Sweet Liar Part 7

For some odd reason, Dave had insisted that Mike stay in Samanthaas room, not in the guest room. When Mike saw the room, he had laughed, for it was a childas room.

aSamantha and her mother picked out everything together,a Dave said with a smile and a fond look about the room.

It was on the tip of Mikeas tongue to point out that Samanthaas mother had died when Sam was twelve, but he hadnat. Head set his suitcase down on the rug that had little pink and white ballerinas dancing across it and looked at the bed: a white four-poster draped in gauzy pink cloth tied back with big pink bows. There was a little dressing table against one wall, draped in white-dotted swiss, the top of it covered with a childas dresser set. Looking about, Mike expected a ten-year-old girl to walk in the room at any moment.

Yet he knew Samantha had lived in this room until shead left with her husband. Opening the closet door, he expected to find frilly little dresses, but instead there were adult clothes: boring, shapeless, obsessively neat clothes, but clothes sized for an adult.

Over the next few weeks, Mikeas curiosity about this daughter who grew up in a childas room increased. Dave had pain pills that made him sleep a great deal, so Mike had time on his hands that he used to explore Samanthaas room. At first he did so tentatively, knowing that what he was doing was none of his business, but as the days followed and he had little else to do, he grew less embarra.s.sed at looking through drawers and cabinets.

Dave described his daughter as a feisty, opinionated, go-getter. If that was so, why had she spent all those years living in a childas room?

When Mike found a sc.r.a.pbook kept by Samantha, he looked through it with interest. Shead cut out pictures of movie stars and rock singers; there were a couple of pressed flowers. It all seemed normal for a twelve-year-olda"except that ten pages from the back of the book was a clipping from a newspaper: an obituary of her mother. After that there was nothing else in the book. Search as he might, he could find no sc.r.a.pbooks that dated after her motheras death.

He found five diaries written by Samantha, all of them written in a childas round hand, all of them full of whispered secrets with other girls and who she loved at the moment and who her friends loved. She wrote of fights with her mother and how wonderful her father was.

Smiling, Mike remembered how, as a child, all his fights had been with his father. His mother was a saint, and he couldnat understand why his sisters sometimes got angry at her.

There were no diaries after 1975, after Allison Elliot died.

By the end of his monthas stay, Mike was more puzzled than ever by what head found in the Elliot house. Sometimes it seemed as though Samantha and her father had stopped counting time on the day Allison had died. Dave talked about Samantha as a child, telling stories of her only during her first twelve years. He never mentioned what she had done during high school or when shead lived at home and gone to the University of Louisville.

Mike had asked questions about Samantha, pointed questions, about her life after her motheras death, but head never been given any direct answers. Dave had been vague, often changing the subject.

It had been Mike who had insisted that Dave allow him to tell Samantha that he was dying. Mike said it wasnat fair to Sam not to know about her own father. At last Dave had agreed, but then, oddly enough, Dave had insisted that Mike not meet Samantha. He said Samantha could be told, but he didnat want Mike to do it, didnat want Mike calling her, and he wanted Mike out of the house when she arrived.

Mike couldnat help being hurt by this p.r.o.nouncement. It was as though Dave thought Mike was an unsavory character, not good enough for his precious daughter. But Mike had done what Dave wanted and asked a neighbor to call Samantha, then Mike had boarded a plane and gone back to New York.

Two weeks later, Dave had called Mike and told him he was sending Samantha to him to take care of after he was gone. The way Dave sounded, he could have been talking about an orphaned childa"or an express package.

Reluctantly, Mike had agreed to turn Daveas apartment over to Samantha, but truthfully, Mike had been dreading dealing with her. She must have a case of arrested development if her little-girl room was any indication of her personality.

But the woman he had met and the girl head been expecting were two different creatures. One moment she was hot and full of pa.s.sion; she was the little girl in the diaries who wrote of arguments and escapades. The next moment she was terrified of her own shadow. And the next she was cold and hard, shutting the world out, not allowing anyone near her.

Yet, he thought, she wasnat cold and hard. She fought him; she pushed him away at every opportunity, but sometimes she looked at him with such need and longing in her eyes that he didnat know whether to reach for her or run away.

