I'll Be Watching You Read online

  “What happened?” Kinsey asked Kim, and then turned to Zell. “Were you here when this started?

  “No, I saw the fire from my house, called the firefighters, and came over.”

  Kim’s voice was hollow and weak. “Someone set it. They came into the house and poured gasoline all over. My bedroom door was jammed shut. They set fires outside the windows so we couldn’t get out.”

  “We?” Kinsey asked, looking at Zell again.

  “Me and Oscar.” She turned to Zell with concern in her features. “Is he all right? He was limping after he fell to the ground.”

  “He’s fine. He wasn’t limping when I put him in the truck.”

  “Are you saying someone tried to kill you?” Kinsey clarified.

  Kim nodded. Gasoline? Jammed her door shut? Set fires outside the windows? The rage poured through him again, making him squeeze her even closer against him. “Yes, that’s what she’s saying,” Zell said through clenched teeth. Impatience riddled his voice.

  Kinsey said, “You accuse Winn and Buck of killing that girl, then you claim someone killed Elva—I guess it’s no surprise that now you claim someone tried to kill you. How did you get out of the house?”

  “I broke out the window and put the fire out below it. I poured water and lotion on it.” She let out a watery laugh. “Elva loved her body lotion.”

  Other people had started to arrive, people who had either heard the sirens or seen the fire from a distance. Zell shifted so they couldn’t see her teary face.

  “Any ideas who would have done this?” DeBarro asked, his notepad at the ready. “Do you think it’s the same people who vandalized the bar and stole your orchids?”

  “I’m not sure,” Kim said, her gaze still on the flames.

  Zell’s insides felt as heavy as clay.

  Kinsey said, “I’m sure the state fire marshal will be down tomorrow first thing to talk with you further. We’ll keep someone posted here so no one messes with the crime scene. And we’ll need a statement from you.”

  “Oh, my God, what happened? Are you all right? Zell, what are you doing here?”

  Zell turned at the sound of his sister’s voice. She and Tullie ran up to them wearing clothes they’d obviously thrown on in a hurry. Tullie wore a faded Kermit the Frog nightgown tucked into her jean shorts. Owen walked slowly up behind them, meeting Zell’s angry gaze. Zell answered Shar’s questions as well as he could without imparting the murder plot. Tullie was already looking haunted as she watched the flames.

  Shar was also watching the flames, though her expression was mesmerized. “It’s beautiful,” she said to herself.

  “What?” Zell asked in a harsh voice.

  She blinked. “Flames are beautiful. The colors, the intensity. Wicked beauty.” She looked over at Kim, and then took over, putting her arm around Kim’s shoulders. “Are you all right? I can’t imagine waking up and finding my home on fire. Is Oscar all right?”

  Kim only nodded.

  “Thank goodness. We’ve got to get you out of here, get you cleaned up.” She gave Kim a once-over. “I won’t have a lot of clothes you can borrow, but maybe a few things will fit.”

  As Shar tried to steer Kim away, Kim protested. “No, I can’t leave yet.”

  Zell shook his head, giving Shar the message to let it be. Kim needed to watch the final death throes.

  An ambulance pulled into the driveway and paramedics jumped out. Zell steered Kim over to them.

  “I’m fine,” she said, but let him guide her.

  As they checked her over, Zell took Owen aside. Owen obviously expected the questions. As soon as Zell got close, he said, “JoGene and I had nothing to do with this. I know he wouldn’t have done this. He wanted to be her partner,” he added derisively. “That’s what he said, anyway.”

  Owen had said they had to do something drastic. “If I find out—”

  Owen held up his hand. “You won’t, Zell. I swear, you won’t.”

  “We all need to talk tonight. As soon as I get Kim settled at my place, we’re having a family meeting.” He glanced at the house again. He wanted to hurt someone for this. Now he knew the taste for justice Kim had experienced. He walked back to the ambulance and watched while they finished their examination.

  “You’re lucky,” one of the paramedics said as they released her.

  Shar came over as Zell and Kim walked back toward the house. “Is she all right?”

  “She’ll be fine.” After the shock wears off, he didn’t say.

