She had been shocked at first, then as the reality of the situation set in, she had been deeply saddened. During their years with Dan, they had been very content. He was a good man who had made a reasonably good husband and his great wealth afforded them a life of true luxury. And he wanted a child, just as they did, something Boyd Brannon had not wanted. Boyd had two children of his own and at forty-five, he hadn't wanted to start a second family. Although they'd been disappointed, they accepted his decision because they believed he was a good man. And they'd had his children to love. But Boyd had proven a great disappointment. He had done something unforgivable. He had committed adultery. They couldn't forgive him for such a grievous sin. He had sworn it was only once. A one-night stand that had meant nothing. But they knew that if a man cheats once, he'll do it again.

  She'd had no choice but to kill him. He hadn't deserved to live.

  And Dan hadn't deserved to die, but she'd had no choice but to kill him, too. She supposed she could have waited until his disease had progressed, but dealing with the news of Dan's Alzheimer's diagnosis would have added undue stress to their lives and might have affected the pregnancy. She couldn't risk anything happening to the child they had wanted for such a long time.

  When she had left him that night, alone in his study, she'd thought for sure she had convinced him that suicide was his only course of action. Oh, she hadn't come right out and suggested that he kill himself. No, she was smarter than that. But she had made subtle references to how a man in his position might want to spare those he loved from going through hell with him, day after day, year after year.

  She had gone back to check on him later and found him passed out drunk. Everyone else had been upstairs asleep, so no one had seen her reenter the study. She had sat there, waiting for the right moment, watching Dan as he slept. As soon as he began to stir and mumbled in his sleep, she had slipped on her gloves and picked up the gun from the desk. It had been relatively simple to lift his hand and put the gun in it, then hold his hand in place and raise the gun to his temple. His eyes had opened for just a second before she pressed his index finger down on the trigger.

  He had smiled at her.

  She hadn't smiled until later, after she had left the

  Nicole Baxter Powell hung up the phone after a brief conversation with her cousin Claire, then rolled over in bed and snuggled against her husband who had just tonight returned from his trip to England. It had been the first time they'd been apart more than a couple of days since they married last year and she had missed him terribly.

  Griff slid his arm under her shoulders and pulled her close as he lowered his head and kissed her. 'From the frown on your face, I'd say that was business and not chitchat with Claire.'

  Nic sighed. 'You'd be right.'

  'What's wrong?'

  'You know that Ryan and his sister-in-law Jordan hired Powell's to do a private investigation, to look into the circumstances surrounding Dan Price's death.'

  'Yes, you explained all of that during one of our daily phone calls. Ryan doesn't believe his brother would commit suicide.'

  'Well, it seems that Rick, just doing his job, asked Maleah to have Powell's do a thorough background check on Jordan Price and he discovered some info that helped him form a theory about who might have killed Dan Price.'

  'And this is bad? Having a suspect has upset Claire?'

  'It's not having a suspect that has upset her and Ryan, it's who the suspect is that has them both very concerned.'

  'Well, don't keep me in suspense.'

  Griff grinned at his wife. His sexy, irresistible smile issued her an invitation she wanted to accept immediately.

  'Oh, Griff, the last thing I want to do is talk business on your first night home.'

  'Then just spit it out. The sooner we deal with the problem, the sooner you can get down to giving me my welcome home present.'

  She punched him on the arm. 'Did you miss me as much as I missed you?' She planted kisses all over his face.

  He grabbed her shoulders and shoved her to arm's length, holding her securely. 'Who does Rick think killed Senator Price?'

  'His wife.'

  'Jordan Price?'

  'It seems he thinks she might be some kind of black widow because her first husband and a former fianc'nd a former boss all died accidentally and she profited monetarily from each death.'

  'Sounds like a motive to me. What do Claire and Ryan think?'

  'They're ready to fire Rick. They're a hundred percent sure of Jordan's innocence. Claire said that Jordan could no more have killed Dan than she could have.'

  'So call Rick in and send out another agent to replace him.'

