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  He even remembered how she liked her coffee. She was in a ton of trouble here.

  He sat down across from her, his own mug cradled between his hands. “Max,” he said softly to get her attention.

  “Yes?”

  “Last night…was incredible.”

  Her heart fluttered painfully. “It was…good.”

  “Good?” His laughter was incredulous. “You’ve been great ever since you got on that airplane in Chicago. Jeez, that seems at least a hundred years ago.”

  It did to her, too. Had there ever been a time when she didn’t know him?

  His expression and tone turned serious. “I’ve been doing some serious thinking. This seems as good a time as any to confess that I’ve not been entirely straight with you.”

  She sat bolt upright in her stiff velvet chair, resisting the almost overwhelming desire to shout No! at the top of her lungs. Could she handle his secrets now with her emotions still trembling so near the surface? If she was dishonest with him—and she was—she wanted him to be equally dishonest. It made the whole thing cleaner somehow.

  But she couldn’t say that and he wasn’t looking at her anyway, instead staring down at the cup between his restless hands.

  “Okay,” he said suddenly, “this is what’s really going on with me, what I’ve been trying so hard to keep from you and everyone else. I have been careless with money.”

  This was news?

  “But not that careless.” He shifted restlessly on the sofa, as if he couldn’t get comfortable. “To explain how I could be as stupid as I was, I need to go back a long way. I had two real close college friends and we stayed close after we left school. One was Brian Kelly, who got married and went to work for the Boston Police Department. The other was Bill Overton, who went into his family’s business. Coconutty—ever hear of it? They make things out of coconuts, stuff like suntan oil and flavoring and candy, all kinds of things.”

  Hearing Bill Overton’s name said right out loud startled Maxi so much that she gasped. Was Rand really going to hand her the key to his own downfall and Helen’s vindication?

  “Bill was always a fast talker,” Rand went on, “a kind of con man. I knew it, but we were buddies and he never turned that on me. Eventually we more or less went our separate ways. Until he contacted me a couple of years ago, inviting me to invest in the family company he’d just inherited. The idea sounded good to me, and I’ve got to admit, it never even occurred to me to question his honesty. I didn’t know any reason I shouldn’t trust him.”

  He sighed and put his cup on the floor between his feet. She started to tell him to be careful, he’d kick it over and make a mess, but she didn’t want to distract him from his story.

  He hung his head. “Bill was about to take his company into Internet marketing,” he said. “Why not? Other completely unlikely companies were doing the same, like that cod liver oil company in Texas. He had answers to all my questions, but I still hesitated. I’d already gone through at least half of what Great-grandpa Randall had left me, plus…I had ongoing obligations.”

  His lips tightened. “Just about the time all this was going on, Brian the cop was shot to death in a drug bust. He didn’t have much family—he’d gone to college on good grades, not family money like Bill and me. Somebody had to give his widow and two kids a hand. In my own defense…” He grimaced. “Damn, I’m not trying to make excuses, but I was distracted. Bottom line, I sank several million I couldn’t afford in Bill’s big venture. And when he needed more, I provided that, too.”

  Maxi sucked in her breath. “A sure thing, I suppose.”

  “Oh, yeah, for Bill. A couple of months ago, he skipped with all the loot. Seems he’d been embezzling from the beginning, salting everything away in some Caribbean backwater—at least, that’s what the law thinks.” He grimaced. “I’m not the only one who got taken, but I was the biggest fool in the bunch, if you go by dollars and cents. There was a big to-do about it in the papers. Fortunately none of the investors were named. I don’t think anyone in my family even knows the name of my holding company, thank God.”

  “Why thank God?”

  “I’d just as soon my family and everybody else in the world don’t hear what a damn fool I’ve been.” He sounded properly disgusted. “Maybe now you understand why I need this ranch so much. In all likelihood, I’ll never see another penny of the Coconutty investment. If I know Bill, he’ll never set foot in this country again—and why should he? He’s got what he wanted.”

