I’LL BE WATCHING YOU Read online

  ‘Yes, you’re right. Come on inside.’ The couple followed her into the kitchen. She took a deep breath. ‘I’m not a promiscuous woman. I’ve had sex outside of marriage with only one man’ – she glanced meaningfully at Regina – ‘with your father, whom I loved with all my heart.’

  Regina opened her mouth to speak, but Judy spoke first. ‘I made a vow to never reveal his identity, and I intend to keep that vow. I’m sorry. But I can tell you this about what you saw yesterday. I’m not having an affair with Webb Porter. He and I dated years ago, when I was in high school. When his family disapproved of him dating a girl from the wrong side of town, we broke up and I married Reed’s father, and later on Webb married Carolyn. But we’ve always had … feelings for each other. I’m afraid that yesterday, we let those feelings get out of hand.’

  ‘But why, Mama?’ Regina asked. ‘I don’t understand. How could you care about the man who prosecuted Reed, the man most responsible for my brother having to spend fifteen years in prison?’

  ‘I don’t know exactly how it happened,’ Judy admitted. ‘One minute Webb and I were talking, and the next thing I knew … It was a terrible mistake, and I am so very sorry that you saw what happened.’

  ‘I don’t know if I believe you or not,’ Regina said. ‘I’ve spent my entire life defending you – to myself and anyone who dared say anything against you. I want to believe that my father was your one and only illicit lover, that you haven’t been with countless men. That you aren’t the whore Junior told me you were the night he tried to rape me.’

  ‘Oh, Regina.’ Emotion lodged in Judy’s throat, almost choking her. The pain of knowing that she had brought Junior Blalock into their lives, that she had allowed herself to be seduced by his good looks and boyish charm, made her sick to her stomach. She had unleashed a monster on her children, and to this day, both Reed and Regina were paying for her monumental mistake.

  ‘I knew he was lying. I knew when he said that I’d turn out to be a whore just like my mama that he had to be lying.’ Regina turned to Mark, who opened his arms to her.

  Tears welled up in Judy’s eyes. ‘Junior Blalock was a mean, worthless piece of trash who nearly destroyed us. I didn’t have the courage to leave him because I was terribly afraid of him. I’d give my life if I could go back and undo the things he did. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t have married him.’

  Regina glanced up from where she had her face buried against Mark’s chest. She sobbed softly, then eased out of Mark’s embrace and went to her mother, stopping when only inches separated their bodies.

  ‘I’m not a whore,’ Judy said. ‘I’ve been with only three men in my entire life. Reed’s father, who was my first husband. Your father, whom I loved. And Junior.’ At the mention of her former husband’s name, a cold numbness set in deep within Judy.

  ‘Is Webb Porter my father?’ Regina asked.

  Judy couldn’t breathe. She thought that perhaps her heart had stopped beating. It was as if a two-ton weight sat squarely on her chest. She couldn’t speak.

  ‘Does he know?’ Regina asked. ‘Has he always known?’

  Webb Porter parked his Mercedes in front of Conway’s Garage. He assumed that Reed would be at work. After all, it was shortly after nine, and Webb assumed that most service stations and garages opened early. He’d been forced to sit through breakfast with a chattering Carolyn, still griping about the ransacked condition of the house and the fact that Reed Conway didn’t deserve to be walking the streets a free man. Ella had been her usual sweet, dignified self, but all the while she chatted with her mother, smiling warmly and agreeing with whatever Carolyn said, Webb had been tormented by the fact that his daughter had all but confessed to him that she’d spent the night with Reed.

  The six gas pumps at the garage held three customers filling up their tanks this morning. The two men and the woman standing by their vehicles waved, nodded and spoke to Webb. He vaguely recognized the woman, had known one of the men all his life, and knew the other man, too, even though he couldn’t recall his name. Of course, all three knew who he was – the curse of being a local politician.

  Webb headed toward the garage. As he drew nearer, he saw Reed behind the counter at the cash register, waiting on another customer. Webb entered the building. Reed glanced over at him, no emotion showing on his face; then he returned his attention to the customer, Waylan McGuire, who owned the only pawn shop in Spring Creek.

  ‘Morning, Senator,’ Waylan said. ‘Already hot and humid out there, isn’t it? Going to be another scorcher.’

