Diana sat frozen, holding the phone to her ear, for at least two minutes. Glen. He was coming. Or he was already here. What was he going to do? What could he do when the house was locked tight and a police surveillance car sat at the base of the long driveway leading to the house? Still, the police must know she’d just gotten a call from Glen.
Over the sound of the music, she heard with relief the roar of Simon’s Porsche. He had said he would call from the hospital, but maybe he’d decided to come home and tell everyone in person that Penny was dead. Diana gently scooted Willow’s head off her lap without disturbing her sleep, turned off the music, laid the cell phone on a table, and hurried to the front door.
She looked out one of the sidelight windows flanking the front door to see Blake Wentworth stepping out of the Porsche he’d parked in front of the house. For once he looked drained and slightly disheveled, not quite dashing but still tiredly handsome. Diana opened the door. “I didn’t expect you,” she almost cried.
Blake stopped in his tracks and stared at her. “Diana, are you all right?”
“Glen just called.”
“Glen Austen. The man we’re sure killed Penny and Nan and tried to kill Willow and me last night. You don’t know about last night—we didn’t want Jeffrey to know—but the police know all about it. They haven’t been able to find him, but he’s around here. At least I think he is. I don’t know what he’s going to do. I have to call the police—”
Blake held up his hand. “You have to get your breath before you faint. There’s a police car at the foot of the driveway. I’ll go back down and tell them. If you call nine-one-one, you’ll have to go through a complete explanation of the problem.” He started backing toward the Porsche. “Close the door and lock it while I go down and tell them. I’ll be right back, Diana. Right back, I promise.”
Diana closed the door and locked it just as Blake had ordered. He slid into the Porsche, made a sharp U-turn in the driveway, and headed back for the main road. When she went to the front bay window, Diana could see the Porsche stopped beside the patrol car. Blake stood beside the car, talking, gesturing, once leaning down, probably resting his elbows on the edge of the door while the police called in the report of Glen’s call. After what seemed like an hour, Blake returned to the house. Diana unlocked the door and motioned for him to come in.
“Okay, mission accomplished. Those guys were told to stay here, but they reported the call. I think some backup will be here soon if we’re lucky. And I’m glad I got here when I did. You must have been scared out of your mind.”
“Yes. He didn’t make any threats, but—”
“But anyone would have been frightened. Lenore would have probably screamed her way right down to that patrol car. She scares more easily than you.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Diana said without really thinking about Lenore. “My God, I didn’t even ask. Penny?”
Blake nodded sadly. “Penny died about half an hour ago.”
“But Simon said he would call.”
“Simon is in the middle of a most unseemly fight at the hospital over who gets control of Penny’s body.” Diana’s eyes widened. “I know. It’s awful but it’s happening nevertheless. May I come in and sit down before I fall down?”
“Oh, of course,” Diana said, ushering him into the living room instead of the library.
“I’ve never been in this room,” Blake commented.
“We seldom use it. My great-grandmother called it the drawing room and it’s always struck me as unbearably cold and formal. Maybe Simon will let me redecorate it some day. Anyway, Willow is asleep in the library. I’d rather talk with you before I wake her.”
“I understand. And before you offer me anything to drink, I will decline. My stomach is on fire from the awful coffee offered by the hospital vending machine.” He drew a deep breath. “We’ve been at the hospital for hours. I don’t think Jeff said one word until the doctor told him Penny was drawing her last breaths. He went into the burn unit and stood by her bedside. Lenore couldn’t bear it, I just didn’t want to see Penny that way again, and your uncle and that guy named Tyler Raines stayed with Lenore and me.” He looked at her. “I told you Jeff didn’t say anything all afternoon, but I was mistaken. When Raines walked in with your uncle, I asked Jeff who he was. He said, ‘Tyler Raines. He’s Penny’s foster brother.’ Did you know she had a foster brother?” Diana nodded. “Have you ever met him?”
“I met him the night of the explosion. He just showed up out of nowhere, carried Clarice out of her house that was beginning to burn, went back and helped the firefighters at Penny’s house, and then later found Willow in the woods. I didn’t know who he was then—only his name. It wasn’t until last night I found out he was Penny’s foster brother.”