  “Bottom line—you still intend to sell the ranch,” she said faintly.

  “I have no choice.” The grim lines of his face deepened. “You know the worst part of it? Bill and that blond showgirl wife of his are lolling on some tropical island, drinking mai tais, while he laughs at the mess he left behind. I’d give anything I own—anything I have left, anyway—to get my hands on him for five minutes. Just five minutes…”

  Maxi’s stomach clenched into a knot. How much of this was true? Was any of it true?

  He looked straight into her eyes. “You believe me, don’t you?”

  “W-why wouldn’t I?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. You just had a funny expression on your face.”

  She improvised. “I was having trouble taking it all in. Are you sure you’re not leaving anything out?”

  He looked surprised. “Like what?”

  “I don’t know…maybe like…is there a woman involved? I mean besides the showgirl wife.”

  He frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “You must have had a girlfriend mixed up in there somewhere.”

  “Jeez,” he said. “No. Not only no, but hell no. I haven’t dated anyone steadily in more than a year.”

  “But I thought…” She faked a frown. “I thought you mentioned someone special in Chicago.”

  He shook his head. “That wasn’t me. I was in and out of Chicago to see Bill, but there was never time for anything else. I don’t know any women in Chicago, aside from Bill’s secretary, and I don’t even remember her name. I do recall she was good lookin’, but I got the strong impression she only had eyes for the boss.”

  Already fractured by doubt, Maxi felt the bottom fall out of her tight little world. She stared at him wordlessly.

  “Now that you mention it…” Rand considered. “I understand the police questioned her after Bill split. I got the feeling they weren’t real happy with her story. I don’t know if anything came of that, but last I heard, they were no closer to nabbing the guy than they were on day one. Although if he’s still getting legal advice from the same shyster lawyer, it should be easy to nab him.”

  Maxi thought she might be sick. She had to call Helen and get the truth.

  “You look funny,” Rand said, and he didn’t mean funny-haha. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “I’m fine.” She wasn’t; she just said that.

  “You’re upset about the ranch,” he guessed. “Look, Max, after that near-death experience with the hijackers, I’ve got to admit I’ve done some serious thinking. Finding myself back in the bosom of my family is enough to give me pause all by itself, but that’s all—pause. When the time comes, I’ll do what I have to do.”

  When the time comes, I’ll do what I have to do. The words reverberated along her nerve endings because they went double for her.

  AFTER A QUICK BREAKFAST, Rand went out to saddle a couple of horses for their daily ride, while Maxi darted upstairs to call Helen. With hands that trembled, she dialed the jail.

  Only to discover that Helen had been released on bail the previous day.

  Thank God! She dialed Helen’s apartment.

  Helen answered breathlessly on the first ring.

  “Helen, it’s me, Maxi.”

  “Oh.” Such disappointment in a single word.

  “Don’t sound so happy to hear from me.”

  “I am happy, Maxi, but I was expecting someone else.”

  “Obviously. How di
d you get out of jail?”

  “He paid my bail.”

  “He who?”

  Helen hesitated, then said, “Rand Taggart, of course.”

  Maxi sat down hard on the edge of the bed. “That’s a lie,” she said flatly.

  “Why—why—!” Helen sputtered. “Of course he did. You were the one who guessed that he and I—”

  “He and you what? And don’t tell me any phony stories about how he led you on and then left you to face the music alone.”

  “Why, Maxine Rafferty! How can you turn against your only sister this way? Who have you been talking to—that wretched lawyer?”

  Obviously R. Renwood Keever hadn’t told Helen that Maxi was spying on Rand. “It’s not important how I know,” Maxi said. “I just do. Bill Overton paid your bail. He’s the one you’re involved with.”

  “Not the way you mean,” Helen huffed. “Rand Taggart bailed me out, I tell you. There’s nothing between me and Bill.”

  “Oh, Helen! I wish I could believe you, but I don’t. Bill Overton’s using you. He’s already married.”

  A clearly audible gasp preceded hot words: “He’s not married! He said when this was over, he and I would go away and—”

  Helen shut up abruptly, but it was too late. Maxi knew.

  “Helen, how can you do this? You’re not the kind of person who’d try to frame an innocent man.”

  “Rand Taggart is not innocent! If you only knew how he’s treated Bill, lording it over him because of all his money. So what if Bill takes a little? Rand Taggart has plenty more where that came from.”

  “You don’t know that, not that it matters. Bill Overton is the crook. I can’t believe you helped him get away with millions.”

  The silence lengthened. Then Helen said, “Bill didn’t exactly get away with millions. There’s the matter of a certain little safe-deposit key.”

  Maxi wanted to cry with frustration. “If you’ve got Bill’s safe-deposit key, you have to give it to the police immediately.”

  “Why? It doesn’t belong to them.”

  “Helen, listen to me. Give the key to the police before Bill shows up and takes it. You’ll be protected if you do.”

  “I don’t need protection—not from Bill. He loves me. He wouldn’t—”

  “He would! He almost has to, if he doesn’t want to explain you to his wife.”

  “How many times do I have to tell you, he’s not married!”

  “He is married, and as long as you have that key, you’re in danger. He could show up at your door any minute and—”

  “Why should he show up here when I’m meeting him in Las Vegas.”

  Maxi froze. “Oh my God, when?”

  “None of your business!”

  “I’ll come home to Chicago Sunday night.” After Rand’s birthday. “I’m sure I can talk sense to you if—”

  “Too late.”

  “Helen!”

  “Don’t yell at me. I know what I’m doing. But if it would make you feel any better…”

  “What?” Maxi grasped at straws.

  “M-maybe you’d like to meet me in Las Vegas. It’s not that I’m worried or anything—I’m not, I’m truly not. I know Bill loves me….”

  “You don’t know that at all. I can hear the worry in your voice.”

  “That isn’t worry. It’s just that we’ve been apart and I don’t know what’s been happening with him.” Helen hesitated. “He isn’t married, Maxi. I know he isn’t.”

  “What if he wants the key but not you?”

  “I’ll never believe that…but just in case…I would feel better if you were there, Maxi. You’re my sister. I can trust you when I can’t trust anyone else.”

  “Of course you can trust me, but—”

  “You’d never betray me. Not me, the sister who practically raised you, who kept you out of foster homes, who—”

  “That’s enough.” More than enough. Maxi felt sick all over again.

  “I want you to know everything because I trust you. Bill’s registering at the Double Play Hotel and Casino under the name Brian Kelly, which I think was someone he used to know. I’ll be flying in at eleven Saturday night. I should be at his hotel by midnight with the key.”

  “Don’t do this.”

  “I have to. If you love me, meet me at the airport at eleven and we’ll go to the hotel together. That way you can see for yourself that Bill and I love each other. Will you do it?”

  Maxi groaned, thinking about Rand, thinking about the danger to her sister. “I don’t see how I can,” she said at last.

  “I don’t see how you can’t. You owe me.”

  With a click, the line went dead, and with it, Maxi’s hopes.

  MAXI WRESTLED with her dilemma all day: her sister or the man for whom she’d developed such deep feelings. Maybe she could sneak away long enough to meet Helen in Las Vegas and still be back in time for Rand’s birthday showdown…or maybe she should confess everything to Rand. But that would surely risk her sister’s future. It seemed as if every choice would destroy one of the two people she loved. Even doing nothing was a choice.

  Whatever she did, could she live with herself afterward?

  She argued with herself constantly. There was no guarantee Rand could do anything even if she told him. Plus, the police would surely get involved and Helen would be back in jail, this time perhaps for good.

  The most telling reason of all to keep quiet was that Rand would hate her forever.

