"Mother-daughter portrait?" The idea was abhorrent, but Julia seemed oblivious to the disbelief in Marnie's tone. Marnie wanted to slap her, but had the feeling Julia would shatter like crystal. She was dressed to go out, in a chic three-piece summer suit with a bustier top. But her hair was too stiff, her makeup too perfect and masklike. It reminded Marnie of armor.

Julia clicked across the marble floor in her sling-back heels and slim skirt, clasped Marnie's hand and dragged her back to the mirror. "See?" was all she said.

Her voice was throaty, and her eyes filled as she gazed at their reflections in the mirror. Marnie's hair was Medusa-like and Julia's smile was flash-frozen. Not your ideal mother-daughter pose, but the resemblance was there. Now Marnie knew why. She also knew they were both in trouble. Something was terribly wrong here.

"There's a news crew outside," Marnie said, determined to be heard this time. "Did something happen while I was gone?"

"The police came this morning. It was the CSI unit-you know, like the show your brother enjoys so much. They searched your room again and then went through our garbage cans. They found something of yours and took it with them, a piece of your clothing, I think."

Dear God. Marnie hadn't noticed that any of her clothing was missing. This wasn't the time to question Julia in depth-or to confront her about the daughter she'd abandoned. But Marnie had no more choice now than she'd had with Gramma Jo. She was out of time. They were all out of time.

"What exactly did they find in the garbage," she asked, "and how did it get there?"

"I don't know, Alison. I wasn't allowed out there. They said I was obstructing their search. They escorted me back inside, and told me to stay out of their way, in so many words."

"Was Bret here? Does he know what happened?"

"Your brother suggested that he and I take a walk on the beach the way you do so often. It was pleasant."

Pleasant? "Is Bret here now?"

"No, he's gone on an interview for an editorial position with a men's magazine. Can you imagine? If he gets the job, he'll be moving to New York. He says it's something he's always wanted to do. Things have a way of working out for the best, don't they? The family has always been lucky that way."

Marnie stared at her in disbelief. Julia's strange, vacant smile was starting to make her feel ill. "I don't understand," she said. "Why aren't you taking this seriously? I've been charged with murder. I could go to prison, death row."

Julia sighed. "Now you're being dramatic. You're not going to jail, not for one second. Your attorney won't allow that."

Marnie didn't waste time arguing. People like Julia believed money could solve anything, because too often it could. The ones who had it bought what they wanted from the ones who didn't, a sad legacy of the American Dream. But throwing some money at the right attorney wouldn't solve this one. It was hideously complicated.

"Everything's going to be fine," Julia said.

"No, it isn't. You need to sit down. I have something to tell you."

Julia blinked. "Can't it wait? I'm on my way out to lunch, and I desperately need the distraction."

Marnie stepped in front of her, effectively blocking her way. "No, it can't wait. Sit down. Did you hear me? Sit down now."

A glimpse of the real Julia surfaced as she glared at Marnie. For a second, her eyes seemed to flare with the tiny red dots of an overexposed photograph. She was angry, enraged. Good, now they might get somewhere.

"I'm sitting." Julia plunked down on the chaise by the windows, opened her Gucci bag and took out her makeup case. "Hurry up," she said, opening her compact to check her face in the mirror.

"I didn't kill LaDonna Jeffries or Marnie Hazelton."

Julia tidied up her lipstick with the nail of her little finger. "Of course you didn't kill them. I never thought that. No one thinks that. You're completely innocent. The charges are ridiculous."

"I am innocent, but not for the reason you're thinking." Marnie hesitated, wondering how to soften the blow, but realizing there was no way. And why should she? Had Julia ever softened the blow for the child she didn't want?

Anger churned in Marnie's gut. "I didn't kill LaDonna because she was my best friend, and I didn't kill Marnie Hazelton because I am Marnie Hazelton."

Julia looked up from the mirror. Her lashes quivered. "What did you say?"

"I'm not Alison. Your son has been sniffing around and hinting at that since Andrew and I arrived." She saw the glimmer of desperation in Julia's eyes and hesitated, still struggling with the need to protect her from the truth. "Bret was right. I'm not her."

"What in the world are you talking about? Are you all right?"

Marnie came very close to laughing. "God, no, I'm not all right, but I'm better than I have been for quite a while now." A part of her wanted to stop. Clearly, Julia would let her go on with the charade, and might even encourage it, but Marnie couldn't. Even though it would expose her-and Andrew-to grave consequences, it had to be done. Andrew was gone. Marnie had to accept the possibility that he knew what was going on and had run out on her. It might even have been intentional. He had some grand plan, and Marnie was never anything more than a pawn. At any rate, he wasn't here, and she had to protect herself, whatever that took.

Julia didn't interrupt once while Marnie described the meeting she'd just had with her surrogate grandmother. Julia listened as silently as Gramma Jo had, but her face and body were knotted. She had none of the older woman's calm acceptance, only icy gray eyes suffused with disbelief and denial.