  ‘Seems that way,’ Webb agreed.

  Reed handed Waylan change from two twenties. ‘Come back and see us, Mr McGuire.’

  The minute Waylan closed the glass door behind him, Reed shut the cash register and met Webb’s glare head-on. ‘What can I do for you this morning, Senator?’

  You can stop screwing my daughter, that’s what you can do.

  ‘You can stay the hell away from my family,’ Webb said, just barely controlling his rage.

  Reed came out from behind the counter and walked right up to Webb, totally unafraid. Webb wasn’t used to that. He was the type of man who normally put the fear of God into other men. But not Reed Conway. Not now. Not fifteen years ago when Reed had been an eighteen-year-old. And not even when Reed had been just a kid, warning Webb to stay away from Judy. Was having an affair with Ella Reed’s way of exacting revenge for more than just Webb having prosecuted him for Junior’s murder? Was Reed telling him that if Webb could screw around with his mother, then he could screw around with Webb’s daughter?

  ‘You need to be more specific,’ Reed said.

  ‘I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I’m warning you to stay away from Ella.’

  ‘I’d say that’s up to Ella.’

  Webb grabbed Reed’s arm, clamping his hand over Reed’s biceps. ‘You stay away from her or I’ll make you sorry you’re not back in Donaldson. I protect what’s mine. Do I make myself clear?’

  ‘Something we have in common, Senator. I protect what’s mine, too. And, as of last night, your daughter falls into that category.’

  Webb swung at Reed, his fist just barely connecting with Reed’s body because Reed had seen the blow coming and sidestepped to avoid a direct hit. Reeling slightly backward, Reed glared at Webb. He rubbed his bruised jaw.

  ‘I won’t beat the hell out of you, you son of a bitch, no matter how much satisfaction it would give me,’ Reed said. ‘I won’t even hit you. Because you’re Ella’s father.’

  Webb stared at Reed Conway, not sure what to think of this man. Hearing a sound from behind him, Webb glanced over his shoulder and realized that they had an audience. One man stood in the open doorway. The other man and woman stood outside, looking in through the glass storefront. Outside, two other customers watched.

  Mustering up as much dignity as possible, Webb turned and faced the small crowd. He nodded to each as he passed them, but didn’t bother honoring them with his politician’s smile. Once he sat down behind the wheel of his Mercedes, he took a deep, tortured breath and asked himself for the first time in many years if it were possible he’d been wrong about Reed Conway. Wrong in believing he had killed Junior Blalock fifteen years ago. Wrong in assuming that the man didn’t care anything about Ella and was only using her.

  23

  Reed pulled the truck up in the parking lot across the street from the courthouse. Ella saw him from the window in her office, where she’d been watching for him, and her heart did a silly little lurch. She shrugged off her robe and tossed it on the sofa, then hoisted the straps of her bag over her shoulder and rushed out of her office. By the time she had raced up the hall, out the side door and across the street, she was breathless with anticipation. Reed kept the motor of the old truck idling as he waited. The minute he saw her, he leaned over the seat and flung open the door on the passenger side. Ella climbed into the truck’s cab and, before she got her seat belt buckled, Reed shifted gears an
d swung out into the light traffic along Cotton Street.

  ‘Sandwiches and chips in that bag.’ Reed nodded to the brown paper sack on the seat between them. ‘And there’s bottled water in the glove compartment.’

  ‘When you called and asked me for lunch—’

  ‘I thought you’d turn me down,’ he said as he headed the truck down the one-way street that led into Spring Creek Park. ‘You’re being very daring riding through town with me.’

  ‘I figure if I’m going to help you search for Junior Blalock’s murderer, people are bound to talk anyway. Besides, there’s no way anyone will know how involved we are on a personal level.’

  ‘All anyone would have to do is take a good look at my face whenever I’m around you and they’d know,’ Reed said. ‘I have a feeling no one could miss seeing the lust in my eyes.’

  Ella smiled. ‘I called Mark this morning and told him that I intend to discuss the case and your trial with my father and with Frank Nelson.’

  Reed pulled the truck off the road that circled the park and drove onto a dirt path that ended several yards away under two huge live oaks with high, intertwining branches. After killing the engine, he opened the driver’s door, then leaned across Ella and opened the passenger’s door.

