Page 8 of The Night Before (Savannah 1)

“You know a lot about the Montgomerys.”

“I suppose.” Her jaw slid to the side and she checked the rearview mirror.

“A hobby of yours?”

“Not exactly. But I’ve done my share of research. Bandeaux was always skirting the law. I did a lot of looking into his professional and personal life because there were rumors that he had ties to the mob.”

“Did he?”

“I couldn’t find any, but I did find out a lot about him.”

He waited. She pressed on the lighter and found a crumpled pack of Marlboro Lights on the dash. “You may as well figure this out and fast, Reed. Savannah might look like a big city, but she’s a small town at her soul.” He didn’t respond. Had already learned that silence worked best with Morrisette, and he sensed there was more to the story.

He was right.

“Oh, hell, I suppose you’re gonna find out anyway.” With a steely, humorless grin, she said, “My ex, Bart, worked for Bandeaux for a while.” Reed had met Bart Yelkis, a tall, brooding man with some Native American in his blood.

Morrisette shook out a cigarette and passed a delivery van in one motion. “The reason we got divorced?” Sylvie hesitated a second as the lighter clicked. She cracked the window, then managed to light up, driving with one hand and never slowing for an instant. “Well, there were tons of ’em. Tons. But the one that everyone believes is that I had an affair with Josh Bandeaux.” She let out a jet of smoke. “For the record, it’s not true. My taste in men might be lousy, but it’s not that lousy.”

Reed didn’t comment. Didn’t know what to believe. He wasn’t good at reading a woman’s mind—hell, who was?—but his gut instinct told him that Sylvie-tough-as-snakeskin-Morrisette was stretching the truth. How much he wasn’t certain. But it gave him a bad feeling. A real bad feeling.

“Shit.” Kelly clicked off the recorder after listening to Caitlyn’s panicked message. What was it with Caitlyn? She was always getting herself into trouble. Big trouble. And always expecting Kelly to bail her out. God, what a basket case!

Angrily, Kelly hit the replay button and sank into her desk chair as Caitlyn’s terrified voice repeated the message.

“Kelly? Kelly? Are you there? If you are pick up. Now . . . it’s Caitlyn . . .

Damn it all to hell.

Sighing, Kelly hit the erase button.

I need to talk to you about last night.

“I bet,” Kelly muttered under her breath. She wasn’t surprised. Nor did it take a brain surgeon to guess that left to her own devices, Caitlyn had gotten herself into another mess. So what else was new?

Suddenly she was cold to the bone, though the temperature was a sweltering ninety-plus. Kelly rubbed her arms as she stared out the window of her little cabin. Sooner or later Caitlyn would end up in the looney bin. Unfortunately, this time, it could be permanent. Kelly couldn’t keep saving her. The trouble was, Caitlyn was falling apart. Again. Just like so many of the damned Montgomerys. Like it or not, Kelly realized that a lot of the members of her family weren’t playing with full decks . . . not even by half.

The Montgomery curse.

Shoving her hair from her eyes, she walked barefoot across the living area of her cabin to the French doors, which opened to a small deck overlooking the river. Outside the air was hot, cloying, just the way she liked it. She watched an egret glide over the sluggish water near the dock and felt the late-morning sun on her face. Leaning against the railing, she thought about her sister. Her first instinct was to climb into the car and drive like a bat out of hell to Caitlyn’s place, to placate her and soothe her as she always did when these situations occurred, but that wouldn’t solve the problem. Far from it. What was the psychobabble word they used for it these days? Enabling. That was it. She could try to allay Caitlyn’s fears, help her . . . but, truth to tell, she was sick to death of it.

Because Caitlyn was messed up. Always had been. Always would be. Not that Kelly blamed her, she thought, sliding her sunglasses onto her nose to watch a fishing boat move slowly upriver. Caitlyn had been through a lot. Even when they were kids . . . oh, the secrets Kelly knew about her twin. Even Caitlyn didn’t realize that Kelly understood the root of her demons; probably better than Caitlyn did herself. Hadn’t Kelly warned her about marrying Josh? Only about a million times. But had Caitlyn listened? Oh, noooooo. She’d been in love. So much in love. Trouble was, it had been with a snake.

And Caitlyn had been pregnant to boot.

For a while things had been okay. And then there was the baby. Kelly felt a familiar pang of regret as she conjured up Jamie’s impish face. So sad. Leaning against the railing, she watched the egret take off in a spread of snowy wings.

God, Caitlyn had loved that child. Who could blame her? Jamie had been adorable. As beautiful as her mother and as charming as her dad. Kelly scowled down at the dark, slow water as it lapped at the pilings under the dock. She hated to admit it, but Josh could be as tempting as the very devil. And Caitlyn’s hasty marriage had been all right for a while—if not perfect, at least tolerable. Even during the separation. Until Jamie had gotten sick . . . Poor baby. Kelly swallowed hard and her eyes burned as she fought tears. Hell, she’d loved that little girl. Almost as much as Caitlyn had. Almost as if the baby had been her own. Probably because she knew she’d never have any children. It just wasn’t in the cards. She sniffed and walked back inside to scrounge through her purse looking for a cigarette. No luck. The pack was empty. She tossed it into the trash near her desk and saw a picture of her niece sitting near the phone. Big smile, twinkling blue eyes, chubby hands clasped in front of her as Jamie, at two and a half, sat in the shade of a magnolia tree. Kelly picked up the silver frame and her eyes filled with tears.

Caitlyn had never gotten over Jamie’s death, not even with the help of that shrink, Rebecca What’s-her-name—Wade, that was it. Dr. Rebecca Wade. Well, she wasn’t the only one. Kelly frowned darkly and set the photo back in its resting place. Thinking about Dr. Wade reminded her that Caitlyn, soon after Jamie’s death, had almost overdosed on sleeping pills.

On purpose?

With Caitlyn, who knew?

And now Caitlyn was all knotted up about the divorce. From Josh Bandeaux, the lowlife. The man couldn’t keep

his hands off women. He’d even had the nerve to come on to her, his wife’s twin, for crying out loud! What was that all about? She and Caitlyn were identical, so what was the thrill in that? Well, the being identical was literally only skin deep. Their personalities were acutely dissimilar. Night to day. Caitlyn was more shy, more intellectual and Kelly the emotional firecracker, the “party girl.” Besides, Josh Bandeaux would bed anything that moved.

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