“And what’s he doing here?”
“I guess he’s been coming every now and then since Penny moved here. And he’d come this time to help her move away.”
“Why was she moving away?”
“She thought someone had found out her true identity. That’s all I know, Blake. Please tell me what happened at the hospital.”
“Yes, well, when the doctor pronounced Penny dead, Jeffrey acted like he did the day she woke up, only worse. He roared past us like an enraged bull. He’s big, you know, and it was frightening. Lenore just stood frozen for a minute, then went after him. As soon as she left, the doctor asked where the body was to be sent. Jeff was gone, so was Lenore, so Raines stepped forward and said he was Penny’s foster brother. He’d make arrangements. The doctor said no way—Raines wasn’t family. Your uncle pointed out that Penny’s only family had vanished. The doctor said they’d just send Penny to the hospital morgue.
“Tyler got furious. He kept saying she was his sister, no matter what the courts said, and she was not going to lie in some awful morgue until Jeffrey Cavanaugh decided what to do with her body. Another doctor came to back up the first one. I thought Tyler was going to get physical. I will say he looked like he was at the end of his rope. Finally your uncle called his lawyer to come down and straighten out the mess.”
“Oh, my God,” Diana moaned. “How awful for this to happen right after Penny’s death. I hope the strain isn’t too much for Simon.”
“I think he can hold his own. I said I’d tell you and Willow about Penny’s death in person and Simon agreed. Raines was still yelling at the doctors and the hospital administrator. I went down to the parking lot. Jeff’s car was gone, and so was the second car I’d rented. I suppose Lenore missed Jeff’s exit and went after him in the other car. I went back up and told your uncle, who was back on his cell phone with his lawyer. He tossed me his keys and said, ‘Take the Porsche.’ And that’s how I wound up here in your uncle’s car. Also, I have one of the worst headaches I’ve ever had in my life. I know I turned down refreshment, but could I have a couple of aspirins, or better yet Excedrin and some water?”
“Right away.” Diana jumped up and went to the kitchen, glad that she could concentrate on getting water and Excedrin rather than thinking about the ruckus going on at the hospital, not to mention the fact that Penny was actually dead. She’d known since Friday night that Penny couldn’t live. Still, the news of her death came as a bludgeoning shock.
Blake swallowed the pills and took only a couple of sips of water. “God, what a day,” he murmured then said, “That must have sounded unforgivably self-centered. I’m so sorry about Penny. That she was in the explosion, not that she’s dead. You must think me cold, but she’s out of her suffering, and if she’d lived—”
“I know. The suffering wouldn’t have ended in a few weeks or months. The physical pain would have gone on for years. The psychological pain forever. I can’t even bear to think about what her life would have been like.” Blake gave her a sympathetic smile. “Would you do me a favor in spite of your headache?” Diana asked.
“Name it.”
“I heard Willow beginning to stir in the library. I’d like to take her back up to bed, but I don’t want to wake her completely. Would you carry her up for me? I have a sprained wrist. Besides, I’ll have a cat to carry.”
“A cat?” Blake asked.
“You’ll understand when you see him,” Diana said.
They walked quietly into the library. Romeo had curled into an unrecognizable mass of gray fur on the floor and Christabel sat beside him, alternating her gaze between him and Willow, her two charges. Willow lay curled up on the window seat beneath the water-lily glass inlay she’d always loved. She wasn’t awake, but she was murmuring and twisting uncomfortably. In a minute, she would fall off the seat.
Blake stood and looked at her for a moment, a soft, unreadable smile on his handsome face. “She’s a beautiful child,” he murmured.
In a flash, Willow turned over and nearly fell off the window seat. Diana stooped and caught her before she hit the floor. When she stood up, Blake reached out to take Willow. Diana had caught her at a bad angle and now nearly dropped her. Blake stepped closer, his body almost touching Diana’s as she began slipping Willow from her arms into his. Diana bent her head to kiss Willow at the same moment as Blake. Their faces met, lips pursed, arms touching.
And suddenly Lenore stood midway inside the library, her face twisted with rage, a gun pointed at the three of them.