  'But what if Rick's right?'

  'If he is, another agent will come to the same conclusion and if that happens, maybe Claire and Ryan will change their minds.'

  Nic lifted her arms up and around Griff 's neck. 'I'll call Rick in the morning. Right now, I have something far more important to do.'

  Griff 's smile widened. 'And just what would that be, Mrs. Powell?'

  She unbelted her robe, slipped it off her shoulders and tossed back the covers. Then she crawled on top of him, naked body on naked body.

  'Welcome home, husband.'

  Chapter 10

  Rick's cell phone rang at five forty-five, waking him from a deep sleep. It took him a full minute to realize where the noise was coming from and to react accordingly. He rolled over, tossed his arm out and grabbed the phone off the nightstand. First he glanced at the time and then the caller ID before answering.

  Griff Powell.

  Something had to be wrong for his boss to call him this early in the morning.

  'Rick Carson here,' he said and braced himself for bad news.

  'Tell me how the Priceville Daily Gazette got hold of the information that Jordan Price has lost one husband to suicide and another husband, a fianc'and a former boss to accidents, and even a father to a supposed heart attack.'

  Holy shit! 'I have no idea,' Rick said as his mind tried frantically to assimilate this news.

  'I just got off the phone with Ryan Price. It seems the Daily Gazette's publisher is an acquaintance and the man had the decency to forewarn Ryan what today's front page headline would be. Want to take a guess what it says?'

  Rick reacted by immediately going into defensive mode. 'I did not leak any information to the press.'

  'I didn't think you did,' Griff told him. 'Who, other than Mrs. Price and Ryan, did you talk to about Jordan's past?'

  Crap! He'd told Lt. Haley McLain. But why would she go to the press with the info? What possible reason would she have to betray his confidence? Maybe it wasn't Haley. But who else could it have been?

  'I spoke to a member of the Dade County sheriff 's department and asked her opinion about how she interpreted the info about Jordan Price's past. I needed someone outside of Powell's I could trust to use as a sounding board.'

  'Maybe you trusted the wrong person,' Griff said. 'Find out and report back to me. But first, tell Mrs. Price what's happened. It will be better if she hears it from you. If she believes that you are the source of the leak, I'll have no choice but to replace you. Ryan is spitting mad and ready to fire you, but I assured him that the Daily Gazette did not get their info from you.'

  'Did he believe you?'

  'He's keeping an open mind for the time being.'

  'I'll call you when I have something to report.'

  'You have to know that once this information runs in the local newspaper, the media will bombard Jordan. I suggest securing Price Manor immediately. Get in touch with local law enforcement ASAP. Maleah and Holt will arrive by noon today. If you find that you need more agents, I can have half a dozen there by tomorrow.'

  Conversation over. The End.

  Rick flung off the covers, got up, and went straight to the bathroom. He shaved with his electric razor, something he did only when he was pressed for time, took a three- minute shower, and dressed hurriedly.

  No matter whether Haley leaked the news or someone else did, the end results would be the same. All hell was about to break loose. Jordan Price would be caught in the middle of some nasty accusations. And it was his fault.

  Someone called her name. Her eyelids flickered as she tried to wake. Suddenly bright sunlight poured into her room and even with her eyes partially closed, she realized someone had opened the blinds.

  'What's wrong?' she asked, still half-asleep.

  'Wake up, Jordan.' Devon approached the bed.

  As she sat up, the covers dropped to her waist, revealing the top of her blue silk pajamas. She looked at Devon and gasped. The expression on his face told her that something terrible had happened.

  'Take a look at this.' He handed her a folded newspaper. 'It's unbelievable that anyone could be so vicious.'

  Jordan took the newspaper, unfolded it, and looked at the front page.

  The headline read: IS JORDAN PRICE A BLACK WIDOW?

  Her entire body went numb. Even though Devon was talking to her, all she heard was the roar of her own heartbeat. She scanned the article quickly. Her past tragedies were laid out like a blueprint of murder and mayhem despite the fact that not one accusation had been made against her. But if she were John Q. Public, she would read this article and believe that the woman who had lost almost every important man in her life and had profited from each death was probably a cold-blooded murderer.