"I know what happened in my grandmother's cottage twenty-two years ago," Marnie said as she finished. "You were pregnant, but not by your husband. You were desperate, and people do terrible things out of desperation-I know that, too. I've been desperate myself."

She went on to tell Julia everything she remembered about February second and what had happened since. No details were held back, no matter how difficult they might be to bear. She needed to shock the other woman into hearing her. But by the time Marnie was done, Julia had gone from disbelief to defiance. Her face was pale with outrage and her hands were clenched.

"Why are you here?" she demanded. "And what do you want from me? If you think you're getting your hands on Alison's trust fund, think again. I'd hire a hit man before I'd let you see a cent."

Julia's outrage was contagious. It burned in Marnie's soul like hellfire. She wanted to strangle the woman with her bare hands. How dare she rail at her and make accusations?

Julia was up and out of her chair. Her designer bag clattered to the floor and she threw the mirror on the bed. "Do you understand what you've done?" she said. "You conspired with Andrew to deceive me in the cruelest possible way. You pretended to be Alison! You made me believe my daughter was alive. You gave me hope."

Marnie's throat tightened. She heard the pain in Julia's voice, but whatever compassion she felt was gone before it had any chance of expression. Her own voice dropped to a lethal whisper. "I am your daughter. Do you understand what you've done to me?"

The anger became horror. Julia's mouth went slack. She looked away.

Marnie wondered if Julia had ever thought about anything except in terms of its impact on her. She seemed congenitally incapable of empathy and she'd passed that trait on to her son. It made Marnie deeply regret that she was related to these people in any way. She'd stubbornly wanted to believe that Alison might be different, but now she was sure that her half sister was as sick as her family. They were corrupt. All of them. Emotionally corrupt.

When Julia finally looked up, it wasn't to apologize or explain. "Did Andrew kill her?" she asked. "Will you tell me that much?"

"I don't know," Marnie admitted. "At this point I don't know where he is or what he's done. I swear."

"Then what is it you want? You're here, telling me this story. You must want something."

Marnie had a moment of wishing that she could walk out and never say another word to this woman, but she had her grandmother's caution in her head-and the fear of what would happen to Gramma Jo if Marnie went to jail. She wouldn't have the money to stay in that dismal place.

"I'm not a cold-blooded murderer," Marnie explained. "Butch attacked me, and I acted in self-defense, but the authorities aren't going to believe that. I'm not even sure they'll believe I'm Marnie Hazelton without proof."

"How can I possibly help you with that?"

"There are no fingerprints on file for me, no records. It's like I don't exist. My grandmother said she made up a certificate when I was born and gave it to you. Do you have it?"

Julia's face went pale with shock. "You can't be serious. Do you realize what will happen if you reveal that you're my daughter? What if the media found out? Can you imagine the scandal? The Fairmonts and the Driscolls have been involved in philanthropy and public service going back decades. They're good people, fine people. Do you expect me to throw all that away?"

"You threw me away," Marnie said. "Too bad you weren't able to get rid of me. Then you wouldn't have any of this messiness to deal with."

Julia strode over to a console holding a tray with three crystal decanters of liquor, all in shades of amber. She filled a highball glass nearly to the rim, and after she'd drunk half of it, she banged the glass down.

"We're done talking," she said.

"Done?" Marnie felt a moment of paralyzing fear and indecision. Julia was throwing her out? Her fate lay in this woman's hands. Marnie would have no legal counsel without Julia, no support. She had no money of her own, except what was in her wallet. It was all Andrew's. She had to make Julia understand how important this was. Scandal was nothing compared to what Marnie was facing.

"How can we be done?" she said. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't care what you do. My life is in ruins. Get out of my house and leave me alone to deal with that."

Marnie nodded. As swiftly as panic has risen, anger flared, to burn it back. Julia had never cared about her bastard daughter, and there was nothing Marnie could say or do to make her care. Julia's fancy world was the only thing that existed for her, and Marnie had never fit there and never would. Julia had tried to abort her, and when that failed, she'd abandoned her. Marnie understood that women were sometimes forced to make terrible choices. She'd had to take a life to defend her own. But Julia had turned her back on a helpless infant, apparently because she couldn't stomach the sight of the deformities that she'd caused with her carelessness.

"I was just leaving," Marnie said. Throw herself on Julia Fairmont's mercy? Not a chance. She turned on her heel and walked out of the room. She was done with this heartless bitch and her family. Done.

Marnie had the suitcases out and was weighing her options when she heard a sharp rapping sound.

"Can I speak with you?" Julia called through the door.

Marnie turned from the balcony window, where she'd been watching the half-dozen people who were still at the gates, despite the fact that the sun was going down and it would soon be dark.

Julia at her door couldn't possibly mean anything good.

Marnie went to open it and saw that she had come with what looked like a peace offering, a tray of food.

"Rebecca said you never came down for anything to eat today," Julia said. "You must be starving. I put this together for you."

