Nobody's Baby but Mine(45)

They were scattered all over the house: X-Men, The Avengers, The Vault of Horror, even Bugs Bunny. Every time she saw a new comic book, she sent up a silent prayer of thanksgiving that at least this one thing had gone right. Intelligence tended toward the norm. Surely his mental slowness would balance her own genius and keep her child from being a freak. She silently expressed her gratitude by making certain his comics were never disturbed, not even by the cleaning women.

But that gratitude didn’t extend to her imprisonment. As much as the isolation helped her work, she realized she was giving him too much power by tolerating it. What would he do, she wondered, if she didn’t return? He knew she went for walks, but how would he react if she didn’t come back? What if she made her way beyond the gates, found a telephone, and took a taxi to the airport?

The idea of upsetting him elevated her spirits a few small notches. Leaning back on her elbows, she tilted her face and enjoyed the sunshine until she felt the chill of the rockyledge through her wool slacks. Then she rose and gazed back down into the valley.

The house and its owner lay beneath her; the mountains rose above. She began to climb.





Cal stalked into the family room with Jane’s purse clutched in his hand and strode over to the French doors that led to the deck, but he still couldn’t see any sign of her. That meant only one thing. She’d taken off up the mountain.

He knew she walked most days, but when he’d asked her about it, she’d told him she never went far. Well, she’d obviously gone far today, so far she’d gotten lost! For someone with an IQ of 180, she was the stupidest woman he’d ever met.

“Damn!” He flung the purse down on the couch. The latch flew open and the contents spilled.

“Something wrong, C-Man?”

“What? Uh, no.” Cal had forgotten about his youngest brother Ethan. When Ethan had shown up at the gate twenty minutes earlier, Cal had made up an excuse about having to return a phone call and stuck him in here while he’d tried to find a clue to his missing wife’s whereabouts.

Buying himself a few days’ extra time before he introduced Jane to his family was proving to be even tougher than he’d thought. Ethan had been back from his ski trip for three days, his parents from their vacation for two, and all of them had been hounding him.

“I was looking for my wallet,” he lied. “I thought Jane might have put it in her purse.”

Ethan rose from an easy chair near the fireplace, which was large enough to roast a Honda, and walked over to peer out the patio doors. Cal’s anger softened a bit as he gazed at his brother. While he and Gabe had shone on the playing fields, Ethan had made his mark in school theatrical productions. Although he was a decent athlete, organized sports held no appeal for him simply because he’d never been able to grasp the importance of winning.

Blond, more slightly built than either Cal or Gabe, and heartbreakingly handsome, he was the only one of the three Bonner brothers who took after their mother, and his male-model good looks had caused him to endure an endless amount of ribbing from Cal and Gabe. He had thickly lashed light brown eyes and a nose that had never been broken. His dark blond hair was conservatively cut and always combed. Normally he favored oxford shirts, neatly pressed Dockers, and penny loafers, but today he wore an ancient Grateful Dead T-shirt and jeans. On Ethan, the outfit looked like Brooks Brothers.

Cal frowned at him. “Did you iron that T-shirt?”

“Just a little touch-up.”

“Jesus, Eth, you’ve got to stop doin’ crap like that.”

Ethan smiled his Christ smile solely because he knew how much it irritated his big brother. “Some of us take pride in our appearance.” He regarded Cal’s muddy boots with distaste. “Others of us don’t care how we look.”

“Can it, asshole.” Cal’s language always deteriorated when he was around Ethan. There was just something about the kid’s unflappability that made him want to cuss. Not that it bothered Ethan one bit. As the youngest of three boys, his brothers had toughened him up at an early age. Even as children, Cal and Gabe had sensed that Ethan was more vulnerable than they were, so they’d made sure he could take care of himself. Although no one in the Bonner family ever admitted it, all of them secretly loved Ethan best.

Cal also respected him. Ethan had gone through a wild period, during college and into his early twenties, where he’d drunk too much and slept with too many women, but when he’d received the call, he’d made up his mind to live as he preached.

“Visiting the sick’s part of my job,” Ethan said. “Why don’t I just look in on your new wife?”