The day head bought her those clothes, she had looked at him with such grat.i.tude that head almost been embarra.s.sed. Most women would have been happy about the clothes, but Samantha had been more than happy. In fact, it wasnat the clothes that had delighted her, butathe attention? he wondered. It was almost as though she were grateful that someone had acknowledged that she was alive. He wasnat sure what had given her so much pleasure that day, but something had.

What happened to her after her mother died? he wondered. What had changed her from a normal, outgoing, gregarious child who had friends and went to parties to a young woman who could spend weeks sleeping?

Now, she was clinging to him in a way that head never seen or felt in another person. Yes, she was frightened, and, yes, she had every reason to be, but there was something more to the way she clung to him. It was as though she needed him.

Maybe wanting to get away from his hometown was one of the reasons Mike had moved to New York, that and wanting to go to a place where he wasnat aone of the Taggertsa but a person in his own right. A place where he could be an individual, not part of the pack.

Smiling, Mike stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. When you grew up in a family as large as his, feeling that you were needed was not something you experienced very often. Early in life you found out that if you didnat do something, there were others to do it. If you didnat feed the horses, someone else would. If someone was upset there were at least a dozen people to offer comfort. As far as he could remember, no one had ever said, aOnly Mike can do this job,a or aI need Mike and no one else.a Even in school girls had been as content to have one of his brothers as to have him. It didnat seem to make any difference to them.

But Samantha needed him, he thought, trying to pull her closer. She didnat need his money; she didnat need his body; she needed him.

He clutched her to him. Before head met her, when he thought of her living in his house, head thought of her as an obligation, a burden, actually, rather like a permanent blind date. Then, for a while, his only objective had been to get her into bed, and shead rather forcefully told him she wasnat interesteda"forcefully, h.e.l.l, he thought, she had been snide and nasty and downright insulting. He had lost interest in her for a while, letting her stay in her room and sleep. Head allowed her to do whatever she wanted. Then Daphne had made him realize that Samantha wasnat just sleeping.

Mike put his hand over her ear. She was so small and so alone and maybe it was his vanity, but he felt as though head saved her life twice, once when head kept her from asleeping forevera as Daphne called it and tonight when head had to break down a door to get to her. Tomorrow head have the windows measured for steel grills, grills to keep her safe.

aYouare going to be safe, baby,a he whispered. aIall keep you safe.a And Iall make you laugh, he thought. And Iall make you stop moving away from me when I reach out to touch you.

It was a while before Samantha could stop shaking, before she could breathe enough to think. Opening her eyes, she looked out the bedroom door. Down the hall, she could see the hole in the apartment door, the hole Mike had had to make to reach through the door to unlock it.

aHowa?a she whispered, wincing at the pain in her throat. She was clinging to him, holding him as tightly as possible, as he was holding her. She didnat want to think about her fear, fear that was making her quiver.

aI heard you,a Mike said. aI heard the thumps on the wall and I knew something was wrong. I thought maybe youad fallen or hurt yourself. I didnat thinka"a He wasnat going to tell her what head felt when head seen the b.a.s.t.a.r.d trying to kill her. Now he marveled that he hadnat killed the man on sight, but his number one priority had been to get back to Sam, to make sure that she was all right, and he hadnat wanted to waste even a second pummeling the guy.

aJust be still,a he said softly. aBlair will be here in a few minutes. I want her to look at you and make sure youare all right.a aA cousin?a Samantha managed to choke out, pulling her head back to smile up at him.

Mike didnat return her smile. Now that his immediate fear for her was under control, he could think. When head seen the man hanging over Sam, he hadnat given any thought as to why the man was there or why he was trying to kill her. Mikeas only concern had been to save Sam, but now he wondered why the robber had been trying to kill her. Why couldnat he have taken what he wanted from her jewelry box or whatever without trying to commit murder?

aSam?a She moved her head against his chest. A few minutes ago she had been fighting for her life and now shead never felt so safe.

aDid the man say anything to you? Did he call you by name or say anything to you?a She shook her head no. Vaguely, she remembered the man saying something, but she didnat want to remember what it was. Right now she wanted to forget everything that had happened.

