Groaning, Seth shook his head, then turned from her and forked his fingers through his thick brown hair. "What if I said that I don't want you seeing him again?" He lifted his gaze hesitantly.

She looked right at him. "I love you more than anything, Seth. I'd do anything for you, but you're a fifteen-year-old boy. You're the child, and I'm the adult. I have no intention of allowing you to issue orders to me, to tell me who I can and cannot date."

"Yeah, well, go ahead and date whoever you d.a.m.n well please, but don't expect me to like it. I thought I wanted to come live with you, but if he's going to be around all the time, I might change my mind and stay with Granddaddy and Nana."

So there it was, the thing she had feared the most. Her own son was blackmailing her to get his way. The thought of losing him to his grandfather unnerved her, but she could not allow him to get away with bullying her. She had walked that path with her mother and her father-in-law and even sometimes with Mark. She wanted her son to be a better person, to be the man she knew he could be.

"I want you to live with me," she told him, keeping her voice far calmer than she felt. "But if you prefer to stay with your grandparents, then that's what you should do. Jack and I are going to be seeing quite a bit of each other. I don't know what the future holds for us, but he and I have a right to find out." She searched Seth's eyes, hoping to see even a glimmer of understanding. "I have a right to be happy, don't I?"

"Does he make you happy?"

"Yes, he does. He makes me very happy."

"I heard Nana ask Grandmother if he was the guy you were in love with when you were a teenager. Grandmother said he was and that he was wrong for you then and he's still wrong for you. Were you in love with him before you married Dad?"

"Yes. Jack was my first love." And my first lover. And my first lover.

"Did you love him more than you loved Dad?"

"Oh, Seth."

"Did you?"

"I loved Mark in a different way."

"Did Dad know about him?"

"Yes, Mark knew all about Jack, just as I knew all about his first wife. Your father and I didn't have any secrets from each other."

Seth stood there, sulky and quiet, his eyes wide and an angry flush on his cheeks. "Does Jack Perdue mean more to you than I do?"

"No one means more to me than you do. Don't you know that?"

"But you do love him, don't you?"

"I don't know. Maybe. We're just getting to know each other again."

"Does he love you?"

"I don't know. I don't think even he knows for sure."

"He could wind up hurting you. He could break your heart."

"Yes, he could. And I could break his heart, too." We did that to each other years ago, and there are no more guarantees now than there had been then. We did that to each other years ago, and there are no more guarantees now than there had been then. "It's a risk you take when you go into a relationship, when you open yourself up to care about someone. I think maybe you might know a little something about that." "It's a risk you take when you go into a relationship, when you open yourself up to care about someone. I think maybe you might know a little something about that."

"Huh?" He looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Am I wrong about your liking Missy Hovater?"

"Jeez, Mom, Missy and I are just friends."

"But you'd like for there to be more between you, and if it doesn't work out and she starts dating someone else, it's going to break your heart just a little, isn't it? You're taking a chance by liking Missy. That's what I'm doing with Jack. I'm taking a chance that in the end, we'll feel the same way about each other."

Seth stared at her, and for a moment she wasn't sure she'd gotten through to him. Then suddenly she noticed a change in his expression.

"You don't care that everybody knows?" Seth asked. "I mean, you were a preacher's wife and here you are having s.e.x outside of marriage. Granddad's going to call that fornication."

"Granddad can call it whatever he wants to call it," Cathy said. "And no, I don't care if everybody in town knows that I'm sleeping with Jack Perdue. Who I have s.e.x with is no one else's business. Not even yours."

Seth swallowed. "Yeah, maybe you're right. I don't know. It's just that I wish...I wish..." He turned from her, and she knew he was on the verge of crying.

She walked over to him, placed her hand on his shoulder and asked, "What do you wish?"

"I wish my dad were still alive. I wish he hadn't died. I wish we were still a family. How stupid is that? Wishing for the impossible."

Cathy wrapped her arms around her son and hugged him. "It's not stupid at all. And if I could bring Mark back to us, I would. But I can't. And we both have to find a way to go on without him. We have to build a new life for ourselves."

"And that new life includes Jack Perdue, at least for you."

"Maybe. And if that happens, I hope you'll give Jack a chance to be a part of your life, too."

Seth pulled away from her. "I'm not making any promises."

"I don't expect you to. Just be the wonderful, kindhearted and caring young man I know that you are. That's all I ask."

"If he hurts you, he'll have to answer to me."

Cathy barely managed to stop herself from smiling. How very sweet that Seth saw himself as her protector. Her heart sighed. She hadn't lost him. He was still her son.

And in time...

Chapter Twenty-four

Maleah had enjoyed the time that Nic and she had spent with Nic's brother in San Francisco, where he lived and worked as an up-and-coming young artist. His paintings had in the past few years garnered numerous wealthy patrons, including Nic's husband, Griff. Of course, Maleah couldn't afford the price of even one of Charles David's sketches. She'd been surprised when, several evenings ago, he had asked her permission to sketch her and then only this morning had presented the sketch to her as a farewell gift.