  Tullie tugged on his shirt.

  “I had the dream again, Uncle Zell. Seeing the gators didn’t help. I was having it when the sirens woke me up.”

  “See, it didn’t mean anything. This has nothing to do with gators.” But did it have to do with Macgregors? He hated thinking it. It reminded him of the doubts that had plagued him years ago. How badly did his father want Kim out of town? Why did he want her out so badly? Revenge? Spite? Fear?

  A car he didn’t recognize pulled through the obstacle course of vehicles. A man got out and obviously instructed bystanders to clear the road. Kinsey and DeBarro met him on his way toward the house. Zell watched them discuss the situation, pointing toward Kim on occasion. After several minutes, they walked over.

  Kinsey gestured toward Kim. “This is Kim Lyons, the owner of the house and intended victim. This is Detective Tony Minotti.”

  Minotti shook her hand. “You all right?”

  “As fine as she can be,” Zell said. “I’m Zell Macgregor.”

  The two men shook hands. Minotti said, “I’d like to have a word with you, Ms. Lyons. If we can step away.” He nodded toward a place away from the fray. “We’ll only be a few minutes, Mr. Macgregor.”

  Zell got the hint. He wasn’t to be included. He watched as Kim did most of the talking, gesturing occasionally toward the house or the swamp beyond. When she wasn’t gesturing, she kept her arms tightly around her. She was probably telling him everything, including her suspicions about Elva’s death. Whatever the detective was saying tightened her features. He wasn’t sure if the detective was finished, but Kim stalked away from him anyway.

  “He thinks I set the fire myself,” she said when she approached. She gestured wildly toward the house, which was still partially in flames. “For insurance!”

  “Why does he think that?”

  “No doubt Kinsey told him I was a nutcase who was having financial difficulties and might be looking for a way to get some money. He suggested that I was clever enough not to burn down the bar since that would be too obvious.”

  He smoothed back her short hair. “He’s testing you. Stay cool about it.”

  She pressed her forehead against his shoulder. “How much can I take, Zell? How long can I keep fighting them?”

  He slid his arm around her. “Don’t give up, angel. Not yet.”

  Zell arranged for Shar to drive Kim’s truck to his place while he took her, Tullie, and Oscar. Kim was quiet—too quiet. She sat in the truck slowly running her hand down Oscar’s back, staring at nothing. Tullie looked as though she bore all the responsibility for the fire. The smell of smoke permeated the air inside the cab.

  Shar and Owen went to Heron’s Glen where Shar would try to find some clothes Kim could wear.

  He helped Kim and Oscar out of the truck when they reached his place.

  “Uncle Zell, Oscar’s cut!” Tullie said.

  “He’ll be all right. We’re going to fix him up.” He ruffled her hair before turning to Kim. She looked lost, even swaying a little. He took hold of her and turned back to Tullie. “Do me a favor and give Oscar a good rinsing with the hose. Then we can see where he’s cut.”

  Tullie led Oscar toward the hose, and Zell guided Kim inside.

  “Is he all right?” she asked in a thready voice.

  “He’ll be fine, angel. We’ll take care of him. The question is, are you all right?”

  She nodded. “I need to take a shower. I can’t stand the smell of this smoke and I f
eel all gritty.”

  That was a good sign. “You going to be all right standing in the shower?”

  He was relieved to see a glint of sass in her eyes. “Are you offering to take a shower with me?”

  He cleared his throat. “Only if you insist.”

  She gave him a little shove, making him feel even better. “I’ll get you a robe,” he said, steering her toward the guest bathroom.

  After hooking the robe on the outside doorknob, he took a couple of towels out to Tullie and helped her dry off Oscar. “See, he’s fine,” Zell said when Oscar shook off the water. He chucked her chin and corralled Oscar into the house. He knocked on the bathroom door to check on Kim before taking the first-aid kit into the kitchen. “Bring the patient in here, nurse,” he said, getting a ghost of a smile out of the girl.

  The sound of the fountain soothed him as he dressed the cuts on Oscar’s dark skin. “Go check on Kim, will you?” he asked Tullie halfway through.