  ‘We need to get a little cross-ventilation going,’ he said, then lifted his head to kiss her.

  ‘Not here. People might see us.’

  He laughed. ‘There’s nobody around on this side of the park. Besides, trying to keep your reputation intact while fooling around with me might prove impossible.’

  ‘Why do you say that? Do you know something I don’t?’ she asked.

  Reed popped open the glove compartment, pulled out two sweating bottles of water, unscrewed the lid on one and handed it to Ella, then placed the second between his thighs. ‘Briley Joe told me that he overheard some guys talking.’

  ‘What guys?’

  ‘Just some guys. But you should know that somebody saw your car parked behind the garage early this morning. And these guys know that I moved into the room upstairs yesterday.’

  ‘I see.’

  Reed lifted the paper sack off the seat, opened it, pulled out a wrapped sandwich and offered it to Ella. She took it, unwrapped it and sat there staring at the corned beef on rye.

  ‘I suppose I could say that I left my car overnight at the garage because something or other needed to be fixed.’ She took a large bite of the sandwich.

  Reed removed the second sandwich and laid it on his lap, then unscrewed the cap on his water bottle. ‘Yeah, you could, but I doubt anybody’s going to ask you. They’d rather talk behind your back.’

  ‘I can’t risk coming to your room again,’ Ella said. ‘And there’s no way you can come to the house.’

  ‘We can meet in the park. Tonight. Right here. Not many people come to this side of the park, and the odds are that no one will see us.’ Reed took a huge gulp of water, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

  ‘Tonight? But we were together all last night and again this morning.’

  ‘Are you saying you got enough, that you don’t want any more?’

  She glared at him. The shock in her eyes quickly turned to fury when he laughed again.

  ‘Damn you, Reed. You just love to aggravate me, don’t you?’

  His hand shot out, grabbed her around the neck, and pulled her close. He covered her mouth with his, kissing her hard and fast, then releasing her just as quickly. ‘I love making love to you more than anything else.’

  ‘Reed?’

  ‘Eat up, babe. I’ve got to get back to the garage. I only get a forty-five minute lunch break.’

  ‘You shouldn’t be wasting your time working in Briley Joe’s garage. Mark told me you earned a college degree while you were in prison. I’m going to check into finding you more suitable work.’

  ‘Just help me prove that I didn’t murder Junior,’ Reed said. ‘Once my name is cleared, I’ll be able to find a better job without any help from you. A job somewhere far away from Spring Creek.’

  ‘You’re not going to stay here?’

  ‘No way in hell.’

  ‘But your mother and sister are here.’

  ‘They can go with me or they can visit me.’

  ‘But what about …’

  She let her sentence trail off without completing it, but apparently Reed knew what she’d been about to ask.

  ‘You can come visit me, too,’ he said.

  When she saw him grinning, she socked him playfully on the arm. ‘All the girls in high school had big crushes on you. Did you know that?’

  He shrugged. ‘What about you, Miss Ella, did you have a crush on me?’

  She shook her head. ‘No, not really. But I found you interesting and intriguing. Especially after you went to prison and sent me those letters.’

  ‘Those were some letters, huh? Bet they scared the heck out of you, didn’t they?’

  ‘In a way, I suppose they did, but … they also awakened something in me. A true curiosity about sex.’

  ‘Meet me here tonight,’ he said. ‘If it doesn’t rain again, we can spread a blanket out under the stars.’

  ‘What time?’

  ‘I’ll leave the garage about sundown.’

  ‘I’m hoping that before I see you tonight, I will have convinced my father that he’s wrong about you. If we could enlist his help in trying to get Junior’s murder case reopened, it will make things much easier for us.’

  Reed didn’t have the heart to tell her about his confrontation with Webb this morning. She’d hear about it sooner or later. Rumors and gossip abounded in Spring Creek. Everybody seemed to know a little bit about everyone else’s personal business. ‘Don’t count on any help from your old man.’

  ‘And don’t you be so sure that my father can’t admit when he’s wrong,’ she said. ‘Daddy trusts my judgment. If I can convince him that I believe in your innocence, then I think there’s a good chance he will at least give you the benefit of the doubt.’

