Tommy's Mom

She didn’t resist as he took her into his arms. His lips touched hers, gently at first. So gently that he felt both unsatisfied and tantalized by the sweet and seductive taste of Holly. With a soft moan of frustration, he pulled her closer. Tightly against him. Deepened the kiss. Waited for her to resist, to pull away, tell him to get lost.

But she didn’t. Instead, he heard a soft sound of surrender and need as she pressed herself against him.

His tongue delved into her mouth, tasting her. Wanting to taste her more, all over.

Gabe pressed against her, felt her respond by a low moan that made him even crazier. She didn’t pull away and didn’t seem to want to.

Did that mean she desired him as much as he desired her?

Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,

We’ve got what you need to start the holiday season with a bang. Starting things off is RITA® Award-winning author Gayle Wilson. Gayle returns to Harlequin Intrigue with a spin-off of her hugely popular MEN OF MYSTERY series. Same sexy heroes, same drama and danger…but with a new name! Look for Rafe Sinclair’s Revenge under the PHOENIX BROTHERHOOD banner.

You can return to the royal kingdom of Vashmira in Royal Ransom by Susan Kearney, which is the second book in her trilogy THE CROWN AFFAIR. This time an American goes undercover to protect the princess. But will his heart be exposed in the process?

B.J. Daniels takes you to Montana to encounter one very tough lady who’s about to meet her match in a mate. Only thing…can he avoid the deadly fate of her previous beaux? Find out in Premeditated Marriage.

Winding up the complete package, we have a dramatic story about a widow and her child who become targets of a killer, and only the top cop can keep them out of harm’s way. Linda O. Johnston pens an emotionally charged story of crime and compassion in Tommy’s Mom.

Make sure you pick up all four, and please let us know what you think of our brand of breathtaking romantic suspense.

Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Denise O’Sullivan

Associate Senior Editor

Harlequin Intrigue

Tommy’s Mom

Linda O. Johnston

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Linda O. Johnston’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the Year. Now, several published short stories and novels later, Linda is recognized for her outstanding work in the romance genre.

A practicing attorney, Linda juggles her busy schedule between mornings of writing briefs, contracts and other legalese, and afternoons of creating memorable tales of paranormal, time travel, mystery, contemporary and romantic suspense. Armed with an undergraduate degree in journalism with an advertising emphasis from Pennsylvania State University, Linda began her versatile writing career running a small newspaper, then working in advertising and public relations, and later obtained her J.D. degree from Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh.

Linda belongs to Sisters in Crime and is actively involved with Romance Writers of America, participating in the Los Angeles, Orange County and western Pennsylvania chapters. She lives near Universal Studios, Hollywood, with her husband, two sons and two cavalier King Charles spaniels.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Holly Poston—Daughter of one cop and widow of another, she will do anything to keep her young son safe, while vowing never to get involved with another law enforcement officer.

Gabe McLaren—The newly hired chief of police has a covert reason for taking the job. He learned the hard way that the relatives of all cops should be treated like family.

Tommy Poston—Holly’s four-year-old son was in the next room when his daddy was killed. Why won’t he speak about what happened?

Thomas Poston—Holly’s murdered husband was a good cop…wasn’t he?

Al Sharp—Thomas Poston’s partner will do whatever it takes to solve his partner’s murder, as long as it doesn’t harm him.

Edie Bryerly—Holly’s best friend and chief baby-sitter.

Mayor Evangeline Sevvers—Her family raised Gabe, and now she wants him to pay them back—maybe even at the expense of his own integrity.

Mal Kensington—Gabe’s predecessor as police chief died of an apparent heart attack….

Sheldon Sperling—Beaten and robbed by the person who killed Thomas Poston, he is looking for justice.

To Evelyn and Robert Johnston, in love and gratitude, especially for Fred.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Prologue

The yelling made Tommy Poston look up, but only for a second. He knew big people yelled at each other. His mommy and daddy did sometimes. Mostly they didn’t. And they both loved him. They’d told him so.

He was a big boy. That was why Daddy had said he could stay in this room all by himself and sit here at this table and color his pretty pictures.

Tommy liked to use crayons. Bright colors were his favorite. Lots of bright colors. Today, he colored some flowers, red and purple and yellow with great, big, pretty green leaves.

Daddy was still yelling in the next room. So was someone else. How many big people were there yelling? Tommy couldn’t tell. He didn’t like so much yelling. He picked up an orange crayon and drew a sad face with it. But sad faces shouldn’t be with flowers, so he crossed it out. He took a red crayon and tried to make another flower.

Then there was a loud sound like when he dropped something, two loud sounds, and no more yelling. That was better.

Except that after another minute, Tommy didn’t like being by himself in here anymore. He didn’t hear talking, either. Did Daddy and Mr. Sperling go away? Did they leave him alone?

“Daddy?” Tommy called.

But Daddy didn’t answer.

“Daddy?” His lower lip trembling, Tommy pushed his big chair away from the table and jumped down. Just like his mommy taught him, he reached way up high to the table and packed his crayons back into their box. He put them with his papers and other stuff into his pretty red bag and put the bag away.

“Daddy?” he called again. But Daddy didn’t come. And Tommy still didn’t hear him in the next room.

Daddy didn’t say he couldn’t come see him, so Tommy went to the door and pulled it open.

Mr. Sperling’s shop had lots of shelves and cabinets, tall ones that Tommy couldn’t see over, with lots and lots of things on them and in them. Tommy stopped and looked around. He didn’t see Daddy or Mr. Sperling. He walked farther into the room.

He didn’t want to cry. He was a big boy. But he wanted his daddy or his mommy. “Daddy?” He tried just to whisper, but it came out loud.

He saw a movement and turned toward his daddy. Only it wasn’t his daddy. It was a monster! It had come to life!

Its face was great big, green and ugly, with a red tongue, giant teeth and a mean frown. And it came toward him. Its arms were raised and it reached its claws toward Tommy.

“Grrrr!” It was growling at him. “Go away, little boy,” it shouted. “Get out of here! Now!”

“Nooo!” Tommy cried out as he ran toward the door of the shop. Only there was a big counter in the way. As he got near it, he tripped. He looked down. And screamed, “Daddy!”

But Daddy was asleep. There was bright red all over him. Blood, like when Tommy fell down and cut his knee.

And the monster came closer.

“I said get out of here, little boy. And if you ever talk, if you ever tell anyone what you saw, I’ll come and get you.”

Gasping to breathe, Tommy ran around Daddy and toward the glass front door. It was a big door. A heavy door. But he pushed and pushed. And then he got it open.

Tommy ran outside and down the sidewalk, screaming and crying and very, very scared.

Chapter One

“Oh, Holly, you poor thing. I want you to know, the whole town is nearly as devastated as you about Thomas’s death.” Evangeline Sevvers breezed into the funeral parlor’s small anteroom off the front of the chapel.

Evangeline would be aware of what the whole town felt, Holly Poston thought wryly. In addition to owning a boutique down the pedestrian mall from Sheldon Sperling’s arts and crafts gallery, she was mayor of Naranja Beach, California.

Holly had been waiting in the small room for the memorial service for her husband to begin. Sad, numb, scared—those were emotions she applied to herself for the loss of Thomas and the turmoil from the circumstances surrounding his death.

Devastated…not really. Not yet, at least.

She glanced down toward her son Tommy, at her feet. He looked at Evangeline, but quickly resumed playing with a toy car on the floor.

His hair, as dark a brown as Holly’s, had been neatly parted and combed to the side a few minutes ago, but now it was mussed. She would undoubtedly have to brush dirt off his black dress pants, maybe off his white shirt, too, but Holly was thankful that Tommy was acting like a normal child…almost.

He hadn’t said a word for the past four days.

“Wait until you see how many people are here to pay their respects to Thomas.” Evangeline’s enthusiasm sparkled in her eyes.

“That’s great,” Holly replied, a lot less excited.

Evangeline, ever the politician, would be pleased for a throng anyplace she happened to be. Evangeline was also a good friend. A consummate professional woman, she almost always wore a suit—at least while not in costume, for she was a driving force and starring actress at the Naranja Community Theater. Today, she wore a tailored deep cranberry suit that should have clashed with the dyed shade of her red hair but somehow didn’t.

“You’ll see for yourself soon,” Evangeline continued. “Right now, though, I want to introduce you to someone.”

Oh, lord, Holly thought. Not yet. She’d brought Tommy here early, before anyone else arrived, to protect him from the polite verbal poking and prodding of other mourners. And the not-so-polite intrusion of the media. As a result, she had avoided them, too. She would have to face them eventually. Probably soon. But she had to prepare herself.

Before she could object, a man entered the room behind Evangeline.

“Holly, this is the new police chief of Naranja Beach, Gabe McLaren. Gabe told me he hadn’t met you yet.”

No wonder Evangeline wanted to introduce them personally, Holly thought, as a very tall man entered behind the mayor, practically filling the small room by himself. He was a relative of Evangeline’s, or so Holly had heard.

Chief McLaren wore a navy blue suit and a conservative tie. Could his shoulders and chest be as vast as indicated by his clothing, or had he worn body armor to a funeral?

He had a wide forehead, and his thick brown hair was cut short in a military style, parted on the side and combed off his face. His jaw was an expanse of steel, his mouth an earnest line beneath a strong and even nose.

“I’m sorry about your loss, Mrs. Poston,” he said, holding out his hand.

I should say the same to you, Holly’s thoughts rang sardonically. She knew from long and sorry experience that cops only cared about other cops, and their duty.

This man had lost one of his officers in a crime still unsolved. He was in charge of a police force with a blemish on its record, at least so far—an unenviable position for a police chief.

She accepted his proffered handshake and said, “Thank you.” She knew she wasn’t being fair. Sometimes crimes were solved quickly, sometimes they took a while. But a cop had been downed. The Naranja Beach Police Department wouldn’t rest until they knew exactly what had happened that misty morning in Sheldon Sperling’s shop.

And if, along the way, they learned who beat Sheldon unconscious and traumatized her small son so much that he wouldn’t speak, that would be an added benefit to them.

To her, it was a prerequisite for getting on with her life.

Chief McLaren was still holding her hand. She wanted to pull it away but found this stranger’s grip oddly comforting.

Never mind that what she knew about him wasn’t favorable. She had heard Thomas and his partner Al Sharp discuss the new chief hired three months ago after the sudden death of the former chief, Mal Kensington, from an unexpected heart attack. Nepotism, Thomas and Al had complained, since McLaren was a distant relation of the mayor’s. Sure, he had police administration experience, but he was too young to be seasoned. He had an attitude, made it clear he would run things his own way, never mind that things had run just fine under old Mal Kensington.

Chief McLaren continued to grip her hand, and his green eyes, beneath thick, unruly brows, bored into hers.

“Mrs. Poston,” he said, “I want you to know—”

“Hi, Tommy, my lad. And Holly. Chief McLaren, Mayor Sevvers… May I come in?”

Holly moved so she could see the anteroom’s doorway. Sheldon Sperling stood there.

Sheldon was one of Holly’s oldest friends. The pallor of his face nearly matched the whiteness of the sling he wore to support his right arm. He was only sixty-one years old, but the wrinkles around his eyes and the hollows in his soft cheeks had deepened over the past four days, making him appear a decade or more older. He had gone through a lot, poor man.

“Sure, come in, Sheldon,” Holly said uncertainly. She wasn’t sure where he would fit.

“I’ll talk to you later, Mrs. Poston,” Chief McLaren told her, releasing her hand. It felt suddenly empty.

Watch it! she admonished herself. She wasn’t going to be one of those widows who clutched at anyone and anything to avoid feeling alone. And certainly not a stranger.

“I’ll go with you, Gabe,” Evangeline said. “See you in a bit, Holly.”

As they left, Sheldon squeezed by them into the anteroom. He moved slowly, easing himself down on an upholstered chair facing the floral print sofa where Holly sat. He looked gaunt in his black suit.

She hadn’t much black in her own wardrobe, but she had put on the next best thing: a short charcoal skirt with a lace-trimmed blouse several shades lighter. She’d had to belt the outfit tightly at the waist. She had lost weight in the past few days. She hadn’t been able to eat.

“How are you feeling now, Sheldon?” Holly asked softly.

“Much better. The headaches are almost gone, and I can move my wrist a little now. And you? How are you two getting along?”

Terribly! Holly wanted to shout, but of course she couldn’t. Not with Tommy there. “Tommy has been a very good, very brave boy,” she said. “And he has been a real comfort to me.”

At least that wasn’t a lie. She wasn’t sure what she would have done without her son to keep her going. For despite all that had happened between Thomas and her, all the anger and bitterness and even indifference, she had never anticipated—had refused to anticipate, despite his being a cop—that she would finally lose him this way.

And that it would hurt so much.

“I’m sure Tommy has been a big help,” Sheldon agreed. “He certainly helped me.”

Holly shot a warning look toward Sheldon. She didn’t want to remind Tommy of that terrible morning any more than she had to, not right now.

Holly wasn’t sure how much Tommy had seen, and that frightened her even more. He hadn’t told her. He had been taken to the hospital that morning and examined, then released. Physically, he was fine. But after consulting with a child psychologist, she hadn’t allowed the police to interrogate him. Not yet. She had, however, permitted her husband’s partner Al, whom Tommy knew, to visit while off duty and ask a few simple questions. Tommy hadn’t answered.

Soon she would do everything necessary to get him to talk about what happened, for only then would her small son begin to heal. But for now, they had to get through Thomas’s funeral.

Sheldon nodded his understanding, just as the door opened once more. It was Evangeline. “I hate to bother you again, Holly, but there are so many people here who want to express condolences in person. I know it’s usually done after the service, but would you mind coming out for a little while?” Evangeline was engaging in her primary role in life: organizing, making certain things ran smoothly.

Holly hesitated. Maybe it would be better to get it over with. Yet if she greeted them now… She glanced down at Tommy.

Evangeline obviously got the message. “Do you know what?” she said brightly. “Edie’s out here, and she really wants to go for a walk. Do you think Tommy might want to keep her company? She doesn’t want to go by herself.”

“What do you think, Tommy?” Holly asked. “Can Aunt Edie take you for a walk?”

Edie Bryerly was Holly’s closest friend. A couple of years younger than Holly, she was the ultimate bohemian in this seaside town full of individualists, notwithstanding her mundane job at City Hall as a secretary in the Planning Department. She often baby-sat for Tommy.

Tommy turned on the floor and looked toward Holly, small brow furrowed as if he considered this request carefully—the fear caused by his terrible experience obviously outweighing everything else, even his love for Edie. When her son finally rose, Holly had her answer.

Evangeline ducked out of the small room, and in a minute Edie came in. She was very tall and very curvaceous. Today, she was clad conservatively, for her, in a leotard top and abbreviated green skirt. Though the short pixie style of her platinum hair emphasized that her nose was too large for the rest of her features, it somehow made her appear stunning.

“I hear I’ve got some good company in here ready to come for a walk with me,” Edie said. “Is it…Mr. Sperling?”

Tommy shook his head in the negative.

“Is it…Mommy?”

Again her son shook his head, and Holly smiled.

“Well, then, it must be Tommy!”

This time he nodded and smiled. But he still didn’t speak.

It’ll come in time, Holly told herself. She hoped.

“Please keep him in the garden,” she told Edie. The funeral home had a secluded garden for the family of the bereaved. Their privacy was maintained by high, thick hedges. No one would bother them there.