Her answer seemed to please him because she could feel Mike relax against her when she told him no. When he put his hands on the side of her face and looked at her, she smiled at him and he smiled back.

aI wouldnat like for anything to happen to you, Sammy-girl,a he said, kissing her on the forehead as he put her head back down on his chest.

A moment later the doorbell rang, and Mike gently laid her back against the pillows as he ran down the stairs. Soon a pretty young woman carrying a medical bag came into the room, then professionally, expertly, she examined Samanthaas throat. As she did so, she talked to Mike who stood behind her, wearing only his very small cotton underwear, seemingly unconcerned at being nearly nude before two women.

aWhat happened?a Blair asked as she ran her fingers along the back of Samanthaas neck.

aSome creep came in through the window,a Mike answered. aMaybe Sam woke up and caught him rifling her jewelry box, I donat know.a Samantha shook her head. aI wasaasleep,a she said, frowning because it hurt to talk.

Mike didnat like to hear that, but maybe Samantha had moved or turned over, something to give the creep a reason to try to kill her. He didnat want to think that the man was a new serial killer. The Town House Murderer, maybe. Looking at the windows, he thought of what type of grills head order for them, but then he saw Samas suitcase on the floor and knew that there was no reason for grills: She was going to leave in the morning.

Blair finished her examination. aI think youall be fine. Just rest and donat talk. Iall give you a sedative so you can sleep tonight.a Nodding, Samantha took the pills the doctor gave her and drank from the cup that Mike held to her lips. Then her eyes widened as Mike scooped her up, blankets and all, and started down the hall with her.

aYou spend tonight downstairs where I can watch over you,a he said, and Samantha gave him no argument. She doubted that any sedative in the world would make her sleep comfortably tonight, knowing shead lie awake imagining every shadow to be a man or men who wanted to kill her.

Downstairs, Mike put her in his bed, tucking her in as though she were a child, then went off with his pretty cousin and Samantha could hear them talking softly. Sam closed her eyes, feeling drowsy.

aHow is she?a Mike asked his cousin.

aFine,a Blair answered. aSheas strong and healthy, and there was no real damage done. Sheall be fine in a day or two, a sore throat but nothing else.a Snapping her medical bag closed, she looked up at him. aMike, itas none of my business, buta"a aAre you going to start asking me what she is to me? That sort of thing? I can honestly say that I donat know.a aI had no intention of asking you anything about your personal life,a she snapped, making Mike grin. aDoesnat it seem odd to you that Samantha isnat crying? If someone had tried to kill me, Iad be bawling buckets full. You donat think sheas in shock, do you?a Mike didnat know what to say, but now that he thought of it, maybe it was a little odd that she wasnat crying. His sisters seemed to cry over everything in the world. aI donat know. Maybe she cries in private.a aMaybe,a Blair said. aBut keep an eye on her. If she doesnat react to this tomorrow, call me. You may want to get her to see someone.a aA shrink?a aYes,a Blair answered. Then, as Mike thanked her for coming over in the middle of the night, she said, aLet me look at your head. Iall take the st.i.tches out next week.a As she looked at his wound in the bright hall light, she said, aYou seem to have had a great many accidents in the last few days. First someone creams you with a rock, and now someone tries to kill the young lady who lives in your house. You donat think the two are related, do you?a aNo, of course not,a Mike said. But even Blair heard the false note in his voice.

aMmmmm,a she said as she kissed his cheek, then left the town house.

The frown left Mikeas face when he went back to his bedroom and saw Sam curled in his bedclothes. Dreamily, she looked up at him, and he went to sit on the edge of the bed and picked up her hand. She was still wearing the engagement ring he had put on her finger.

aThe manaa a.s.sssh, donat talk.a She smiled when Mike kissed the palm of her hand. aHe said, aWhere is Half Handas money?a a It was a good thing her eyes were closed or she would have seen the terror on Mikeas face; she would have seen the fear that came into his eyes.

14.

aG ood morning,a Mike said brightly as he put the white wicker tray across Samanthaas lap.