Marnie gave the crab leg and marinated asparagus salad a skeptical glance. "You did this? I saw Rebecca cleaning the greens."

"Excuse me? I can put a salad together."

"I'm not hungry," Marnie said, but her rumbling stomach gave her away.

"Of course you are," Julia said. "Let me in. I need to talk with you about our conversation today. There may be a way we can work this out for everyone's benefit."

Wary, Marnie stepped aside and let her in. Julia set the tray on the coffee table by the fireplace.

"Help yourself," she said, "please. I'd like you to. I can talk while you eat."

Marnie was still uneasy about any plan Julia might have to work things out, but her noisy stomach won. She sank onto the couch and bent over the tray, trying not to wolf her food. The crab was luscious, rich and moist, the asparagus crunchy and the dressing had a citrus tang. "This is wonderful."

"I'll tell Rebecca," Julia said with a shrug. "She made it."

"I thought so." Marnie dug into the repast, eating with relish. The probability that she was being poisoned had just lessened.

Julia wandered around the room, discreetly checking things out and apparently giving Marnie some time.

Finally Marnie could stand it no longer. "What did you come to talk about?"

Julia couldn't quite manage a smile. She was clearly emotional as she spoke. "I'm sure Alison is dead, and I suspect Andrew did it. I've always believed it. He had the motive and the opportunity. But I've been thinking about that, and I realized something. Andrew may have taken one daughter, but he gave me another."

Marnie put her fork down. What in the hell was she talking about?

"I want you to be my daughter. I want you to be Alison. You've already transformed your entire life for just that purpose. There's no reason you shouldn't continue. It would be such a good life-and one you deserve, after everything you've been through."

"Continue being Alison?"

"And my daughter."

"What about Andrew? How does he fit in?"

"You'll have to make that decision. To be blunt, I'd like you to consider leaving him. I don't think you're safe with him, even here. A man who would replace his missing wife with another woman would do anything. But that's up to you. I'll go along with whatever you decide."

"And what would I have to do?" She hesitated, then echoed Julia's own words. "You're here. I'm sure there's something you want."

"I want you to go through with the trial, let James Brainard defend you. There isn't a chance in the world he won't get you off. He doesn't believe they'll pursue the second charge. There's no evidence, and he's sure he can beat the first one."

"And if he does win, and I'm exonerated?"

"The trust is yours. More than fifty million dollars, all of it yours, with no one the wiser. I ask only that you never reveal your real identity to anyone, but especially not to Bret. I have my own reasons for asking that. And, of course, I want us to have an ongoing relationship. There's so much I can offer you, so much I can teach, and I'd consider it my chance to make up for...everything."

Marnie barely had to think about it. Andrew was gone, and she'd decided before they came to Mirage Bay that the money would complicate her life more than anything else. If the Fairmonts were any example, that was painfully true.

"I wish I could do it, but I can't," she said. "I know it would make everything so much simpler."

Julia stiffened. Obviously she wasn't used to be rejected. "Why can't you do it?"

Marnie was actually surprised that Julia didn't understand. "I don't want to live my life as someone else, having to lie and pretend and struggle to remember my lines. No amount of money will ever make that okay. No matter what I'm going to be faced with, I'd rather confront it head-on. I know who I am, and maybe it isn't much by your standards, but at least I can trust it, and by my standards, that's everything."

Without a shred of animosity, Marnie added, "No offense, Julia, but I don't know who the hell your daughter Alison is."

Julia heaved a breath. "Take some time to think about it, please."

"I don't need to think about it."

"Fine, then prepare yourself to deal with this head-on. I'm firing your attorney and revoking the bail money. Good luck, Marnie."

She barely skipped a beat before dropping the next grenade. "Oh, and by the way, James called this afternoon. He tells me the gun they found in your drawer is definitely the murder weapon-and the crime lab was able to match a button found at the crime scene to a navy-blue cardigan sweater-yours-that was stuffed in the trash behind the house." She smiled. "He says the prosecutor is talking about the death penalty. Of course, they're bluffing, but then again...you never know."

Marnie's stomach turned over with violent force, threatening to expel the crab salad. She sat back on the couch, breathing, praying she wouldn't puke. Julia played a ruthless game, but Marnie shouldn't have been surprised at that, or at anything she would do. The woman had a lot to lose.

Julia started for the door, hesitating when she saw the bags Marnie had hauled out of the closet. "Suitcases?"

"I'll be out soon," Marnie assured her. "Give me an hour, no more."

"The press is still outside. They'll see you leaving with your bags, and it will cause an uproar. I'm not just thinking of me, really. I'm considering you, too. They'll stalk you and make your life miserable."

She had a point, especially considering what had happened when Marnie drove in. "What are you suggesting?"

"Stay here until things calm down. And don't tell any of those vultures who you really are. If you won't keep our secret for yourself, then do it for me."

"Why," Marnie asked, "would I do anything for you?"

"Because I'm your mother."

"You never were and never will be my mother. I owe you nothing."