Bloodlines Read Free Page B

gaze.
    â€œDarling, we never talk about it because there’s nothing to say. You were so small, barely two years old. Thank the good Lord you have no memory of seeing your parents murdered, or of where you were kept, or who had you. It has been the only blessing to come out of it all. The last thing I would ever do is speak of something that I always feared would cause you emotional damage.”
    â€œOh, Grampy, I’m sorry. I never thought of it like that.”
    Marcus smiled gently as he cupped her face. “You know who you are. There are pictures of you with your parents all over this house, and at least once a year we get out the old albums and look at them, right?”
    She nodded, then managed a smile. “And the old movies…don’t forget them,” she added.
    â€œYes. Your father was something of a fanatic about you. He filmed you at every stage of your life. I’d venture to say there’s more film of you and your first two years of life than many people have of their entire existence. Besides that, there’s no mistaking that the baby in those pictures is the same baby I got back.”
    â€œWhen the kidnappers let me go, was I happy to see you?” Olivia asked.
    Marcus frowned. “You weren’t happy about anything, darling, and the doctors expected it. You criednonstop for days, begging for your mother. It nearly broke my heart.”
    Olivia laid her hand against her grandfather’s chest, taking comfort from the steady rhythm against her palm.
    â€œHow did you cope?”
    â€œI finally hired a nanny, remember? It was Anna Walden who finally settled you in, although, to be honest, by then I think you’d just cried yourself out.”
    Olivia nodded. “Speaking of Anna, it’s been ages since I visited her.” Then she frowned. “Do you think the reporters will bother her about this?”
    â€œI don’t know, but I’d lay odds that if one of them thinks about it, they will,” Marcus said. “I’ll try to take some time off and drive out to Arlington to see her, but it’ll have to wait a bit. I wouldn’t trade a moment of our three weeks in Europe, but I fear there’s a lot of business that needs to be tended.”
    Olivia pointed at the newspaper, which had fallen on the floor. “So what do we do about that?”
    â€œIt has nothing to do with us, so we do nothing, okay?”
    â€œOkay,” Olivia said, then threw her arms around her grandfather’s neck. “I love you, Grampy.”
    He closed his eyes as he hugged her back. “And I love you, too, my dear.” Then he turned her loose with a pat on the back and gave her a handful of phone messages. “I believe these are all yours. Don’t overdo yourself with commitments. I’m getting selfish in my old age and want a little of your time to myself.”
    â€œI promise,” she said, and left with the messages in her hand.
    Â 
    Marcus and Olivia weren’t the only ones shocked by the morning paper. Dennis Rawlins, a man with painful secrets, read the same headline, but with a different reaction.
    Without delving into details, he made a snap judgment, deeming the Sealy family guilty of some deadly indiscretion and decided that they must pay.
    It would take a lot of planning, but he was determined to make his presence known.
    Â 
    Trey pulled up to the Grayson County sheriff’s office, exiting the comfort of his air-conditioned car for the summer heat of Texas just as a skinny, middle-aged woman walked out. It was all Trey could do not to stare. Between her spiky pink hair and the little dog with a matching pink topknot that she was carrying, she was a sight to behold.
    The woman caught him looking and blasted him with a hundred-watt smile. As she did, the dog bared its teeth and growled.
    Now he was caught. Both with matching pink hair. Both baring their teeth at him. He couldn’t help it. He laughed.
    The