Sleepily, with the dull-brained feeling one has after taking sleeping pills the night before, she sat up in bed, wincing when she tried to swallow.

aI have vanilla yogurt, crushed strawberries, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. There are croissants too if your throat is up to it.a She frowned at him. He seemed awfully cheerful this morning after someone had tried to kill her last night.

She lifted a spoonful of yogurt to her lips and then frowned more at the pain in her throat when she tried to swallow, but Mike didnat seem to notice. He sat down on the edge of the beda"the way they often seemed to share mealsa"and ate a couple of strawberries.

aYou know, Sam, I was thinking.a She opened her mouth to make a wisecrack, but it hurt too much to talk.

aI was thinking that youare right, that Iave not taken into consideration what you want and what youave been through. Your father died recently, and a divorce must be an awful thing. On top of all that your father writes that will that makes you have to move to a city you hate and do something you donat want to do. It must have been terrible for you.a Samantha was watching him, and every cynical thought shead ever had came into her mind. In her experience, when a man started projecting himself into a womanas feelings, he wanted something. She gave Mike an encouraging smile that she hoped looked full of self-pity.

aYes, well, I was thinking that you need a vacation, a real vacation. Somewhere cool, away from the heat of New York. Somewhere by the ocean maybe. So, last night I talked to Rainea"you remember him, donat you? My cousin you seemed so taken with? Anyway, Raine is going up to Warbrooke, thatas a town in Maine. Itas on the end of a peninsula and absolutely beautiful. Raine will be there with his whole family, and they have a guesthouse thatas a wonderful place. You can rest and read and go out on boats and catch things out of the water and do whatever you want. You can spend the whole summer there if you want. I was so sure that youad like this idea that Raine is coming by this afternoon to pick you up to drive you to Warbrooke. Doesnat this all sound great?a While he was talking, Samantha was looking at him. His eyes were red-rimmed, as though he hadnat slept all night and, too, there was something in his eyes that she hadnat seen before. Why was he so intent on getting her out of the city? Why was he sending her away with a man who a few days ago he had been jealous of?

He was sending her to a tiny remote town on the edge of a peninsula, a place where his relatives could look out for her and could take over the care of her. She didnat for a minute believe that Mike was sending her away because he believed she needed a rest. A few days ago he seemed to think that what she needed was the opposite of rest.

Thinking about last night, she tried to remember everything she could about what had happened. Mike kept talking, telling her about a town he had previously described as nothing but a lot of water. Now he was telling her it was paradise, and that his Montgomery relatives were the kindest, sweetest people on earth. It was his repeated use of the phrase atheyall take care of youa that made her suspicious.

She reached across the tray to the bedside table to the notepad and pencil there.

Who is Half Hand? she wrote.

Tearing off the note, she handed it to Mike. When she saw him turn white, she knew that in this question was the answer to a great deal.

aYou have very nice handwriting, you know that? Nice round aas and oas. I tend to close mine.a Who is Half Hand? she wrote again and handed him the note.

Mike looked like a trapped man. He lay back on the bed, his eyes scrunched closed, as though in great agony. aSamantha,a he said tiredly, and she was beginning to realize that he called her Samantha only when he was annoyed with her. aSamantha, this is not a parlor game. This is real and itas dangerous. I didnat have any idea that it was dangerous or I wouldnat have involved you, but now all I can do is get you out of here and into a safe place.a If you donat tell me who Half Hand is, I will call my grandfather and ask him, she wrote.

Mikeas face lost its look of agony; now she saw real fear in his eyes. aYou donat know what youare saying,a he said softly in that tone a person uses when theyare trying not to explode with rage. aYou have to swear to me that you wonat call that b.a.s.t.a.r.d.a Samantha frowned. He is my grandfather!!! she wrote.

