Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz Page A

put the glass down very carefully. “This is not good, Jack. I appreciate what you did, believe me, but now you’ve made yourself a target.”
    â€œThat was pretty much the point of the exercise,” Jack said.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    Madeline sat on the edge of the bed and watched Jack prowl through her room, checking the locks on the windows and the door. Satisfied, he went to the connecting door that separated his room from hers and opened it.
    â€œYou’ve had a long day,” he said. “Try to get some sleep.”
    â€œSure,” she said. She knew she wasn’t going to get much sleep, but there was no good reason to whine about it.
    â€œI’ll leave this door ajar,” he said. “If I hear anything that doesn’t sound right in your room, I’ll come in and check, okay?”
    â€œOkay.” She made a face. “No, it’s not okay. I’m worried, Jack.”
    â€œAbout Xavier Webster?”
    â€œAbout you. Xavier looked like he had some control tonight, but the thing is, he was always sneaky as a kid. I told you, he rarely got caught. Now that he’s an adult I’ve got a hunch that he’s probably even better at hiding in the shadows.”
    Jack contemplated her for a long moment.
    â€œThis isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with a bastard like Xavier Webster,” he said finally. “Let me do my job.”
    She winced. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to imply you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s just that guys like Xavier are scary.”
    â€œAnd you don’t like feeling that you need someone else to protect you. It makes you feel vulnerable.”
    â€œIs it that obvious?”
    â€œEveryone is vulnerable to something. The trick is to recognize your own weaknesses and blind spots so that you can come up with a way to protect them. In this case you did the smart thing and brought in a professional. That’s what smart people do when they’re facing situations outside their sphere of competence.”
    She smiled. “Do you have to give that lecture to every client?”
    â€œOnly the stubborn ones.”
    â€œGood night,” she said.
    â€œGood night.”
    He went into the other room and pulled the door almost but not quite shut behind him.
    She held it together all the while she was getting ready for bed. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and changed into her nightgown without losing it. She wrapped the B&B’s complimentary robe around herself, tied the sash, and turned out the lights.
    By the time she was ready, the other room had gone silent and dark. Evidently Jack’s nightly routine was more efficient than hers. The stillness that seeped through the narrow opening between their rooms made her wonder if he was already fast asleep.
    She went to the window and pulled the drapes aside. From where she stood she could see the lights of the Webster family compound crowning the cliffs on one side of the cove. The windows of the sprawling main house and both guest cottages were illuminated.
    The Aurora Point Hotel loomed on the opposite cliffs, dark ruins of a haunted past.
    She thought about the shock of finding Tom dying; her panickyflight up the service stairs, fleeing an unseen killer; and the decision to summon Jack to Cooper Island. She pondered the fact that her best friend from childhood might be in mortal danger. And then she thought about how Jack had made himself the target of a man who was probably a dangerous sociopath. Last of all she made herself consider the possibility that someone had murdered Edith Chase.
    And she knew that it was all her fault. The past was coming back to haunt all of them because of her. Tears burned in her eyes.
    She turned away from the dark view and headed toward the bathroom. At the very least she could do the decent thing and spare Jack the sound of a weeping woman. He was dealing with enough problems as it was.
    Inside the bathroom she