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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] I m sorry. He bit off the words. Really sorry. She knew he meant more than sorry for her grandfather dying, but she didn t say anything. She just nodded. Mavie helped her up to bed. Bodie was crying so hard that she could barely see where she was going. Behind her, down the stairs, she heard Cane cursing. * * * CANE WAS SICK AT HEART. He d treated Bodie like a prostitute negotiating a night in a motel, and there was nothing, nothing, he could do to fix the heartache he d created for her. She d gone to her stepfather s house and done things she d never forget in an attempt to save her grandfather s home. Now her grandfather was dead, and Bodie had to live with herself. It wasn t going to be easy, not for a woman who had been totally innocent and a person of faith. All that could have been avoided if Cane hadn t been such a pain in the neck. He d been smarting, still, from the rejection of that woman in the bar who d only wanted his money. But damn it, he knew Bodie wasn t like that! He knew she wasn t the sort of woman to ask for money on a whim, or for something frivolous. He even knew her grandfather had heart trouble. It hadn t occurred to him how bad her financial situation really was until now, when it was too late to do her any good. He sat down heavily on the sofa. He was remembering that photograph on Will Jones s computer, and the sight of Bodie s tragic white face, numb with tears. His eyes closed on a shudder. He hoped that computer s hard drive wasn t recoverable, after he d crashed it onto the floor. At least Bodie would be saved whatever notoriety Will had planned. There was gossip that he had some covert porn website that he produced images for. Obviously he d planned to use Bodie and his friend to provide him with more content. God only knew what he really had in mind. Bodie was so innocent that she probably didn t realize just how far the man might have gone if Cane and Tank hadn t shown up at his door. He leaned back against the sofa with a sigh. It was a horrendous mess. Bodie was all alone now, without her grandfather, probably without even a place to live if Will had his way. He had legal title to the property. No doubt he d toss everything Bodie owned that was still there.... He jerked out his cell phone and called his brother. Get a mover, quick, he told Tank solemnly. Will is bound to throw out Bodie s few things if he gets the chance. I ll make sure he doesn t get the chance, Tank said coldly. We ll move the furniture out of the guest bedroom and put it in storage. We can put Bodie s things there. I ll make sure it s all safely transported. The sheriff s on his way. Cody Banks is a good friend of mine, he added with a cold laugh. I ll tell him what Will s been doing. I m sure there s some statute that will cover it, even if Bodie s not underage. Have him check out Will s ISP, he advised. And see if he has a social networking page that feeds into his covert website. I can do that, too. If he s got even one photograph of an underage female on it, he ll be arrested. I wish we could make sure of that, Cane said heavily. It s all my fault. All my fault. If I d just thought before I spoke& Hindsight is a wonderful thing, Tank agreed. We ll have to help her with the funeral arrangements, he added. She won t have a clue. He was a veteran, so there will probably be a little money from the military to help, but I m fairly certain that she won t have a burial policy. Actually she will, Tank reminded him. We bought a policy for Rafe when he worked for us, and I ve kept it on automatic payments ever since. Thank God. Yes, because regardless of what you think of her, Bodie will turn her nose up at any offer of charity, his brother said quietly. She s proud. Rub it in. Cane grimaced. I should, Tank replied. You re my brother and I love you, but Bodie will have to live with what she did forever. We did get there in time to save her from anything really traumatic, but what happened is bad enough in itself. She ll consider that what she did was sell herself for money, even if [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |