"How does that feel?" Katie quietly asked.
Callie felt Katie's warm breath close to her ear. "Great," she murmured. "I never had a massage before. Guess I'll have to keep you around."
"I don't mind. Just call me whenever you need one."
Callie closed her eyes as Katie's hands moved over her entire back. She sucked in her breath as those intense hands continued touching her throbbing body longing to turn over and pull Katie down on top of her but knew she couldn't do that. When Katie was finished, Callie could still feel the sensation from her touch, and couldn't recall ever feeling so relaxed and peaceful.
"You have a visitor," he said quietly.
"No one knows I'm here." She started to tremble. "Oh my God! I hope the press hasn't found out where I am."
He laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's Clare Christian."
Ally's hand flew to her mouth. "Clare's here?" she exclaimed. "Where is she?"
He opened the door and motioned for the woman. Clare walked into the room and over to Ally, quickly enclosing her in her arms. He closed the door and stood silently watching the women.
Tears filled Ally's eyes. "Oh my, God, Clare, you don't know how I've needed you, but how did you find out?"
She softly laughed. "Sweetheart, when I didn't hear from you I knew something terrible must have happened. Then when I read in the papers that you'd resigned I knew something was wrong. I've been trying to find you for so long. Last night I broke down and called Michael. I insisted he tell me your whereabouts."
"I thought you'd be the last person he'd tell."
"He knows I'll never leave you, Ally, unless you ask me to."
She touched her cheek. "That will never happen, Clare."
Jordan laid a hand on Samantha's trembling shoulder. "Stay away from her, Samantha," she warned. "What you had with her is over. You can't help her anymore. God knows you tried, but you can't change someone who doesn't want to be changed."
Samantha quietly closed the door behind Jordan, and then walked back into her living room. She paced the floor for a few minutes before wearily sinking into a chair. She shivered as an icy chill enveloped her. Her mind was traumatized by Jordan's news. She knew firsthand how livid J.C. could become when she was provoked, but she also knew the tender, sweeter side of her. There was no way in hell anyone could ever convince her that J.C. was capable of murder. She had to find out the truth about what really happened.
Zinna was immediately sorry that she'd mentioned Megan. "Oh, just a friend," she answered quickly.
Charity studied her, making Zinna uncomfortable.
"We've been friends since high school."
"Megan's still in Buffalo?"
She shook her head. "Rochester."
"You went to school in Buffalo, though?"
"Yes, but Megan and I moved to Rochester after high school. She's still there."
Charity looked evenly at her. "Maybe she'll come for a visit sometime."
"Maybe," Zinna replied.
Rachel noticed Angela's demeanor as her friend sat rigid with her lips tightly pursed in disgust. "Okay, level with me, Angela. What is it with you two?"
Angela's eyes flashed angrily. "She's bad news. She enjoys chewing people up and spitting them out. She's a user and she's dangerous. No one's feelings, but her own are of any importance to her," she bitterly replied.
Rachel's eyes clouded. "Did she do something to hurt you?"
Angela looked down at her folded hands and seemed to be concentrating on the simple ring she wore on the pinkie finger of her right hand. Finally, she raised her eyes to Rachel's. "Yes. She almost destroyed my life."
Extasy Books
All Romance Ebooks
Amazon
"The name does sound vaguely familiar, but I don't remember him." She tensed. "Why would I? I was just a little kid when he went to prison." Her eyes narrowed as she looked again at George. "What's going on? Level with me, George, what are you not telling me? If I'm somehow connected to this piece of garbage, I have a right to know." She thought her chest would explode as the adrenalin gushed through her body making her movements jerky. She hoped to God she wasn't related to this monster. Could he be some relative her parents had disowned and never wanted her to know about? From what she read in his record she certainly wouldn't have blamed them if that was what had happened.
The sheriff shifted his heavy body and then rubbed his stubbly jaw thoughtfully before exhaling loudly. He kept his eyes level with hers. "Frankie, the reason I called you two in is because Carson Fellows was released from prison six months ago." His jaw tightened. "He's recently threatened to take care of those who put him in prison and now he's disappeared. His parole officer hasn't heard from him in weeks and he's left no paper trail."
Her eyes widened. The way George was looking at her, with so much sympathy in his eyes, caused her throat to constrict and her blood to run cold. What was he holding back? Why didn't he just come right out and tell her what the hell was going on? If she could manage to keep her own emotions in check, he'd tell her. He was gauging her reaction and preparing her for bad news. The more she looked into his eyes she finally saw something else there, too. Something he was trying hard to hide, but failing miserably at. Fear mixed with a good dose of sympathy. She'd never seen Sheriff George Ryker emit an emotion of fear before this moment. It made her uncomfortable. Why would George be afraid of an ex-con on the run? And what did that monster have to do with her?
"You can speak freely in front of Mom, George. After what's she's witnessed tonight I don't think anything will shock her now."
George rubbed his tired eyes. "I ran a quick background check, but nothing turned up to verify anything the parents said about their son. I'm going to run a more in-depth check as soon as I get back to the office."
"What about the parents…anything on them?" Frankie asked.
"The Burrows' moved here about two months ago from Alabama. They've lived in four different states in the past five years."
Johanna frowned. "That's quite a lot of moving around the country. Is Burrows in the military?"
He shook his head as he picked his coffee cup back up. "No. I have a gut feeling about him. Something doesn't smell right."
"Where does he work?" Johanna asked as she sipped at her coffee.
"Clyde Burrows picks up odd jobs wherever he can find them. Now his background check brought up many arrests…mostly for shoplifting, theft and petty crimes, but he did serve time for a home invasion a few years ago in Arkansas. He claimed he didn't know the family was home, panicked, and pulled a gun on them. Through some legal loophole he was released early and moved his family to Alabama."