After Edie and Tommy went through the exit into the garden, Evangeline, at the doorway to the chapel, motioned to Holly.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to do this just because Evangeline told you to,” Sheldon whispered into her ear. “It’s not normal protocol. People will understand.” He probably hadn’t spoken aloud out of fear he’d be royally reprimanded by Her Honor, the Mayor.

But he had managed to contradict her nonetheless, and Holly smiled at him fondly. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine. But thanks.” She felt the warmth and comfort of having friends around in this very difficult time. She appreciated them all. A lot.

Thomas’s parents had died years ago in a car accident. Her own family hadn’t come to the funeral. They lived a thousand miles away in Chicago. Her mother, recuperating from pneumonia, was too ill to travel. Her father had made appropriate noises about needing to stay home to take care of his ailing wife. Holly knew better. What her mother said—and didn’t say—made it clear her father, a long-time detective with the Chicago Police Department, hadn’t made time to come. He was on yet another big case. Holly wasn’t surprised by his absence, but it still hurt.

Holly figured she should muster her courage, square her shoulders and march into the chapel like a brave trooper. After all, most of the people out there who waited to greet her were troopers. Cops. As Thomas had been. As her father was.

But she wasn’t. Still, letting her overwrought emotions hang out like freshly washed underwear on a towel rack would only embarrass her in the long run. She was expected to take it.

For now, she would do what she could to meet those expectations.

After all, she was the widow of a cop.

“I CAN’T TELL YOU how sorry I am, Holly,” said Al Sharp. He was dressed in his blue uniform. Al was about forty years old, and he had an extra chin despite how lean his body remained. His hairline had receded, and what was left was cut into a stubble. He had delivered the news about Thomas’s death, for he had been his partner. He had also come to see her the next evening and talk to Tommy.

“I know, Al,” she said. She stood at the front of the large, high-ceilinged chapel, near where Thomas’s closed casket lay on a bower surrounded by huge flower arrangements. The luscious, vibrant aroma of once-living blossoms whose lives had been cut short to mourn her husband’s death wrapped around Holly and choked her. She wondered vaguely if she would ever be able to work in her own garden again.

Behind Al, other cops lined up to pay their respects to her. Lots of cops—men and women. Maybe hundreds, certainly more than the entire Naranja Beach force. Some stood in the chapel’s center aisle and others at the sides before the stained glass windows. She recognized a few, but most she didn’t. Some were in different uniforms, indicating they had come from other jurisdictions to salute a fallen comrade. Some wore suits, signifying they were detectives, not patrol officers.

No cameras, at least none that she could see. Maybe the reporters who had hounded her since Thomas’s death were somehow intimidated by such a large showing of law enforcement, but she doubted it. Wouldn’t it instead act as a magnet to them?

She swallowed hard. Could she take this? There were so many people. And despite her resolve to show only courage, she wasn’t certain she could continue….

Chief Gabe McLaren joined them. “Mrs. Poston.” He took her hand once more and shook it, as if in greeting. But he had shaken her hand before. “May I talk with you for just a second? I need to tell you what I started to say earlier.”

She had the impression that what he intended to communicate was private, yet they were in the midst of a flood of people. Shouldn’t he wait until later? But he obviously didn’t want to delay it.

He was the chief of police. He had been her husband’s superior. Courtesy dictated that she not brush him off. And he clearly wasn’t about to leave her alone until he’d had his say.

She looked up at him, waiting for him to speak.

“I want you to know something, Mrs. Poston.”

“What’s that?” She didn’t exactly feel comfortable held in his unyielding grip, the subject of his frank stare, but she didn’t pull away.

“I’ve instructed the entire Naranja Beach Police Force to do two things. First, to find out exactly what happened to Officer Thomas Poston and bring his killer to justice.”

That was no less than what she had expected. Another stanza of the same old song she had heard sung throughout her life, first as the daughter of a police officer, then as the wife of one: cops take care of their own.

He continued, “Second, everyone on the force is your family, and they’re to treat you as such. Myself included. Every need of the wife and son of a fallen officer will be taken care of, I promise. Anything you want, anything bothering you, just let me know. House or car repairs, gardening, you name it.”