Deadly Kisses. Brenda Joyce

Netherland?”

      “You can be so transparent, Francesca!”

      She batted wide, innocent eyes at him. “Transparent about what? I haven’t seen you in weeks and we haven’t had a social moment since well before my last case, in fact. And I haven’t seen Sarah—I am killing two birds with one stone.”

      He smiled and shook his head.

      Francesca was about to walk out with Rourke. Then she remembered to take Hart’s stained jacket and she lifted it off the chair. On her way out, she would give it to Alfred for a cleaning.

      A white stub fell from one of the pockets.

      Francesca retrieved it, realizing it was the stub from a train ticket. She was about to put the stub on his desk when she saw the name of the city next to the punched hole: Philadelphia.

      Her good humor vanished. She quickly told herself that the stub was an old one. Hart had not been to Philly since they had become engaged at the end of February. Becoming ill, she glanced at the date on the top of the stub.

      June 1.

      She inhaled, blinded by the date.

      “Francesca?” Rourke asked in concern.

      She hardly heard him. Hart had told her that he had gone to Boston. But yesterday he had returned from Philadelphia. She had the proof, right there in her hand.

      Hart had lied to her.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      Tuesday, June 3, 1902—10:00 a.m.

      LEIGH ANNE BRAGG WAS A petite woman with shockingly dark hair, green eyes and fair skin. She had been universally acclaimed as a great beauty her entire life. But now, applying rouge to her lips and cheeks, she saw a gaunt stranger in the mirror, a lackluster woman she did not recognize. Dark circles had been etched beneath her eyes, although she went to bed early, for she could not sleep. Worse, her eyes held a haunted look that matched the despair in her soul.

      Leigh Anne sat in her wheeled chair, staring at her reflection, aware that the male nurse her husband had hired was in the hall outside of the bedroom, awaiting her every command. Her daughter, Katie, stood by her side, anxious for her to go downstairs.

      Of course, Katie was not her biological daughter. When she and Rick had reconciled, he had been fostering Katie and her little sister Dot. Their mother had been murdered and Francesca Cahill had moved both girls into the house as a temporary measure. Yet months had passed and Leigh Anne had come to love both girls as if they were her own flesh and blood. Rick clearly felt the same way, and they had decided to try to formally adopt them. Leigh Anne couldn’t imagine what the house would be like without the girls—or what her marriage would be like, either.

      Once, long ago, she had been so terribly in love. It hadn’t taken much to realize that, despite a four-year separation, she still loved Rick Bragg. How ironic it was to discover that her feelings had remained unchanged, in spite of so much discord, so much misunderstanding and betrayal. But it no longer mattered, because she was no longer suitable for him.

      “Mama?” Katie smiled worriedly at her.

      Leigh Anne hated the fact that the precious child was so astute. Katie watched her like a hawk, clearly aware of her depression and misery, rushing to fulfill her every whim, as if that might ease the pain. Leigh Anne knew the pain of loss and heartbreak would never go away. She smiled brightly at her child. “Can you call Mr. Mackenzie so we might go downstairs?”

      Katie nodded eagerly and rushed out of the dressing room.

      Leigh Anne watched the woman in the chair in the mirror, and saw her smile vanish the moment the child was gone. The woman she observed was attractive, though wan, and perfectly attired in lavender silk and amethysts. The woman sat in an odd chair with two huge wheels and handles that made it easier for an attendant to push. The woman was a cripple.

      Leigh Anne looked away, but it didn’t matter, because the image remained engraved in her brain. She knew that every time Rick looked at her, that was what he saw: a cripple.

      She rubbed her thigh, reminding herself that his pity did not matter. Her right leg ached, but there was no feeling in her left leg and there never would be again. The doctors actually thought that, with time and intensive work, she might regain some use of her right leg, but there had been too much damage to her left leg. So why would she even try to regain some use of the one limb? She would never walk again, never dance, never make love….

      Leigh Anne knew she was pathetic, to be feeling so sorry for herself. She reminded herself that she was alive and she had the girls. God, she didn’t know what she would do without them! She wiped her eyes briefly. She only dared to allow herself such self-pity when she was alone. She reminded herself that she didn’t need her legs, not when she had a chair with wheels and a nurse. She reminded herself that she was fortunate, so terribly fortunate, to have suddenly become a mother to two such wonderful girls. But no amount of rationalization would ease the melancholy that weighed her down. It was like being buried alive, she thought dismally, yet death was not an option.

      The telephone, which had been recently installed in the house, rang in the bedroom just beyond her boudoir. Unthinkingly she reached for the wheels, trying to turn them, but she was so weak now. Tears of frustration came when she saw the nurse reach the phone. He was a tall, attractive young man and he said, “One moment, sir. I’ll get her.”

      It was Rick, she thought, her heart accelerating, and the oddest combination of dread and anticipation filled her. She wondered if it would always be this way—if a part of her would always yearn for a word from him, a look, his presence.

      Mackenzie came into the boudoir. “It’s the commissioner,” he said pleasantly, easily wheeling her into the bedroom. He positioned her near the phone and she reached for the receiver before he could hand it to her, as she was determined not to let anyone see how lost and incapable she had become. But the receiver was large and she was clumsy and it fell to the floor.

      Leigh Anne blinked back more tears of frustration as Mackenzie quickly retrieved it, handing it to her.

      Leigh Anne inhaled. She was doing her best not to let Rick know how miserable she was. “Rick?”

      “Leigh Anne. How are you?” he asked, his tone carefully neutral.

      But then, they had become strangers, which was what she wanted now. “I am fine,” she said, aware of the enormity of the lie. “You went out last night,” she said just as neutrally. He had not come to bed last night. Most nights he fell asleep on the sofa in his study, which she preferred—and which she knew he preferred. She had lain in bed, pretending to sleep, wondering if he would join her, afraid that he would, and worse, that he might think to hold her. But instead, someone had come to their front door and he had gone out for the rest of the evening. She was accustomed to police affairs requiring such strange calls.

      “There was a matter that required my attention at headquarters,” he said. “Did you sleep well?”

      “Yes,” she lied again, as she doubted she had actually slept more than an hour or two.

      “What are you planning to do today?”

      She had no plans. She was afraid to resume her old life, as she could not imagine the reaction of her friends if she called in her wheeled chair. She had accepted callers, however. Francesca Cahill called twice a week, and Leigh Anne genuinely liked her—she was very kind, pretending that nothing untoward had happened. Rick’s parents also called frequently—Grace dropped by almost every day. But it had been simply awful when her old friend Countess Bartolla Benevente had called. Leigh Anne knew that the countess had been secretly delighted by her condition. How many other of her old friends would take pleasure in her downfall? “As Katie has finished school, I think we’ll go to the park.”

      “It’s a beautiful day. I’ll try to come home earlier,” he said, hesitation in his tone.

      She swallowed, almost wanting him to return home at that moment. Images of