said. "But my money is on the real killer."
    "But why would the…"Bethanygasped. "Whoever killed Jimmy knows that I'm innocent, of course. And they probably know that I'm not going to go down without a fight, that I and my family and friends will Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    continue to demand more investigations. And even if I'm convicted, Claudia and Mother and Seth won't give up trying to find proof that I'm innocent."
    "With you out of the way, permanently, there's a good chance the case would be closed, and whoever killed Jimmy Farraday would get off scot-free."
    After leaving the hospital, they stopped at a fast-food restaurant for hamburgers and fries, then went directly home. The mantel clock in the living room struck eleven times just as Morgan tookBethany's keys and unlocked the front door. As if on cue, Anne Marie yawned.
    "You'd better go straight to bed, young lady,"Bethanysaid. "You have school registration tomorrow."
    "See y'all in the morning." Anne Marie kissed her mother's cheek, then turned to Morgan and smiled.
    "I'm so glad you're here to take care of Mama. She takes care of everyone else. Me. Grandmother.
    Nana. All her employees. Even Seth, when he goes on a bender. But there hasn't been anyone to take care of her. Not until now."
    Bethanystood in the foyer, frozen to the spot, not wanting to face Morgan and her own uncertain emotions. She couldn't allow any of those old romantic feelings toward Morgan to get in the way of doing what was best for Anne Marie. If she went to trial and was convicted of murder, she'd tell Morgan that he was Anne Marie's father. But what if she was acquitted? Did she have the right to keep father and daughter apart? Did she dare tell them both the truth and risk losing her daughter's love and respect?
    "Hey, Morgan," Anne Marie called to him from the top of the stairs. "Tomorrow evening we'll grill steaks and go for a swim. OK?"
    "You have a date," he told her, then when she disappeared around the hallway corner, he turned to Bethany. Putting her hand over her mouth to cover a yawn, she closed her drooping eyelids. "Why don't you go on up, too? You look beat."
    "I am beat," she said. "But I thought we needed to talk, to discuss the details of your job and put the wheels of our investigation in motion."
    "Everything can wait until tomorrow." He fought the urge to lift her into his arms and carry her upstairs.
    She looked so fragile standing there in the dim foyer light, her slender shoulders sagging, her eyelids fluttering as she fought her sleepiness. "Go on to bed. I'll check the door and turn your security system back on."
    "Aren't you coming up now?"
    "Not for a while. I'm a night owl."
    "I get up at six every morning, so if you intend to accompany me to work, you might not want to stay up too late."
    "I don't need much sleep," he said.
    "Oh, I see. Part of your military training, I suppose. Claudia told me that you were a navy SEAL."
    "What else did my mother tell you about me?" he asked.
    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    "Not much. But then Claudia didn't know much about your life after you leftBirmingham. You never wrote or called your parents." He'd never written or called her, either. He'd left her behind, not caring enough to ever contact her again. She'd been barely twenty, pregnant and not strong enough to stand up against her mother and the Kanes.
    "I thought that they were better off without me, and I knew I was a hell of a lot better off without them."
    But not without you, Beth. I came back for you. But I came back too late. Morgan took a tentative step toward