Getting off the bed, Mike paced the room for a few minutes. aSam, I made a mistake, a big one. I told you from the beginning that I thought your fatheras will was rotten and I should have done what I knew was right: I should have released your money without taking you to meet Barrett. But I was greedy; I wanted to meet him. No oneas seen him in years and Ia"a Breaking off, he wiped his hand over his eyes. aI donat know if Barrett is your grandfather or not, but I know what kind of man he is. I havenat told you much about hima"I purposely didnat tell you because I was afraid youad refuse to meet him if I told you the truth. And now Iam paying for it.a Removing the tray from across her lap, he sat back down on the bed, then took her hand in his. aYou keep telling me that I lie to you. Maybe I have, but I thought I had a good reason.a He touched the bruises on her neck. aYou could have been killed last night, and it would have been my fault,a he said softly. aI should have told you everything from the first and I should have given you your money immediately after your father died. I shouldnat even have allowed you to come to New York.a Putting her hand out, she took his, for he was genuinely upset about what had almost happened to her. When he looked at her, she smiled at him, but he didnat smile back.

aIf I tell you what I know, will you leave the city? Will you go with my cousin and stay under his familyas protection until I can solve this thing?a How could she promise something like that? She didnat yet know what he was talking about. She thought a burglar had tried to kill her, but now she was beginning to understand that the man had wanted her specifically. Why? What did he think she knew that she should be killed for it?

Seeing her reluctance, Mike understood it. Maybe he didnat deserve her trust since head used her to get to see an old man. Mike swallowed. No book in the world was worth nearly causing the death of another human being.

aFirst I want to tell you about Barrett,a he said softly. aI want to make you understand what kind of man he is. Sam, I donat want you to glorify this man. Just because he may or may not be your relative is no reason to endow him with G.o.dlike characteristics.a His lips tightened at the look on her face and at the way she scribbled furiously on the pad of paper.

He may have done some bad things in the past, buta"she wrote.

He grabbed her hands before she could finish the sentence and held her wrists tightly for a second, but he released them, then calmed himself. aYouave heard him called Doc, havenat you? Do you have any idea why heas called Doc? No, donat answer me. Youall probably say that he was given an honorary Ph.D. somewhere.a Pausing, Mike looked at her hard. aHeas called Doc because itas a nickname for his real nickname. Heas called the Surgeon.a She turned her head away from him, but Mike cupped her chin and turned her back to look at him.

aI donat care whether you want to hear or not, because Iam going to tell you anyway. When Barrett was nine years old, his prost.i.tute mother abandoned him. I doubt if anyone ever knew who his father was. But whatever his mother was, Barrett seems to have been devoted to her, so maybe it unhinged him when she just walked out. For years the skinny little kid did what he could to survive. For the first year he nearly starved, but then he stole a cooking knife from a restaurant kitchen and learned to use it. There was a story that I couldnat verify that said he chopped off the fingers of another kid who tried to take food from the garbage can that Doc considered his.a aNo,a Samantha whispered, putting her hand to her throat in pain.

Mike continued. aWhen Barrett was fourteen, he was so malnourished he looked as though he were ten and he was sick of living hand to mouth every day. Scalpini was the crime boss of that day so Barrett decided to work for him. Barrett had a h.e.l.l of a time getting through Scalpinias bodyguards, but he did one night just as Scalpini was sitting down to dinner at his favorite Italian restaurant. The bodyguards tried to kick Barrett out, but Scalpini said he wanted to hear what the kid had to say. Barrett said he wanted to work for Scalpini, that he would do anything for him, anything at all. All of them, including Scalpini, laughed at this kid who looked to be a child, but Scalpini, still laughing, said, aBring me Guzzoas heart, kid, and you got a job.a a Again, Samantha looked away from him. She wasnat sure where he was going with his story, but she knew that she didnat want to hear it. Mike didnat say a word until she looked back at him.

aThe next day, when Scalpini sat down to dinner, this scrawny, dirty kid tried to get through the bodyguards. Scalpini, probably liking the kidas perseverance and hero worship, waved him through. Barrett took a b.l.o.o.d.y ball of newspaper out of his jacket pocket and tossed it onto Scalpinias plate. Scalpini opened it and inside was a human heart.a Samantha didnat say a word for a while, just sat there looking at him, feeling the blood draining from her face. aHow?a she whispered.