  ‘Damn it, girl, don’t you know that man’s using you?’ Webb paced back and forth in the gazebo. ‘Now I know why you said you wanted some privacy for our conversation, why you insisted on our coming out here.’

  ‘I thought you’d be more reasonable about this,’ Ella said.

  ‘Be reasonable about my daughter having an affair with a convicted murderer. A man I prosecuted. A man who swore revenge against me. Can’t you see that the best form of revenge, even better than harming you, is him making you care about him and believe in him?’

  Ella shuddered. Her father was wrong, dead wrong. He had to be. Of course, the same suspicious thoughts had crossed her mind, but she had dismissed them. Reed wasn’t faking the passion, of that she was certain. He made love to her as if she were the only woman in the world.

  ‘Haven’t you ever had one single doubt about Reed’s guilt? Now or in the past?’ Ella laid her hand on her father’s back and felt him tense.

  Webb hung his head. ‘Do you think I wanted that boy to be guilty? Well, I didn’t.’ He turned to face her, inadvertently knocking her hand off his back. ‘I can’t even say that I blame him for what he did. Junior deserved killing. He deserved worse for the hell he put Judy through, for the beatings he gave her and Reed. And for the things he tried to do to Regina.’

  ‘If you’ve always felt this way, then why—’

  ‘If he’d beaten Junior to death, it would have been one thing – legally as well as in my mind, too. But Reed went back after he’d beaten Junior, when Junior was unconscious and couldn’t defend himself, and slit the man’s throat. That’s murder, Ella, any way you look at it. And you know it.’

  ‘Someone else killed Junior Blalock.’

  ‘Reed had motive, opportunity, and the murder weapon belonged to him.’

  ‘But he wasn’t the only one who had opportunity and motive, was he?’ Ella moved closer to stand side by side with her father as he gazed out over the backyard flower garde
n. ‘There were others who hated Junior enough to kill him. Why did the investigation end with Reed’s arrest?’

  ‘The police were certain they had their man. And I was certain.’ Webb shoved his hands into the front pockets of his slacks. ‘I was so sure. Back then, I didn’t have a doubt in my mind.’

  ‘And now?’

  ‘And now, I have a few doubts,’ Webb admitted. ‘I still think Reed killed Junior, but … Did he tell you that I stopped by the garage this morning?’

  ‘No, he didn’t.’

  ‘I wanted to rip him limb from limb.’ Webb stepped down from the gazebo and looked up at the early evening sky. ‘I warned him to stay away from you.’

  ‘What did he say?’

  ‘He told me you could make your own decisions.’

  ‘He’s right. I can.’

  Webb breathed deeply, then looked directly at her. ‘I hit him.’

  ‘Oh, Daddy, you didn’t.’

  ‘He wouldn’t hit me back,’ Webb told her. ‘And you know why he wouldn’t hit me?’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘He said he wouldn’t hit me because I was your father.’

  Instantly tears stung her eyes. ‘I can’t believe he said that. He tries so hard to be tough, to never let anyone see that he has feelings, that he cares about anything or anyone.’

  ‘If I agree to talk to Frank Nelson about reopening Reed’s case, will you promise me to stay away from him?’

  ‘Oh, Daddy, you know I can’t make that kind of promise.’

  ‘You’ve fallen in love with him, haven’t you?’

  Ella followed her father out into the garden and, when he paused, she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. ‘I don’t know if it’s love or … or … All I know is that I care about him and I want to help him.’

  ‘I’ll give Frank a call in the morning. I hope for your sake that I did convict an innocent man fifteen years ago.’

  By early afternoon almost half the town had heard about the confrontation between Webb Porter and Reed Conway. Some said it was the old quarrel – that Reed still claimed innocence in Junior Blalock’s murder and blamed Webb for his murder conviction. Others were saying that the good senator was accusing Reed of being the perpetrator in the recent harassment of his daughter and the death of his hunting dogs last night. But by evening, there were a few whispered innuendos floating around that something was going on between Reed Conway and Judge Eleanor Porter. Reed had been seen going into Miss Ella’s office yesterday and staying for quite some time behind locked doors. And someone thought they saw the judge’s car parked behind Conway’s Garage at dawn this morning. And then another somebody had spotted Ella getting into a beat-up old truck with Reed around noon today.