“Who do you think you’re kidding?” Joe sneered. “You sat on it because you know that this gives us a stronger claim to Georgia.”
Crawford was determined not to let the conversation spin out of control. Besides, he was too weak and weary to fight another fight. Quietly, but emphatically, he said, “Believe what you will, Joe. I kept Beth’s secret because I didn’t want the truth to reflect badly on her. I also wanted to protect Georgia from any kind of cruel backlash.” He paused for a beat, then added, “What you do with it is entirely up to you.”
The older man’s expression and body language remained unyielding.
Crawford picked up the sack containing his shirt and reclaimed Holly’s hand. They left the room together, went down the hall, and out the front door, where he stopped to face her.
“Now do you understand why I said I couldn’t have you? I meant everything I said in there about wanting to protect Beth and Georgia. But Joe’s right. I also knew that if the truth about her parentage became known, I was sunk. So, yeah, I lived the lie. It didn’t bother me, not in the least. Till I met you. You’re grafted to the truth. Your lifework is to seek the truth. Living that lie suddenly mattered. And it mattered huge.”
She had listened intently, and when he finished, she said, “I do understand the dilemma you faced. But let’s not talk about it anymore tonight. I just want to hold you.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, then flinched away from him and brought her hand from behind his back. It was stained red. “Crawford, this is fresh blood!”
He gave a sheepish shrug. “Some of it was mine.”
“Ready?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Keep your eyes covered till I tell you.”
He guided Georgia down the hallway to the open door of her bedroom, positioned her, then said, “Okay, you can look!”
She lowered her hands and began to squeal as she hopped up and down. “That’s gonna be my bed?”
“It’s all yours. This is your room from now on.”
She turned and hugged him around the knees. “Thank you, Daddy! This is the best surprise ever!”
He returned her hug, then nudged her into the room. “Go check it out.”
She went directly to the ballet slippers and tutu.
He had replicated everything that had been destroyed. The vandalism was attributed to Pat Connor. That was only one bit of the wealth of information supplied by the surviving bodyguard as part of his plea bargain.
From him they also learned that Chuck Otterman, by working for several companies over many years, had created a complicated relay system of weapons trafficking that might otherwise have taken years to discover, and even longer to unsnarl and prosecute the participants. The guard also identified the roughnecks who played active roles in that sideline, and exonerated those who were clueless to it.
Many of Otterman’s local weapons suppliers were busted by a joint task force of officers from several agencies, state and federal, including Harry and Sessions out of Houston, and Crawford out of his office in Prentiss. As it turned out, cousins of even the tightest clans would rat each other out. It was surprising how cooperative they became when faced with felony charges. And Harry’s six-shooter.
Holly joined him at the door of Georgia’s bedroom, setting her pink suitcase just inside it. “I think she likes it.”
“How can you tell?” he asked, smiling over Georgia’s enthusiastic oohs and aahs as she moved from one treasure to another.
“The trunk of my car is packed with stuff. Where are you going to put it all?”
“We’ll find room. Maybe she’ll cull some of it.” He placed his arm around Holly’s shoulders and kissed her brow. “Thanks for doing that, by the way.”
He’d accepted her offer to pick up Georgia at the Gilroys’ house and deliver her and her belongings to his. “It wasn’t too bad.”
“Joe?”
“Coolly polite. Grace got teary-eyed, but she was smiling and enthusiastic for Georgia’s sake. It helps that she’ll be keeping her after school every day.”
He had told his in-laws that he would get Georgia to school each morning, but that he needed someone to pick her up and watch her until he got home from work. When he asked Grace if she would be interested, she had wept and gratefully accepted the proposal.
“It’s a good arrangement,” he said to Holly now.
“It was kind of you.”
“I know how hard it was for them to give her up. Seeing them every day will help Georgia with the transition, too.”
The restraining order had been revoked. That hearing had never taken place. When the custody hearing was rescheduled with another judge, Joe didn’t use his silver bullet. Crawford figured Grace had forbidden it. He also reasoned that Joe, who’d had ample opportunities to confront him with the truth, hadn’t because, he, too, had wanted to protect Beth and Georgia from any hint of scandal.