aFive days a week at four oaclock Guzzo visited his mistress for exactly one and a half hours. He liked to pretend he was making love to her for all of that time, but everyone knew the truth. He hardly ever touched the woman; his snores could be heard two blocks away. Barrett was so scrawny he slipped down the chimney into the bedroom, slit the manas throat while he slept, then cut out his heart. A few minutes later his mistress came into the room, saw her lover with a cut throat and a gaping, b.l.o.o.d.y hole in his chest, and started screaming. In the ensuing confusion, Barrett walked out the front door, stopping only long enough to wash some of the soot off his face and hands before he made his delivery to Scalpini. One of the bodyguards said the heart looked like it had been removed by a surgeon, and thatas how Barrett got his nickname. Over the years the nameas been dignified to Doc.a Mike stretched out on the bed, waiting, giving her time to digest what head just told her. aWith what little Iave been able to find out about Doc, I know that most of that story he told you yesterday was a lie. Or, maybe not a lie, just a stretching of the truth.

aFirst of all, Doc was trying to get your sympathy with all that about its being the Great Depression: 1928 was before the stock market crashed. Secondly, on that night when Scalpini shot up the speakeasy, it wasnat because Docas receipts for that day had been especially good. It was because Doc had raided every safe, every till Scalpini had. The take was in the neighborhood of three million dollars.a When Mike turned to look at her, he saw that Samantha was listening, wide-eyed, to his story. aThe man who picked up all the money from Scalpini was Docas friend, the man Doc told you was the only man he had ever trusted: Joe, better known as Half Hand Joe.a Mike gave a little grin. aWant to know how Joe got his nickname?a Samantha shook her head no, but that didnat stop Mike from telling her.

aHalf Hand was older than Doc and as slow-witted as Doc was fast. No one knows whether Joe was born slow or came to be that way, because his fatheras hobby was. .h.i.tting Joe on the head with whatever was handy. Joe met Doc when Joe was seventeen and Doc was ten, and Joe attached himself to Doc like a faithful old dog. When Doc started working for Scalpini, so did Joe. They went everywhere together, did everything together. When some rival hoods fired on Doc with machine guns, Joe pushed his little buddy aside. Joe took four bullets in the outside of his left hand and blew it away.a Mike held up his left hand to demonstrate, showing how Half Hand was left with two fingers and a thumb. aHe was called Half Hand after that night, and he was even more dedicated to Doc than ever. Itas my guess that Half Hand realized that his future depended on Docas safety, so he began sleeping outside Docas door at night.a Mike took a breath. aThen came that night in 1928 and everything changed. Doc wanted to be the head of all the illegal businesses going on in New York, and in order to do that he had to get rid of Scalpini. Doc spent months planning the robbery and the killings it entailed. Everything went off on schedule except that Scalpini didnat wait to find out who had robbed him, he just took some of his boys and went to the speakeasy and opened fire. But they didnat get Doc. But they did kill Joea"Joe who was the only one who knew where the three million dollars was hidden.a Mike didnat speak for a moment, so Samantha wrote, Why me? and handed him the note.

Mike looked pained. aI donat know why I didnat think about others knowing the old story. In underworld circles the legend of Half Handas money is like the Lost Dutchman Mine. There are a great many people who suspect that Maxie took it and thatas why she disappeared that night. She wanted to get away from Doc and the gang; she saw an opportunity and she took it. Doc told you that Half Hand took a bullet in the head and died instantly. Some people said that Half Hand had been hit in the head so often by his father that a bullet couldnat pierce his skull. They say that he lived long enough to tell Maxie where the money was.a Turning, Mike looked at her. aWhat neither Doc nor Scalpini knew until years later was that the money they had, had been marked by the FBI. If it hadnat disappeared that night, whoever used it would have been holding evidence that could have convicted them. Whoever took it from Doc saved him from prison.a Was it found? Samantha wrote.

aSort of,a Mike said. aA hundred-dollar bill turned up in Paris in 1965.a Samantha had been listening to him intently, but the date jolted her. Her eyes widened.

aRight,a Mike said. aThatas the year after your grandmother Maxie left her husband and family. That was thirty-seven years after the ma.s.sacre, and no one was looking for the money. The old bill was spotted by a sharp-eyed clerk in the treasury office. After that one was found, they kept a lookout for more bills, but no more showed upa"not that anyone caught anyway. The clerk who spotted that one had just returned from a six-month leave of absence, so for all anyone knows the entire three million could have come through the treasury and not been seen.a There was too much information for Samantha to take in at one time.

