For the Sake of Their Baby Read Free

“We both know what really happened the night your uncle died. Okay, I signed on for the long haul. I was willing—I am willing—to protect you and our baby until my dying breath. Nothing’s changed when it comes to that.”
    Liz shook her head. “What are you talking about?”
    He pushed himself to his feet and glared down at her. “You know what I’m talking about.”
    She shook her head. “No, I don’t. What do you mean you were willing to sign on for the long haul? What’s going on here, Alex? Stop talking in riddles.”

    When he finally spoke, his voice was low and ominous, as though he sensed a thousand ears pressed against the windows, listening to their every word. Standing over her, his expression grim, he said, “Remember the night your uncle died? We went to his house to tell him about your pregnancy. There was a terrible fight.”
    “We left the party and you were called to an emergency at the station,” she added. “The old church at Taylor’s Crossing was on fire.” She shuddered as she thought about that fire, mercifully without victims.
    Alex stopped dead in his tracks and pinned her with a laser stare. “When I left you, you were still furious with Devon.”
    Tears puddled in her eyes as old feelings of inadequacy welled up inside her. “Of course I was furious. For years I tried to please that man. I never could. That night was the last straw. The things he said—”
    “He didn’t want you saddled to someone like me,” Alex said. “He wanted better for you than one of the Chase boys.”
    One of the Chase boys. Sure, Alex had come from a disreputable family but he’d grown into a wonderful, trustworthy man. Her uncle had refused to see that. To him, Alex would always be the boy he’d forced Liz to break up with in high school—the boy with no future.
    Did wonderful, trustworthy men commit murder? an inner voice demanded.
    Alex a murderer. It didn’t sit right, it never had.
    But he confessed.
    It always came down to his confession.
    “Later that night, you went back to his house,” Alex said softly.

    “How do you know that?” She’d never admitted that bitter, pointless trip to anyone.
    Alex said, “I saw you.”
    Before he killed her uncle? Had she been that close to being able to stop him? A cry of anguish erupted and died in her throat. “I thought Uncle Devon might have had a…I don’t know, a change of heart,” she mumbled. “Except he didn’t have a heart and I should have known it. I guess I was still hoping he might come through.”
    “But he didn’t.”
    “Of course not. It was foolish of me to think he would. He was more sure than ever that I’d eventually do just as he wanted, like I always did. He said he was going to call his lawyer in the morning and set up the papers giving everything he had to a local nature conservatory. He didn’t care about the wetlands, it was just his way of showing me he had control. Because he judged everything by its monetary worth, he thought I did, too.”
    Alex cleared his throat. “He never understood you.”
    “It doesn’t matter anymore.”
    He stared at her so hard she felt the back of her skull throb. Finally, he said, “Don’t ever tell anyone else you went back there that night. Do you understand? Not a soul.”
    “Why—”
    “Not a soul,” he repeated. “Promise me.”
    She took a deep breath. “Okay.”
    “You didn’t tell Kapp, did you?”
    “I was in shock when he came, but I kept thinking the less I said the better it would be for you. After he left, I called your lawyer. I told him I wanted to help you. I couldn’t believe you’d ever kill anyone. But he confirmed that you’d confessed. He said you didn’t wantany help from me, you didn’t even want to see me or talk to me. Alex, do you have any idea how much that hurt?”
    “I—”
    “Because for all intents and purposes, I lost you that night. I thought I was going to lose our baby, too. I’d lost one before and the thought of losing