Page 53 of The Honorable Texan
Blake held up a hand.“I’m afraid she did,” he replied, watching her expression turn from worry to shock.“She never told you, but she walked in on them in the motel, just before your father collapsed and was taken to the hospital.”
“That’s where police got the trace evidence that linked her to poison,” Violet recalled, still battling shock about her mother’s secrecy all these years.
“Yes, and it was fortunate for us that your mother did walk in on them, because she’s not only an eyewitness, but her very presence shocked Janet into running for her life.In the process, she left behind the glass the poison was in.Her fingerprints are on it,” he added, “although nobody knows that except the crime lab, the police, and me.And now you,” he amended.“There’s more than enough evidence to convict her of murder.Your mother will provide the motive and eyewitness identification that links Janet to the motel room, your father, his bank account and her penniless state.They’lltry to introduce evidence from the previous poisoning of a patient in a nursing home who left her his estate.The old man’s son is more than willing to testify.”
“You’ve been busy,” she exclaimed, when she realized that he’d been investigating the status of the case against Libby.
“I have, indeed.”He slid his lean hands into his slacks pockets, smiling slowly at Violet in a way that made her toes curl up in her shoes.
Harley Fowler walked in with Duke Wright, talking about a bull Harley’s boss, Cy Parks, had bought and sent Harley to transport, when they spotted Blake.
Duke’s big fists curled at his sides.“What are you doing in my house?”he demanded of Blake.
Blake glanced at him with a rueful smile.“Just talking to the mother of my child,” he said, dropping the bombshell.Just as well, he was thinking, to get two birds with one stone, especially since both men were temporarily single.No way was one of them going to mess around with his Violet.
CHAPTER TEN
But if Blakewas feeling smug, Violet was trying to rein in a totally different emotion.She glanced from Harley’s amused expression to Duke’s shocked one, back to Blake’s arrogance.
“How dare you!”she raged at Blake, pushing to her feet.
It was a mistake.She was already weak from the effects of pregnancy and lack of sleep.She started to fall.
Blake moved like greased lightning to catch her as she slumped.He hefted her in his arms and cradled her close, smiling.“It’s still the first trimester,” he told her gently.“You have to watch making sudden moves like that.You could fall.”
She glared at him, furious and with no way to retaliate.
Duke’s threatening stance had relaxed.He looked at Blake with conflicting emotions.“It’s your baby?”he asked slowly.
Blake gave him a look that could have started a brushfire.“How dare you!”he repeated Violet’s own earlier statement, and managed to look indignant as well as angry.“What sort of woman do you think she is?”
Duke cleared his throat.“Sorry.”
Violet was trying not to smile.It really wasn’t funny.But Blake’s defense of her made her feel warm all over.
Blake relaxed a little, but he wasn’t putting Violet down.“You have to make sure she gets frequent breaks,” he told Duke.“So that she doesn’t get too tired.I’ll come by at lunchtime every day and take her out to a nice restaurant where she can get plenty of protein.”He looked thoughtful.“Nothing with hormones or antibiotics, of course, we have to think of the baby.”
“Blake!”Violet gasped, hitting his shoulder.
“And she positively can’t work late,” Blake added belligerently.
Duke was smiling now, and trying to hide it.“Okay,” he said agreeably.
Harley was shell-shocked.He’d really liked Violet.But the way Blake Kemp was looking at her made his feelings almost tangible.And she was pregnant.Harley sighed wistfully.He didn’t have a lot of luck getting women, despite his history for helping crack a major drug ring in the area.
Blake looked back down at Violet.“Feel okay now?”he asked softly, and smiled at her.
She wanted to curl into his strong body and kiss him until she stopped aching.That would never do, of course.“I’m much better,” she said primly, and shifted to let him know that she wanted to be put down.
He eased her onto her feet.“We have to tell your mother.”
“About the baby?”Duke wondered aloud.
“About Janet Collins being arrested in San Antonio,” Blake corrected.“She’s being charged with first degree murder in the death of Violet’s father.”
Duke and Harley both let out a whistle.“I’m sorry, Violet,” Duke said gently.“If you need to leave early, you can.I’ll get a temp out here to fill in for you.”
“No, it’s better if I don’t upset Mama by altering my routine,” Violet said.“I’ll do it when I get off work.”