  She ran off, and in a few minutes, came back. “She said to stop bugging her.”

  “Means she’s feeling better.”

  Tullie was studying him. “You like her, don’t you?”

  “Yeah,” he said, sure he’d heard a trace of regret in that answer. “I do.”

  She smiled. “Your match.”

  “We’ll see about that.” When he was finished, he gave Oscar a pat on his flabby bottom and instructed Tullie not to let him rub off the salve. “And check on Kim again. I’m going to take a shower.” He was sick of the smoke smell, too.

  Kim had emerged from the bathroom by the time Shar returned with a bag of clothes. “I threw in some dresses and a nightgown and a couple of Owen’s shirts. Something ought to fit.” She gave Kim’s arm a squeeze. “We’re glad you’re okay.” She looked at Zell. “She staying here tonight?”

  “Yep.” Whether she wanted to or not, but she didn’t look like she’d put up too much of a fight in any case. He didn’t think it was possible, but she looked small in his oversized white robe. Her face was red from scrubbing and her blond hair was sticking up in places from towel-drying it.

  “All right, give me a call if you need anything. Come on, Tullie.” Shar headed outside, but Tullie walked over to Kim first.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t see the fire. I only saw the gators.”

  Kim knelt down to her level. “It’s all right. You can’t see everything. It doesn’t work that way.”

  Something softened in his heart as the torment in Tullie’s eyes softened. The girl only nodded and ran after her mother.

  “Gators?” Kim asked when the front door closed.

  “She’s been having nightmares about gators. Never mind that. Let’s get you to bed. You look flattened.”

  She let him lead her into the guest bedroom. He grabbed up the bag Shar had brought and set it by the closet door. Oscar stretched out on some towels Zell had laid on the floor.

  Kim dropped onto the bed, staring at nothing again. He should leave her alone, give her some quiet time to absorb recent events. He would have if she hadn’t looked so damned lost sitting there on that huge bed by herself. He sat beside her, not knowing if he should touch her or say anything at all.

  She was shivering. Her chin trembled, and her eyes filled. “My home,” she said in a raw voice. “Someone burned down my home.”

  Her home. He remembered how much she’d wanted that very thing, how her ex-boyfriend had offered it to her. He couldn’t give her back her home, but he could pull her into his arms and hold her for a while. She curled against him. Holding her close, he could feel waves of tremors. The shock was wearing off and reality was setting in.

  He stroked her back and kissed the top of her head. “It’ll be all right,” he whispered. “The most important thing is you and Oscar got out.”

  She held on tighter, maybe thinking that someone hadn’t wanted them to get out. That thought made him squeeze her, too. He pushed away the rage, the same rage that had washed over him when he’d overheard JoGene in the incubation room. Time for that later. Now she needed him to be calm and soothing.

  She needed him. That thought alone pushed out the rage and questions in his mind. He didn’t want to be needed. He didn’t want someone to take care of, but here he was, relishing the role of caretaker. It felt right holding her when she cried in his arms as they watched the house burn. As right as it felt now.

  She lifted her face to his. Her green eyes were still glazed. He brushed away her tears with his thumb. It took everything within him not to lean down and kiss her. He cradled her head, feeling strands of her wet hair slide between his fingers. He couldn’t kiss her, not when she was so vulnerable.

  She surprised him by kissing the bottom of his chin. Then she kissed along the line of his jaw. Then the corner of his mouth. He held his breath. She slid her hands around his neck and her mouth, warm and soft, covered his. Her eyes were closed. No man could be expected to resist her, not in this moment. Not when his heart was racing and his head was spinning. Her tongue slid against his, and her hands slid down his bare back. He’d forgotten to put a shirt on, eager to get back downstairs and see how Kim was doing. As her hands moved over his skin, he was glad he’d forgotten. The honorable part of him that warned not to go too far was receding in his hazy brain as he lost himself in her.

  She pushed her robe back over her shoulders and moved closer. Because she continued to kiss him, he couldn’t see her, but he could feel her. His hands slid over her shoulders and down her arms. They flattened against her stomach and moved over the curves of her breasts. She inhaled softly as his thumbs brushed her nipples. He wanted to hear that sound again and again. He pushed her back on the bed as his body strained to be free of the cotton drawstring pants he’d thrown on.