If Nic's brother wasn't already involved with a very lovely woman-almost twice his age-Maleah might have fallen for him. He was handsome, intelligent and talented as well as kind and sensitive. Why were all the good ones unavailable?

While Maleah had filled her days with sightseeing, shopping and indulging in sleeping late and eating too much-she'd probably gained five pounds since they'd been here-Nic had simply put on a happy face. Each time Nic had spoken to Griff, she had come away from his phone call moody and depressed. It seemed that his business trip to Europe, which had been supposed to last only a few days, had required him to stay much longer than he'd intended. When he called yesterday and told Nic that he was coming home via San Francisco to pick up her and Maleah, you'd have thought that the news would have made Nic happy. It hadn't.

"As long as he was out of the country, I could halfway pretend everything was all right," Nic had said. "But once we're face-to-face again...He's keeping secrets from me, secrets that have to do with his past. Something's happened in Europe, something I think Yvette and Sanders know about, but Griff hasn't shared with me."

Maleah understood her friend's frustration. If her husband shared a mysterious past with another woman, she'd probably be as jealous as all get-out. And if he shared things with that woman he didn't with her, and if that woman knew more about what was going on with him than she did, she'd be p.i.s.sed enough to contemplate cutting off his b.a.l.l.s. By nature, Maleah wasn't a violent person, but by G.o.d, she had learned that if you didn't stand up for yourself against the bullies of this world, they would knock you down and walk all over you. Not that Griff was by any means a bully. Not the way her stepfather had been. Nolan Reaves had been downright mean.

For the most part, she didn't think about her stepfather. And that was one reason she would never go back to Dunmore to live. She wondered how in the world Jack could not only return to their hometown but actually move into the house of horrors where they had grown up under Nolan's cruel domination.

Because Jack's tougher than you are. He always was.

She didn't like to think about what her brother had sacrificed for her, how many beatings he had taken in order to spare her Nolan's wrath. The verbal lashes, the mental and emotional torment he'd put them all through year after year, had been bad enough. No one could have stopped that, not even Jack. Being a cruel tyrant had been who Nolan was, and no amount of threats could have changed his basic personality. Only when Jack got old enough-and big enough-to pose a physical threat to the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d had he stopped beating Jack.

Yeah, she might be a tough broad, but she was a marshmallow compared to Jack. And yet there he was in Dunmore, facing down his demons, rebuilding his life and rekindling an old romance. She hoped that this time he and Cathy got it right. After all, if Jack didn't get married and produce a few kids, the Perdue line would die with the two of them. She sure as h.e.l.l had no intention of ever getting married, of tying herself to some man who would expect to tell her what she could and couldn't do. Yeah, yeah, so there were marriages that actually worked, where the husband and wife were equal partners. She'd thought that was the kind of marriage Nic and Griff had. Apparently, she'd been wrong.

It wasn't that she didn't like men. She did. And she loved s.e.x, at least she had with a couple of partners, both now part of her past. One had been her college boyfriend. But when he'd asked her to marry him, she'd ended things. And then, several years ago, she'd gotten involved with a fantastic guy who had a truly liberal att.i.tude about women. Their love affair had lasted nearly two years until he, too, had brought up the idea of their getting married.

Maleah stuffed the remainder of her recent purchases into the oversized duffel bag she'd bought just to hold these items. Griff was due to arrive within the hour, and after a brief visit and lunch here at Charles David's loft, they'd fly home to Knoxville this afternoon. Considering the inevitable tense atmosphere on the trip from California to Tennessee, Maleah was not looking forward to being trapped on the private jet with the feuding Powells.

With the death of the Fire and Brimstone Killer's fourth victim, the head of the task force, ABI agent Wayne Morgan had called a meeting for today and was using Mike Birkett's office as the force's headquarters. The first thing he'd done when he arrived twenty minutes ago was inform the ten-man group that he was cutting the force back to five members.

"Every law-enforcement agency in northern Alabama will be kept informed of what we're doing and any new information we unearth," Morgan had said. "But in order to be more effective, we need to streamline this operation. And if it becomes necessary to call in the Feds, my cutting the numbers will save them the trouble."

"Have you contacted the FBI?" Derek Lawrence had asked.

"Yes, I've spoken to Jeff Ballard, the AIC at the Birmingham office. He's been very cooperative, but no one is going to come in and take over the investigation at this point. Not without an invitation."

