Caitlin's heart sank as she looked toward the entrance.

A tall, regal woman, outfitted in designer originals from head to foot,

was crossing the floor to them.

Diamonds flashed from her hands and throat like tiny white bolts of light. Her eyes were a steely, uncompromising blue and they had targeted Caitlin, bent on intimidation at ten paces.

White-hot anger was imprinted on the delicate, aristocratic features.

Her short, tawny hair was swept away from her face, emphasizing her

expression.

Now what?

Caitlin thought, a sinking feeling fighting for possession of her

stomach.

Regina Cassidy slapped a newspaper down on the counter, sending a

display -of lacy panties raining down on the floor like a multitude of pastel snowflakes. The contempt that emanated from her encompassed the panties, the shop and her daughter.

"What do you mean by dragging our name through the mud?"

Her voice, with its perfect diction, was as grating as a nail running

along a chalkboard.

Kerry smiled broadly, knowing she made less than no impression on the woman.

"Good morning, Mrs. Cassidy.

Nice to see you again.

Regina spared Kerry one glare, the way she might an annoying mosquito,

and then dismissed her as if she didn't exist.

Kerry took the opportunity to bow out, knowing that Caitlin would

welcome the privacy.

She ushered Eva to the back room with her.

A finely manicured scarlet nail tapped the bottom of the newspaper.

Regina's eyes pinned her errant daughter.

"Well?"

Caitlin was behind in her inventory work and her accounting.

A shipment of negligees was overdue and she had lost a half day

yesterday through no fault of her own.

Holding on to the reins of her life was becoming increasingly difficult. Reading newspapers did not head the list of her priorities at the moment.

She ignored the tapping nail.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mother."

The blue eyes widened in disbelief.

Now her daughter was adding lying to her list of offenses.

"Oh, you don't?"

Regina held up the paper, indicating the article.

"Well, read!"

Annoyed at being treated like a child, Caitlin glanced at the newspaper

an t ien rew in reath.

A clammy feeling slid over her, tightening spasmodically.

The article was about the shooting she had witnessed.

Whoever had written the story had put in her name.

Oh, God, wasn't this nightmare ever going to be over?

She might as well have arrows pointing in her direction for the killer's benefit.

How could anyone have been so stupid, so heartless?

Wasn't her safety worth more than a byline on a page that would line

some bird's cage tomorrow?

With effort, Caitlin gathered her dignity.

Her mother wouldn't understand anything she was going through.

Or any of the reasons that had prompted her to call and report the

crime to begin with.

"I don't see how being a witness to a murder is dragging our name through the mud, Mother."

Regina looked at her only child in horrified disbelief.

How could she have given birth to someone so addlebrained?

So thick?

"Have you lost all your sensibilities?"

Wasn't it bad enough that her daughter had to play shopkeeper?

Did she have to get mixed up with criminals, as well?

"Has sinking down to the common world robbed you of your mind,

Caitlin?"

Her mother's snobbery never failed to amaze her or leave a bitter taste in her mouth.

"I don't call this sinking."

Regina tossed her head.

Her earrings caught the fluorescent light and flashed it across the

room.

"Well, I do."

There would never be any common ground between them, Caitlin thought

sadly.

"That's your problem."

No, her problem was a bullheaded daughter who was bent on embarrassing her. "If you had given up this silly venture the way I advised you to, you wouldn't have been hopscotching through the alley at an ungodly hour to begin with. Then you wouldn't have seen anything."

Caitlin bit her lip, stifling a sigh.