  'How did this happen?' she asked. 'Who would have given this information to the Daily Gazette?'

  'It had to have been Rick Carson,' Devon told her. 'He's the one who had the Powell Agency dig up all your ancient history. And he's the one who suspects you and I killed Dan. Who else could it have been?'

  Rick Carson? No, she refused to believe that he would deliberately hurt her this way. And it was apparent that whoever had leaked this info intended to harm her.

  Get real, Jordan. You hardly know Rick. You have no idea what he's capable of doing.

  But he had been so caring last night, so gentle and considerate. She had sensed the goodness in him. Had it all been an act? Had there been an ulterior motive behind his kindness? Had he hoped she would trust him enough to confess her sins?

  'I don't think Mr. Carson would betray a client,' Jordan said, trying to convince herself as well as Devon. 'He has to know that if he did such a thing, he would lose his job.'

  Devon nodded. 'Yeah, okay, that makes sense. But if not Mr. Carson, then who? No one in the family and certainly none of your close friends would ever go to the press with such a ludicrous story.'

  'Did you read the article?' Jordan asked. 'It's not a ludicrous story. From what I read, it simply states the facts as they are and leaves the rest up to the reader's imagination. Only the headline implies that I murdered both of my husbands and my fianc'

  'Oh, God, Jordan, this is bad. Really bad.'

  'Don't fall apart on me,' she told him. 'Not now.'

  Her poor, sweet Devon. So sensitive, so highly emotional, so easily hurt. Losing Dan had nearly destroyed him. As his best friend, she always tried to protect him, but sometimes it just wasn't possible. Now, with this new development, how was she going to keep the vultures at bay and protect not only Devon, but herself and her unborn child?

  She threw back the covers, got out of bed, and hugged Devon. He clung to her, doing his best to offer her his support while he drew strength from her.

  A loud rapping noise gained their immediate attention and both turned just as the door opened. Rick Carson stood in the doorway glaring at them. Devon tried to pull away from her, but Jordan slipped her arm around his waist. She had nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of, certainly not her relationship with Devon.

  'Please, come in,' Jordan said.

  Rick entered the room and closed the door behind him. He glanced at the newspaper lying on the bed. 'You've seen it.'

  'Yes,' Jordan said. 'I take it that you know all about the front page article. A rather damning headline, don't you think?'

  'I haven't seen the newspaper.' Rick crossed the room, reached out, and picked up the Priceville Daily Gazette. He cringed when he read the headline. 'Son of a bitch,' he murmured under his breath.

  'If you hadn't seen this morning's paper, then how did you know about the article?' Devon asked.

  'My boss, Griffin Powell, telephoned me. It seems that the publisher of the Daily Gazette contacted Ryan earlier this morning to warn him about the article, and Ryan called Griff.'

  Jordan looked him square in the eye, hoping that she could tell if he was lying to her. 'I'm going to be as brutally honest in asking you a pointed question as you were with me a couple of days ago.'

  He nodded.

  'Did you leak the information about my past to the press?'

  'No, I did not.'

  She released a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding and then swallowed the lump of tension in her throat. Heaven help her if she was wrong, but she believed him. 'It's only a matter of time before the phones will start ringing off the hook and the media swarms the house. We have to do something''

  'It's being done,' Rick said. 'I've ordered the gates at the front entrance to be closed and no one allowed onto the private drive without permission from either you or me. I've put in a call to Sheriff Corbett. We'll need some deputies to keep order at the gate. Two more Powell agents will arrive by noon today. And I woke your assistant and told her what's happening so she can take care of the phone calls.'

  'I need to see Ryan and Claire.' Jordan pulled away from Devon and took a tentative step toward Rick. 'I have to explain that''

  'Ryan is ready to fire me because he thinks I leaked the information. Your brother-in-law seems to have complete faith in you, so you shouldn't be concerned about what he and his wife might think. Apparently, they're a hundred percent on your side.'

