Men of Honour: Ready, Set, Jett / When You Dare / Trace of Fever / Savor the Danger / A Perfect Storm / What Chris Wants / Bare It All. Lori Foster
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“As long as you accept that Bishop wasn’t involved.”
She wanted verification that her husband was in the clear. She wouldn’t get it from Dare.
Molly stayed rigid beside him; for her sake, he needed to end this and soon. “I think my next course of action is to go to the law. This wasn’t done by one person. Whoever arranged it had help. Once the story breaks, someone will talk.” He leveled a look on Bishop. “Someone always does. And then we’ll know the truth.”
Putting his head in his hands, Bishop whispered, “I’ll be ridiculed, ruined …”
“A little useless gossip is all you care about, right?” Dare tugged Molly into his side. She was too silent, and it worried him. But when he looked at her, she appeared more thoughtful than hurt. “The fact that Molly was taken doesn’t even factor in?”
Sighing, Bishop lifted his head and looked up at his daughter. A flicker of genuine emotion showed. “I can still see the bruising,” he said quietly. And then, “You’ll be okay?”
“Yes.” Molly positioned her chin as she always did when on the defensive. “Thanks to Dare, I’m fine now.”
“She was damn near dead when I found her,” Dare said. “Drugged. Tortured. Dehydrated and starved.”
Molly gave him a sideways glance at how he played up her mistreatment. She had been tortured, but probably not in the way her father and Kathi now assumed.
“Molested?” Kathi asked.
Molly shook her head. “Don’t sound so broken up over it, Kathi. They spared me that humiliation.”
Her sarcasm was wasted. “Well, I would assume … that is, if you were truly treated so badly, why would they not have raped you?”
“Goddamn it, Kathi! Shut up.”
Startled by Bishop’s rebuke, she was quick to say, “I’m glad you weren’t subjected to that.”
Sitting back in his seat, Bishop ran both hands through his hair. He took a steadying breath, and locked gazes with Molly. “You might not believe me, but I’m truly sorry for what you’ve suffered, and you need to know that I had nothing to do with it.”
Molly said nothing.
“If you go public, no one will believe that you weren’t used sexually. You realize that, I’m sure.” Bishop shook his head. “Your life will be under a microscope, Molly. Not only will you damage me, but your sister’s livelihood as a teacher could be at stake, and you’ll ruin yourself, as well.”
“Natalie only wants what is best for me,” Molly told him.
Dare admired her aplomb under fire. “And, you know, I think it’d work as publicity for Molly’s novels.” No way in hell would Dare let that happen, but Bishop couldn’t know that. His opinion of Dare was not favorable.
And that suited Dare’s purpose just fine.
“Think about it,” Dare said. “Every newspaper and magazine out there will be talking about her and, by association, her books. Her sales are already through the roof with the movie deal, but this would bring a real focus to her and her work.”
Incredulity widened Kathi’s eyes. “Monster,” she whispered with venom. “You would destroy my husband and all he’s worked for to promote her?”
Dare lifted a shoulder in negligent disregard. Molly, God bless her, held her own council. “It’d be a by-product of finding the truth, but what the hell? All publicity is good publicity. Isn’t that what they say?”
“I can’t stop you,” Bishop announced, and when Kathi started to protest, he warned, “That’s enough from you.”
She subsided.
Coming around the desk to face Molly, Bishop studied her. “I’ve always credited you with being a smart girl.”
She gave him a yeah, right look.
“No, I don’t approve of what you write, but you’ve made it a profitable enterprise. You knew what you wanted, and you stuck to it, worked at it, and you’ve gained your own success. Unlike many young people—”
“Dad, I’m thirty years old. Not a child.”
His expression softened in sadness. “To someone pushing sixty, thirty is still young, believe me. My point is that you’ve avoided the pitfalls of drugs, alcohol or lack of initiative. I think you could have done more, something truly worthwhile with your talent—”
“Entertaining others is worthwhile,” she insisted. “Not everything in life has to be a lesson.”
Bishop let out a long-suffering sigh. “Debating it now is futile. What I’m attempting to say is that I want you to think long and hard about this. Don’t make yourself a matter of public gossip just to hurt me.”
Indulgent, more understanding than Dare could believe, Molly huffed a small breath. “Oh, Dad, don’t you see? Not everything is about you. This happened to me, and I need to know who wanted me hurt, and why.”
Bishop didn’t touch her, not to embrace her in comfort, not to exert his paternal will and not to vent his anger. To Dare, the two feet between them felt like miles.
He was willing to bet it felt even wider to Molly, a chasm that would never be bridged. Even as a child, she’d learned to live with that emotional distance.
Bishop nodded his acceptance of her decision and looked at Dare. “When do you plan to go public?”
“Soon.” Remaining noncommittal, Dare scooped up the photos of Mark Sagan and Ed Warwick and tapped them against his thigh. “First I think I’ll get in touch with your buddies, maybe squeeze them a little.”
“Your many connections, I suppose?”
“I have ways of getting to the truth, yes. Both men have a jaded history that they’ll want to protect. If you’re a party to this, they’ll eventually let something slip. You know that, right?”
Bishop gestured in resignation. “Do your worst. There’s nothing they can tell you about me, because I have never engaged in kidnapping, and I never would.”
For once, Kathi held silent. She kept her gaze on her hands, and Dare almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
“I’m taking Molly back to my home with me.”
“Where?” Bishop asked.
“Kentucky. A good four hours from here—well out of your reach.”
Bishop gave a slow nod of compliance. “She’ll be safe with you?”
“A hell of a lot safer than she ever was without me.”
“Then I suppose that’s for the best.”
After a timid glance at Bishop, Kathi interrupted. “What about your contracts, Molly? The movie negotiations, your agent, your editor …” She dampened dry lips. “You could stay with us, here. You’d be safe, and then you could finish conducting your business.”
Again Bishop looked at her as if she’d lost her mind.
“Not happening,” Dare said before Molly or her father could respond. “She goes where I go.”
“You could both stay, then.”
“No. I have dogs at home that need my attention.”
Bishop said, “Dogs?” while Kathi blinked at him in clear confusion.
“My girls,” Dare said, knowing how they probably felt about pets that were, in all the important ways, a part of his family. “I don’t like to leave them for long.”
“You jest,” Kathi said. “You’re putting animals above Molly’s safety?”