"Coming, darling." "Oh, one more thing," Dewitt said.
Cassie paused on the bottom step and twisted around. "Yes?" Her tone was
terse, and she didn't care.
"There's a good chance that Lester might be getting out soon."
FR1;Eighteen At least that was settled, and her panic had subsided.
Lester would not be getting out of prison before his time was up.
Once she had left her in-laws, Cassie had dropped Tyler off at her parents and gone to the office, where she could be alone.
Immediately, she had picked up the phone and called her attorney, Marty
Mitchum.
"Ah, hell, that's just wishful thinking on the Sulli- vans' part," Marty had said, his tone free of doubt.
"When Dewitt blurted that out, Marty, I got so dizzy and sick to my
stomach I was afraid I couldn't drive."
"Hell, you're made of stronger stuff than that."
"You're right, I am. I just thought of Tyler turned and walked away."
"You did the right thing."
"Oh, Marty, what if" -- "Stop worrying and trust me."
"All right," she said on a ragged breath.
"Look, where are you?" Marty asked.
"At the hotel."
"Go home, hug your kid and forget about that creep. He's locked up, and
he's going to stay there for a very long time."
"Thanks, Marty. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Once she'd ended that conversation, something had prodded her intomaking another call, this one to her contact at the women's shelter.
Again she had received reassurance that Lester would remain behind bars.
Feeling suddenly like she could use a cup of cappuccino and a goodlaugh, she had called Jo Nell, only she hadn't been home.
Suppressing her disappointment and suddenly feeling claustrophobic,Cassie moved from behind the desk. Scares like that one were hard on the blood pressure. Maybe she should take Marty's advice and go home.
It was late, long after the clerical staff had called it quits.
Even Austin, who worked a lot at night, was nowhere in sight. He wasprobably at his farm, playing with his horses, or, better yet, playingwith his latest squeeze, which was just fine with her.
No, it wasn't.
She was green with jealousy, an admission that made her heart constrict.But there wasn't one thing she could do about it, so why punish herselfneedlessly?
Cassie was making preparations to leave when the house phone rang. Itwas Fred Dykes, head of security.
"Ms. Sullivan, you best come quick to the lobby," he said.
"I can't find Mr. McGuire."
Without hesitating, Cassie made her way to the door. Security wouldnever have called if trouble hadn't been brewing. Where the hell was Sheheard the high-pitched, screeching voices just as she walked off theelevator. Upping her pace, Cassie rounded the corner into the lobby,only to instantly pull up short. Surely her eyes were playing tricks onher? What she was seeing couldn't be happening, not at the Hillcrest,for crying out loud.
Two women were engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
"How dare you try and steal my idea?" a bleached blonde yelled, at thesame time grabbing a handful of the other woman's red hair.
"How could I steal something that was mine to begin with?" The redheadkicked the blonde in the shin.
"Bitch!" the blonde screamed.
Although the women had an audience, everyone kept their distance, evenhotel security, Cassie noticed as she marched toward the women,determined to stop this madness. She wasn't about to allow such anticson her watch.
"Break it up, right now," she said in a hard but controlled tone.
They paid no attention to her, probably because they didn't even hearher.
They were too busy screeching, kicking and grabbing at each other.
Damn! These women were here for a conference. They were both executives
in the cosmetics business, women whom Cassie would have thought were above public brawling.
"I tried to make 'em listen to me, too," the thin security guard told
her, 'but as you can see, I was just wasting my time."
"Well, I'm not going to waste mine." Cassie's own temper had gone past the boiling point.
"This nonsense has to stop, now, before someone gets seriously hurt."
"What do you aim to do?" the guard asked, his voice troubled.
"Whatever it takes," Cassie snapped, edging closer to the woman, whose
fists and legs were still flying.
"Ma'am, uh, wait up," Fred said.
"Here comes Mr. McGuire." Cassie paid no heed to what he said. She was
already beside the blonde and had a hand on her shoulder.
"No more, ladies!" In order to be heard, Cassie had to shout herself.
"Not until this bitch admits she stole from me!" the redhead hissed,
drawing back her hand.
Later, Cassie had no idea what possessed her to do what she did. At the time, though, it seemed the only alternative. She stepped between them.
"Cassie, no!"
She heard Austin's shout, but it came too late. Something hard,
something that felt like a flying brick, slammed into her right
cheekbone.
The pain was all she could remember before a black void sucked her under.
"Hey, lie still."
"Where am I?" Cassie moaned, forcing her eyes open, despite her throbbing head.
"In my room."
Her eyes widened as she recognized the voice, then saw Austin sitting on
the sofa next to her. Another kind of panic cut off her breath.
As if he sensed that, Austin whispered, "It's okay. Everything's all right. You'reall right."
By whose definition? Cassie wanted to ask, but the effort was too much.
"Did I pass out?" she asked instead, licking her dry lips.
His eyes darkened.
"No. You were knocked out."
"Oh my."
"You came to on the way here." Austin frowned. "Don't you remember?"
"Vaguely."
"Dr. Miles checked you over, then gave you a couple of pain pills."
"Maybe that's why I feel so disoriented."