  Of course, she should have known that she could count on Ryan and Claire's support. Over the past three years during her marriage to Dan, they had learned to trust one another. They had become as dear to her as the other members of her adopted family.

  'Oh, mercy! Darlene and Roselynne will both go ballistic and worry themselves sick about me. And when this information spreads to the state and then national news media, Kendra and Wes will have to deal with their classmates' taunts about their stepmother.'

  'Try to stay as calm as you can.' Rick came toward her, but stopped short of touching her. 'Your getting upset isn't good for you or your baby.'

  'Don't you think I know that?'

  'Yes, of course you do.' Rick looked at Devon. 'Why don't you gather the family downstairs in the parlor so we can tell everyone at once about what's happened and how we're going to handle the situation. Do you think you can do that for Jordan?'

  Devon's misty eyes widened as if uncertain how to react to Rick's request. He glanced at Jordan before replying. 'If that's what Jordan wants me to do.'

  'Yes, please,' she replied.

  'I need you to trust that I can and will handle things,' Rick told her. 'But in order for me to do some damage control and keep you safe and away from the press, I have to ask that you allow me to be in complete charge, to make the decisions and issue the orders.'

  'I'm not sure that's such a good idea,' Devon said. 'After all, how do we know for sure that you're not the one who leaked this information about Jordan to the Daily Gazette?'

  With her gaze glued to Rick, Jordan placed her hand on Devon's arm. 'It's all right, Devon. I trust Rick.' She pivoted and smiled at Devon. 'Round up the herd and corral them in the parlor. I'll be down shortly.'

  Hesitantly, Devon nodded, returned her smile, and headed for the door. He gave Rick an if-you-hurt-her-you'll-answer- to-me glower.

  Once alone in her bedroom with Rick, Jordan suddenly realized that she was standing there in front of him wearing nothing but her silk pajamas. She shifted uncomfortably on her bare feet.

  'I'I need to get dressed,' she said.

  'Do you really trust me?' he asked.

  She breathed deeply, steadying her nerves, and then answered. 'Yes, I do.' Oddly enough, she really did trust him. She felt certain that Rick had not leaked the info about her past and she had no qualms about him being in charge. 'I trust you enough to put myself in your capable hands.'

  'Thank you. I'll do my best not to let you down.'

  'I ...uh... should put on some clothes,' she told him.

  They stood facing each other for a full minute before Rick broke eye contact and said, 'I'll just let myself out and wait for you in the hall. Take your time. I'll make sure no one bothers you.'

  'Thank you.'

  Why was it that she felt as if Rick truly could protect her from everything and everyone? Something deeply primitive and totally feminine urged her to run into his arms.

  Instead of acting on impulse, she said, 'I won't be long,' as she rushed into her dressing room.

  Ryan and Claire arrived at Price Manor shortly after Rick escorted Jordan downstairs to alert her family of the upcoming media frenzy that would soon consume Jordan and everyone associated with her. Sheriff Corbett arrived at Price Manor before nine, accompanied by Lt. Haley McLain and two male deputies, Wilson and Burgess. The deputies were posted at the closed gates at the end of the long drive where news crews from area newspapers and television stations had begun congregating by seven that morning.

  Steve Corbett spoke to Jordan and then to Ryan, reassuring both of them that, as sheriff, he would see to it that his deputies took care of crowd control, .

  'And we'll cooperate with the Powell agents,' Corbett told Ryan. 'We can coordinate this any way y'all want us to.'

  While the sheriff continued his conversation with the Price family, Rick went over to Haley and as inconspicuously as possible, grabbed her arm and dragged her out into the hall. She huffed and glared, but didn't utter a word of protest until they were alone.

  'What's the manhandling all about?' she demanded.

  He released her. 'Want to tell me how the Priceville Daily Gazette got hold of the information about Jordan's past?'

  Taking a defensive stance, she glared at him. 'If you're implying what I think you are, then''

 

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