"Her husband gets only a hundred dollars?" she asked, astonished.

"They might not have had a happy marriage," Jake remarked.

"No kidding," John Paul offered from the kitchen door.

"Rosa sure didn't like him," Jake added. "I think it's nice that Catherine didn't forget to leave her housekeeper something. She

took good care of her."

"John must have signed a prenuptial agreement for Catherine to control her own money," Michelle said.

"He'll still try to contest it," Theo said. "What does the man do for a living?"

"He's a lawyer," Jake told him. "He works for one of the big banks in New Orleans. I've never actually talked to the man, and

I think that's a crying shame. Mike and I didn't even get a chance to speak to him at the funeral, did we, sugar?"

"No, Daddy, we didn't. But that was my fault. I had to get back to the hospital, and you had to drive me."

Theo's cell phone rang and interrupted the conversation. Noah was on the fine.

"Where are you?" Theo asked.

"I just reached St. Claire," Noah answered.

"Drive to Jake's house. Do you know the way?"

"Yeah. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"What did you find out?" Theo walked through the kitchen and onto the screened porch. He pulled the door shut behind him.

Michelle assumed he wanted privacy and decided to set the table. John Paul was leaning against the counter, glaring at her.

"What's the matter?" she asked as she opened the drawer and got out the place mats.

"You're gonna let another FBI agent inside this house?"

"Yes, I am," she said. "Don't give me attitude, John Paul. I'm not in the mood. You're going to be polite to Noah."

"You think so?"

"I know so. Daddy? John Paul…"

She didn't have to go any further. Her brother shook his head in exasperation and then smiled. "You're still telling on me, aren't you, brat?"

She smiled back. "It still works, doesn't it? Thank you, John Paul."

"I didn't say…"

"You didn't have to. You're going to try to remember how to be nice."

She went back to the table and put the place mats down. Weary, she sat down and propped her head on her hands. She kept thinking about the hundred thousand dollars, and her guilt was intensifying. Why would such a mean-spirited woman do such a

kind thing? And what else had Catherine sent her that was of such interest to the police and the men who would kill to get hold

of it?

Daddy was sitting next to her, going through the album again.

"Poor Catherine," Michelle said. "She didn't have many friends. At the funeral… there weren't many people. The only person who shed a tear was her housekeeper. Remember, Daddy? She was crying for Catherine, but no one else was. I feel bad about that."

She was remembering the pitiful little procession walking through the cemetery. Rosa was carrying rosary beads and crying. John walked behind the priest and kept glancing back at Daddy and her. Since neither one of them had ever met the man, she assumed he was wondering who they were. Another man looked back too. He was walking beside John, and he…

"Oh, my God, that's the man… that was him," she cried out as she jumped up. In her excitement to tell Theo what she had remembered, she'd knocked the chair over. She impatiently picked it up, then ran through the kitchen. Theo was coming inside.

He ended the phone call as she ran into him. Grabbing her, he stepped back onto the porch.

"What's the matter?"

"I remember where I saw that man before… remember, I told you he looked familiar? It's the same guy." Her words were

tripping over each other.

"Slow down," he said, "and start over."

"The delivery man who talked to me at the stadium. I told you he looked familiar, and I thought I must have run into him at the hospital, but that wasn't it. He was at Catherine's funeral. He was talking with John, and he walked beside him at the cemetery."

Daddy hadn't heard the conversation. He also was thinking about Catherine's generosity and thinking that Ellie was smiling now because her niece had done such a nice thing for her family. She'd always worried about the selfish streak in Catherine, but now Catherine had redeemed herself.

He heard Michelle mention John's name and called out, "I'm thinking I ought to get on the phone and ring up Catherine's husband."

"Oh, Daddy, don't do that," Michelle said.

"No," Theo ordered sharply at the same time.

"Why not?" Daddy asked. He turned in his chair and looked at Theo. "I ought to tell him thank you for the money. It's the right tning to do. He was Catherine's husband, and he had to approve it."

Michelle was shaking her head as Theo was walking toward her father. "Sir, I don't want you to call him. Promise me you won't."

"Give me a reason, then," Daddy said. "And I'll promise. Make it a good one."

"Okay," Theo said. His voice was calm as he continued, "He tried to kill your daughter."

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Daddy took the news much better than John Paul did. Michelle's brother wanted to get in the pickup, hunt down the bastard,

and blow his head off. He wasn't in the mood to listen to reason, and he didn't give a hoot about the law.

"If you know he's the man behind this, then take him out before he has another chance to kill her," he demanded.

Theo wasn't fazed by John Paul's fury. "I can't prove it yet. It's all circumstantial," he explained. "Which is why I have to go to New Orleans."

John Paul looked as if he wanted to hit Theo. Michelle got between the two men and tried to make her brother calm down.

The doorbell rang, interrupting the argument. While Daddy went to let Noah in, Theo said, "We hang tight."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means you can't shoot anyone."

Theo turned to Michelle. "Promise me you won't leave The Swan until I get back. No ifs or buts about it. I don't want to be worrying about you…"

"Okay," she said. She patted his chest and stepped closer. "You be careful too."

"If there's any trouble, you do what Noah tells you to do. John Paul, you watch your father's back. Got that?"

Her brother stopped arguing and gave an abrupt nod. Noah was standing by the front door talking to Daddy. The FBI agent hadn't bothered to shave and looked scruffy in torn jeans and a faded blue shirt. She went to greet him. She could certainly understand Mary Ann's interest. There was an element of danger about the man that made women want to run from him and try to rehabilitate him at the same time.

Those blue eyes penetrated as he said, "I heard you had a busy night dodging bullets."

She couldn't resist. "I heard you had a busy night too."

"Yes, I did. Your friend told me to tell you 'hey.' I think that means 'hi,'" he said, grinning. "I sure didn't have much fun this morning, though. You'd figure a man on vacation should be able to sleep in. Where's Theo?" he asked.

"He is on the porch with John Paul. Through the kitchen," she said.

Noah headed that way, but she stopped him when she said, "Will you please do me a favor?"

"Sure," he said. "What is it?"

"Put up with my brother."

Noah laughed. "I can get along with anyone."

"Want to bet?"

It was too bad she hadn't wagered money because she would have won. Less than three minutes had passed when the shouting started. Her brother was doing most of the yelling, but Noah was keeping up.

Theo came into the kitchen with Noah's car keys. Michelle winced when she heard her brother call Noah a grossly obscene name.

Theo heard it too. Grinning, he said, "I knew they'd get along."

Her eyes widened. "You call that getting along?"

"You don't hear any gunshots, do you? Noah likes your brother."