Mike took the tray from her lap and started for the door. When he came back into the room, he said that he wanted her to sleep, that she needed rest after her ordeal and that her throat needed to heal. But as he started to tuck her in, he stopped. aWhen was the last time you cried?a he asked softly.

Samantha looked away from him, frowning.

Taking her chin in his hand, Mike turned her back to face him. aIam not going to go away and Iam not going to allow you not to answer me.a He handed her the pencil and notepad.

After a fierce glare of defiance, she wrote, I was crying the day the princ.i.p.al came to tell me that my mother was dead.

15.

S amantha didnat leave New York that afternoon, but she had to promise Mike shead obey him if he allowed her to stay with him for two more daysa"the amount of time Blair said it would take her throat to heal enough to speak. The truth was, she had a decision to make and she thought she could make it better if she stayed where she was than if she went to yet another unfamiliar place.

Mike wasnat easy to convince because he wanted her out of the city, wanted her in a safe place. He no longer wanted her to have anything to do with Doc or Maxie or any of what he was researching. Samantha wrote him a note asking him if he was going to continue writing his biography. When Mike said he was, Samantha did not point out that he wasnat any safer than she was, that someone might think he knew about Half Handas money as well as she did. Nor did she mention that it was her grandmother involved, not his.

She simply didnat want to leave Mikeas house, didnat want to get into a car with another man and drive to yet another place. She didnat want to leave Mike.

When she woke it was midafternoon and Mike brought her lunch on a tray. He looked tired and he hadnat shaved in two days. He wanted her to go back to sleep, but she pantomimed that shead keep her lips zipped and throw away the key if head just let her sit on the couch and not have to stay in bed.

After reluctantly agreeing, he picked her up and carried her into the library and settled her on the couch as though she were helpless, a light blanket wrapped around her legs. When she was settled, he went back to his desk and started looking through his bundles of papers.

As Samantha watched him, she knew that she wanted to know more about the man who may or may not be her grandfather, so she wrote Mike that shead like to type more of his notes. Refusing to allow her to sit at the desk at the computer and type, he asked her if there werenat small computers and she described a laptop. He asked her to write down what she needed so he could order it. Even though Samantha said a laptop computer would be too expensive and that she could sit at the desk, Mike refused to listen to her. At last she wrote down the name of a powerful little laptop, and on impulse, she wrote aKingas Quest V and a mouse.a Mike called a store and within two hours the equipment was delivered to the door.

After the equipment arrived, she got off the couch and installed the mouse and the graphics game on the color screen of the big computer while Mike was in the shower. When he entered the room, he was damp from his shower and wearing nothing but a pair of white tennis shorts. For a minute, Samantha thought her heart was going to stop at the sight of him, but Mikeas eyes were on the computer screen and the opening graphics of the game. As though he were hypnotized, he walked toward the computer, touched the mouse on its pad, and when he saw the little man in the game move he was caught. Smiling at his beautiful, broad, bare back, Samantha saw that he couldnat figure out how to type notes, but within minutes, he had mastered the principles of a computer game.

That night, she found herself nodding off, and only when Mike started to pick her up did she wake. Out of instinct, she began to fight him, but he held her close. aItas me,a he whispered. aMe, Mike, no one else.a It took her a moment to relax against him, sleepy, her throat still painful. But when he put her in his bed, she panicked, trying to get away from him.

Startled, Mike stepped back from her, his face full of anger. aI am not a rapist,a he said through clenched teeth. aIam not going to hurt you and I am not going to bed with any woman who doesnat want me in bed with her.a Turning away, he went to the doorway, his hand on the light switch. aIf you need me, Iall be next door in the guest bedroom.a There was no warmth in his voice.

Samantha lay awake for a while in Mikeas big bed, on pillows that he had slept on, and looked up at the ceiling. Inadequate, she thought. She had always been inadequate when it came to men.