A couple of the guys grumbled about being cut from the task force, but Jack figured that was more for show than their actually being p.i.s.sed about the matter. It wasn't that he didn't have great respect for local policemen and deputies, but for the most part, as Mike had pointed out, they were just good old boys with high school diplomas and a desire to keep law and order in their towns and counties. Most of them were no more equipped with knowledge or experience than he was to deal with a serial killer. And in this case, a killer who had gotten away with four murders and left behind no substantial evidence that would link him or her to the crimes.

"I've ordered lunch for the five of us," Mike Birkett told Morgan. "If we make this a working lunch, I figure we can wrap things up sooner."

"Good idea." Morgan nodded and then glanced at Derek. "Why don't we start with you, Lawrence? You're the big-time expert."

Derek grinned. "I know you boys are counting on me to solve these murders for you, but you're going to have to provide me with a little more to go on than four corpses."

No wonder people a.s.sumed Derek was a c.o.c.ky SOB. Actually, he wasn't, but he sure put a great deal of effort into presenting himself as one. During their brief acquaintance, Jack had gotten to know the real Derek, at least to some degree. Yeah, he could be a bit c.o.c.ky, but in his shoes, who wouldn't be? He was rich, brilliant and handsome.

"We've shared more than four corpses with you," Mike said. "You've been given access to everything we have."

"Which is zip," Derek replied. "No witnesses. No clear fingerprints. No hair or fibers. No DNA. Some Pocket Torch lighters that can be purchased almost anywhere. And the shoe and tire prints at the scenes were too numerous to link them to the crimes. Even the weapon of choice-in this case, fire-can't be traced. Gasoline is readily available. And the only thing our killer needed to ignite it was an open flame-the torch lighters that feature a flame lock. There was no gasoline can left behind, so that means our killer took it with him...or her. And my gut says our killer is female."

"Are you basing that on the state M.E.'s findings?" Sergeant Jeremy Pritchett, a husky, middle-aged black man, asked. "Wasn't it just an educated guess on his part that the killer was shorter than the victims, thus a.s.suming the killer was probably female?"

Pritchett was a seasoned cop from Huntsville. He had fifteen years of police work under his belt, so Jack could see why Morgan had kept him on the task force. Actually, he knew why the other three had also been chosen. But why he hadn't been eliminated was a puzzle to him. Of everyone present, he was the least qualified.

"Sometimes educated guesses are all we have." Karla Ross, the lone female member of the force, turned her sharp gaze on Pritchett.

The lady was all business, a real no-nonsense type who wore her hair severely short, didn't bother with makeup and walked with a swagger to balance the chip on her shoulder. She was a woman climbing the ladder of success in a man's world, and she was d.a.m.ned and determined to prove something to every man she met. She had the "I'm as good as you, probably better" att.i.tude written all over her.

"Ross is right," Derek said. "A great deal of profiling involves educated guesses and just plain old gut instinct. It's not by any means an exact science, nor is it a mystical art. It's a skill-nothing more, nothing less. And we make mistakes, G.o.d help us."

Agent Ross studied Derek with newfound respect, and Sergeant Pritchett nodded in agreement with Derek's self-a.s.sessment, with his admission of being fallible.

A knock on the half gla.s.s door gained everyone's attention. Mike motioned for the young deputy to enter.

Clint Willis opened the door and stuck his head in. "Lunch is here. Want me to send the guy in with it or..."

"Send him in," Mike said. "And see if somebody will put on a fresh pot of coffee."

"Sure thing." Clint hesitated.

"Is there something else?" Mike asked.

"Yes, sir. Uh, there's a kid out here who says he wants to talk to Jack."

Mike lifted his brows. "This kid got a name?"

"Yes, sir. He's Seth Cantrell."

Mike and Jack exchanged quick, questioning glances.

"You probably need to take care of that," Mike told him.

"Yeah, thanks." Jack came out of the corner where he'd been standing observing the others during the meeting and walked into the outer office.

He saw Seth at the far end of the room, alone and looking nervous. Not for the first time, he noted how much Cathy's son resembled her. Of course, Jack had never met Mark Cantrell, even though they'd lived in the same town for a number of years, so he had no idea if Seth looked anything like his father. When he approached the boy, he sensed frustration and anger.

"You wanted to see me?" Jack asked, doing his best to keep his tone friendly.

"Yes, sir, I did."

"What can I do for you?"

Seth shifted nervously. His face flushed. "You can promise me that you won't hurt my mother."

"What?"

"I said-"

"I heard what you said, but I think you need to be a little more specific."

"If you hurt my mother, you'll have to answer to me. Is that specific enough for you, Deputy Perdue?"

The boy had b.a.l.l.s. Not many fifteen-year-old kids would confront a man twice their age and a great deal larger, who also happened to be a deputy. It was obvious that Seth Cantrell saw himself as his mother's protector, and d.a.m.n if Jack didn't admire the boy for it. Over dinner that evening, he debated whether to tell Cathy about Seth's visit to the sheriff's office that morning.

"Don't you like smoked pork chops?" Cathy asked.