  Of course, when all her secrets were revealed, he’d hate her anyway. Was there the slightest chance he wouldn’t have to find out? Maybe after his birthday, after he’d gained—or lost—his inheritance, she could simply disappear and no one would ever have to know the extent of her duplicity.

  Ah, but it was hard to think of simply going away—so she wouldn’t. Nor would she continue to wrestle with her conscience. These days were too precious. She had plenty of time to decide what to do, she conned herself into believing.

  Each day she and Rand grew closer. They shared long lovely horseback rides and explored every nook and cranny in the house and barn. Best of all, they were completely alone…almost like real honeymooners.

  It was heaven, as long as she clung to her vow not to think.

  If her days were heaven, the nights were paradise. After dinner, they’d sit on the front steps talking and looking at the stars until, with an exaggerated yawn, he’d hold out his hand to her.

  And she…she always took it. In his arms, she was happy. Only later, while he slept beside her, did her secrets overwhelm her.

  But inevitably Friday rolled around. Maxi still didn’t know what she was going to do, having flip-flopped at least a dozen times. When they strolled to the corrals after breakfast, she was still in a quandary.

  “You’re distracted,” he said.

  She sighed. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. Maybe you’d rather talk than ride.”

  “God, no. I mean, I look forward to our rides.”

  He halted suddenly, bending down to drag something from the fringe of weeds growing beside the barn. Straightening, he offered it to her with a smile.

  It was a Rocking T branding iron, rusty and forgotten. She took it from him, tears welling in her eyes. It looked so unloved and unappreciated, this symbol of family history.

  “Hey!” He lifted her glasses from their perch on her nose, the glasses she didn’t need except as part of her disguise. “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing. Really.” She swallowed hard and forced a smile. “How about giving back my glasses?”

  “Your eyes are too beautiful to hide.” He tightened his hold on her, the glasses dangling from his fingers as the branding iron dangled from hers. “Don’t let anything make you sad, Max. We don’t have time for that.”

  “We don’t have time for much of anything.”

  “We have time for kisses,” he said.

  And so she kissed him, and it became one of those long, leisurely kis
ses they shared these days on a regular basis.

  And she hated herself for it.

  THEY RODE OUT much later, over rolling green hills and past grazing herds of curious longhorns. These surroundings were already becoming familiar to her. A couple of riders in the distance lifted their arms in greeting and she waved back, knowing they were Rocking T riders giving the newlyweds a wide berth.

  Circling back on an unfamiliar rutted trail, they pulled up their horses on a small hillock overlooking the ranch buildings from the back. Maxi drew in a deep breath of clean fresh country air. Bracing her hands on the saddle horn, she stood in the stirrups to glance around.

  She was actually starting to like horses and feel comfortable around them. Within another month she might actually—

  Her hand froze in midmotion above her horse’s neck. She wouldn’t be here for another month and neither would Rand.

  Lifting the reins, she started to turn her horse, when something against the trees caught her attention. “Is that a graveyard?” she asked.

  “Sure is.” Rand, in faded jeans and well-worn boots, looked as if he’d never traveled a step outside of Texas. “Most of the Taggarts are buried there, starting with Jesse Daniel, who was Thom T.’s great-grandpa. My grandpa Travis is there—he died before I was born—and lots more Taggarts.”

  She twisted toward him in the saddle in time to see a hunger in his face that had never been there before. Whatever he might say, Rand Taggart’s heritage was important to him.

  And he was going to sell it?

  Maybe he wouldn’t have to do this awful thing if he could catch Bill Overton red-handed and recover what was rightfully his. There was a chance, wasn’t there?

  If Maxi talked, that is.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “RAND.” Maxi drew a shuddering breath. “I’ve got to talk to you.”

  Rand put his dish towel on the kitchen counter and looked at Max with relief. She’d been tense and taciturn ever since she’d seen the family cemetery. Maybe she was one of those people who couldn’t handle death, even at a distance. If so, he’d be disappointed, but he’d also be relieved to know what was bothering her.