Hot on Her Heels Read Free Page B

eye surgery, because you’re talking crazy. We’re not saving him. He tried to kill you. You were nearly left blind. That’s not okay. That can never be okay. And he’s still bent on ruining all of us. Save Garth? From what? For what?”
    â€œYou need to stay calm and sit down,” Izzy told her sister. “Think of the baby.”
    â€œYou leave my baby out of this. If you were so concerned about my baby, you wouldn’t be worried about a man who is doing everything he can to make our lives hell.” Lexi pushed her blond hair off her face. “Dammit, Izzy, I expect better of you.”
    Dana moved toward the sofa. If necessary, she would get between the sisters to make sure things didn’t get too ugly.
    Izzy stiffened. “You can expect all you want. What matters is I talked to Garth. He’s family, Lexi. He’s as biologically related to us as we are to each other. He’s been hurt. Dad screwed him and you know it.”
    â€œFine. Jed was horrible to both Garth and his mother. But that doesn’t give him the right to come after us. We had nothing to do with it.”
    â€œHe’s not responsible for the oil rig exploding. I believe him and Nick believes him. Look, think of him like Darth Vader. He needs to be saved from himself.”
    â€œYou really think that using movie examples will help your case?” Lexi asked.
    Dana glanced at Skye who was listening intently, but not saying anything. Izzy’s strategy was flawed. Skye was the more emotional of the sisters. If Izzy wanted the three of them to cooperate, she should have convinced Skye first. Then the two of them could have worked on Lexi.
    â€œHe’s our brother,” Izzy repeated stubbornly. “I saw something inside of him.”
    â€œThe ravages of a black and empty heart,” Lexi muttered.
    â€œI saw who he was supposed to be.” Izzy leaned forward. “I saw flashes of the fourteen-year-old boy who begged his own father, a man who had never acknowledged him, for the money to save his mother from a brain tumor. Jed turned him away. Jed threw him into the street. Jed is the reason he wants revenge.”
    â€œWe all know this,” Skye said quietly.
    â€œBut the person he should have been is still there. Imagine what Garth would be like if his mother had never gotten sick. Imagine if we’d met him when we were ten or fifteen. If we’d grown up together. We would have been a family.”
    â€œIt’s too late to go back,” Lexi said flatly.
    â€œBut it’s not too late to go forward. If you exclude the explosion, then he hasn’t really hurt us.”
    â€œNot for lack of trying.”
    â€œHe wanted me to get together with Nick,” Izzy said.
    â€œHe’s the reason you broke up in the first place,” Lexi reminded her.
    â€œAgreed, but he realized he was wrong. He came to me and pleaded Nick’s case. Nick didn’t know he was doing that. Garth had no reason to help us, but he did. He’s not all bad.”
    Lexi and Skye looked at each other. Izzy saw the exchange and pounced.
    â€œWhy would he do that and lie about the explosion? He admitted to everything else.” Izzy glanced at Dana. “Not in a way that can be used in court.”
    â€œI figured that.”
    Lexi sighed and turned to Dana. “You didn’t try to talk her out of it?”
    â€œI tried,” Dana told her. “But she’s very much her own person. Which is mostly your fault. She’s your baby sister. You should have repressed her more as a child. But no. You had to nurture her. This is what you get as a thank-you.”
    â€œVery funny,” Lexi said. “Do you have anything serious to add?”
    Dana glanced at all of them. “Izzy’s not an idiot and she has good instincts about people. Do I think she’sright? I don’t know. Am I willing to say she’s totally and completely wrong?” She