  He felt dampness when his cheek brushed hers. It snapped the honorable part of his brain back to attention. Hers eyes were still closed, and tears mingled in her eyelashes.

  “You’re crying,” he whispered.

  She shook her head and kissed him even harder. She didn’t want him to see this side of her. Would she go all the way just to keep him from seeing her vulnerability? Kim probably would. He couldn’t let her. It edged way too close to taking advantage of her. As he continued to kiss her, lighter and lighter each time, he maneuvered her beneath the sheets. She probably thought he was going to slide in with her, but he covered her with the sheet that now separated them.

  He must be crazy; one part of his body thought so. She opened those hazy eyes and realized there was too much distance between them. The sheets barely covered those deliciously soft breasts he’d allowed himself to touch when he was out of his mind. Her hair was mussed, her cheeks flushed.

  Before she could say a word, he laid down beside her. He slung one leg over her, one arm over her shoulders, and pulled her against him.

  “Zell…” she said in her hoarse voice, plaintive, questioning, maybe even a little pleading.

  “Shhh.” He stroked her cheek, letting his fingers continue their stroking motion through her hair.

  He hoped she wouldn’t take his actions as rejection. His desire was plain enough, pressing against her thigh. More so, he hoped she wouldn’t test him further. He wouldn’t turn her down again. His body was disappointed when she closed her eyes. Then again, his body knew nothing of honor and responsibility. At least his mind did, and that had kept him out of trouble over the years.

  Before long she had fallen asleep. He continued touching her, because he couldn’t stop. She felt right lying there beside him. Of all the women he’d been involved with over the years, why this one? She had somehow gotten past his walls, but she had walls of her own.

  “Love stinks, love hurts, ain’t love a bitch, and love sucks,” he whispered as he traced the shell of her ear.

  He glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Even though he had to attend the meeting that he’d ordered, he couldn’t stop watching her—or thinking that someone had tried to kill her. Whoever it was would try again unless
Kim gave up and left town. He had a bad feeling she wouldn’t give up, not now. He had a really bad feeling that whoever had tried to kill her was someone he knew. Even worse, that it was someone in his own family.

  That thought finally pushed him out of bed. “Keep an eye on her, Oscar.” He threw on some clothes and headed to the main house. It was going to be a long night.

  CHAPTER 24

  Zell found Shar, Owen, Winn, and JoGene in the family room, each halfway through whatever they were drinking. Zell wanted a drink, too, but having a clear head was a better idea. Tullie had been put to bed, but he suspected the girl was lurking somewhere. He leaned against the fireplace mantle and waited for them to come to order.

  Winn was the first to speak. “JoGene says you’re making him fess up to Kim about what he did to the bar. That isn’t going to happen, especially in light of what happened tonight. Not only does it implicate him in the fire, it implicates the rest of us. Buck, too,” Winn added, because it was so damned important to protect the son-of-a-bitch.

  Zell narrowed his eyes at his father. “You should have thought about that before you got involved in all this.” He looked at JoGene, who was running his fingers through the oil slick on his brow. “Did you set the fire?”

  “Are you crazy? That’s murder, Zell.”

  Winn’s mouth was a firm, tight line. “No one here tried to kill that girl. I don’t want to hear any more questions like that out of your mouth. We’ve got to figure out our plan of action. She’s been digging into Rhonda’s murder again, we know that. Asking questions, talking to Ernest. Kinsey said she thinks Elva was murdered.”

  Owen said, “Elva wasn’t murdered. She fell out of her skiff. She was old, for Pete’s sake.”

  Winn said, “Doesn’t matter, you know how Kim is when she gets an idea in her head. She’s going to cause all of us some serious problems unless we get a handle on our stories.”

  More cover-ups. Zell was sick to death of covering up the truth. The alternative, though, was to confess his knowledge of the scheme to run Kim out of business, thus implicating them in the fire—and attempted murder. If he told the truth, he’d be turning on his family. He hated this. “I insist on JoGene making amends for what he’s done.”