away the demons that brought on those restless spells. And a woman wouldn’t like that. His past was another casualty he had to live with.
As sleep drew near, Serena’s face flashed in his mind. She was a woman who could ease a man’s aches and pains—but not his.
CHAPTER FOUR
ONCE AGAIN Serena didn’t sleep well. She kept wondering if Ethan had found the stripper. What was her name? Did she and this other woman have a connection? She was up early hoping Ethan would call, but he didn’t. Gran had her bridge ladies over, so Serena worked in the study. She had several greeting cards to finish, and in the afternoon she was planning to work on a child’s portrait. She’d already met the five-year-old girl, whose mother had brought lots of photos. That would be her routine for the summer, trying to supplement their income. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep it up or what she was going to do when the money from the earrings ran out. And she still had to pay Ethan Ramsey. Again she questioned her decision in hiring him. She could definitely use the money for other necessities—like electricity and food. But for some reason, she just couldn’t get the other woman out of her mind.
When she heard the cars leaving, she went into the den to talk to her grandmother.
“Are you tired, Gran?” she asked. Aurora sat in a large wing chair, eyes closed and feet propped up.
“A little.”
“I’d like to talk about my mother.”
Aurora’s eyes flew open and she sighed. “Serena, I don’t understand why you keep bringing this up.”
“Because it’s important to me. I’d like to know more about my parents.”
“I’ve told you all you need to know,” Aurora said in a sharp tone.
“I’m not ten years old, Gran,” Serena replied just as sharply. “And I don’t appreciate it when you treat me that way.”
“Oh, darling, don’t get upset with me,” Gran pleaded. “I just don’t like talking about them.”
“Why?” Serena wanted to know. “Jasmine was your only child, yet there are no pictures of her in this house. It’s like she never existed.”
Aurora’s lips tightened. “She broke my heart when she chose that man over me and your grandfather. I had all her things put in the attic. I didn’t want any reminders.”
Serena swallowed hard. “Why, Gran? Why do you hate my father so much?”
“He wasn’t a nice person,” came the clipped answer. “And I raised Jasmine with high standards. Standards that he flouted.”
“What do you mean?”
“He took Jasmine from me out of spite.”
Serena’s eyes narrowed. Gran was talking as if she knew John Welch very well. She remembered the other conversations she’d had with her grandmother, and something here didn’t ring true. “You said you didn’t know anything about John Welch, yet—”
Gran cut in. “I just get angry when I think about that man and what he did to my family.” Gran fingered the pearls around her neck with a nervous hand. “It’s so long ago now and I’m tired of talking about them.”
Gran was lying. Serena got to her feet, knowing it was useless to talk to her; Gran wasn’t going to let go of years of resentment and bitterness. Still, Serena wanted to find out why. As she went back to the study, she kept thinking that maybe her mother was alive. Oh, God, could her mother be alive? The ringing of the phone stopped her thoughts. She immediately yanked it up. It was Ethan, and she’d never been so glad to hear anyone’s voice in her life.
“Have you found her?” was all she could say.
“No,” Ethan said, and her spirits sank.
“She wasn’t at the strip club?”
“No, they said she was sick.” He sounded put out and she wondered why.
“Then she’ll be back, won’t she?”
“I’m not sure. Since it was Saturday I was almost positive she’d be there.” A long pause.
“What’s wrong?” she asked when he didn’t say anything else. There was definitely a quality in his voice that hadn’t been there before.
“I believe in honesty. If clients lie to me, there’s not much I can do to help them. You once asked me if I was lying. Now I’m asking you, Serena. Are you lying to me?”
Now she understood the problem—he thought that since the stripper hadn’t appeared they could be one and the same person. “No, I’m not,” she said earnestly. “I am not the stripper. Please believe me. But I have to know who she is.”
She could almost feel his relief. “Okay, I’ll go back tonight.”
“Thanks, Ethan. I’ll wait for your call.”
Serena hung up the phone and noticed the caller I.D. Ethan was staying at a motel in Dallas. As she stared at the name, an idea formed in her head.
AFTER HEARING her voice, Ethan felt better. She wasn’t lying. He believed her, and he never took a case unless he believed the client. On this one, he’d been waffling back and forth so much he was beginning to doubt his instincts. Her soft voice confused those instincts completely, something that had never happened to him before. He’d feel like a fool if he was wrong about her, but deep inside he knew he wasn’t.
He decided to stake out the club to see if the redhead went in or out. He spent the afternoon watching the back entrance, but mostly saw service and delivery people. As afternoon grew into evening, a few girls trailed in, but they were blondes and brunettes, no redheads. The building was a two-story, and he glanced at the top floor. He wondered if any of the girls lived on the premises. It was certainly possible.
Bored with the inactivity, he called it quits. He’d check the club later when things were livelier. In the meantime he drove to the police station. He had a friend who worked narcotics; as far as he knew, Daniel was still on the force. He wanted to ask him some questions about Rudy Boyd, but unfortunately Daniel was out on a case. Ethan felt as if his whole day was wasted. He returned to his room, showered and changed for the evening, then drove to the nightclub to talk to Travis. Molly was getting dressed, so they had a few minutes alone.
“What do you know about Rudy Boyd?” he asked.
Travis shrugged. “Not a lot. He hired me about a year ago, but I’ve seen very little of him. He has clubs all over Dallas—he’s a very busy man. I’ve seen more of him since Molly’s been here than I have the whole of last year.”
“What’s his interest in Molly?”
“Damn, Ethan, you’ve been on that ranch too long. What do you think his interest is?”
“Be realistic, Travis. Molly’s my sister and I love her, but she’s thirty-five and Rudy Boyd seems more the type to go for twenty-year-olds.”
Travis shifted in his seat. “Yeah,
