Fortune Is a Woman - Elizabeth Adler [102]
Francie sat quietly, her hands resting on her swollen belly, but tonight the child inside her was still. “Sometimes I wish he would never be born,” she said sadly to Lai Tsin. “After all, what chance will he have? He’ll be branded a bastard. And even though he is innocent and has done nothing to deserve it, he will always be an outcast.” She looked wearily at him. “He will suffer all his life for my sin. And the sins of his father.”
Lai Tsin said sharply, “The father’s only sin was to love you.”
He took the confession from his pocket and handed it to her. “Read this. And do not question it, for it is the truth.”
Francie glanced at him, puzzled. Then she read the piece of paper and her eyes grew wide with shock. It was the confession of a madman, a murderer.
“You must not ask how I obtained this,” Lai Tsin warned her, “only accept that it is the truth.”
“But you know where Sammy is?”
Lai Tsin’s eyes were suddenly blank and unreadable as he replied. “You need never fear Sammy Morris again. Do not ask me any more. It is the confession you hold in your hand that is important—to you and your child. I cannot give you back the man you loved, Francie, but I have given you back his honor.”
Francie suddenly felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her. She sighed, leaning her blond head back against the cushions, feeling the child move again under her hands. Josh’s name would be cleared and at least her child would not have that terrible burden.
The child leapt again in her belly and then became still, a delicious drowsiness suddenly overcame her and her cares and worries seemed to drift away.
Lai Tsin smiled as her eyelids drooped and she slept. “The child will be born sooner than we thought,” he said as Annie came in. “We must send Zocco to Santa Rosa for the doctor.”
“It’s a long way, more than thirty miles,” Annie said doubtfully. “Maybe we should wait. After all, the baby’s not due for another three weeks.”
“The child will come within forty-eight hours,” Lai Tsin said quietly. “It will be good to forewarn him.”
Annie looked curiously at him. “You seem to know everything, Lai Tsin.”
“I know something else,” he said quietly. “I have brought a gift for you and for Francie. The gift of peace of mind.” He handed her the paper and as she read it Annie’s brown eyes filled with tears. “I knew it,” she said simply. “I knew Josh didn’t kill those girls. But why? Why did Sammy do such a terrible thing?”
“He did not think like a normal person. He felt only three basic emotions; jealousy, anger, and pleasure. There was a madness in him that made him feel free to destroy those who got in his way.”
“And where is he now?”
Lai Tsin’s eyes were inscrutable as he told her, “You will never see him again.”
Annie looked into his enigmatic face and she shivered; she didn’t know what he meant by that and she was afraid to ask.
Bitter tears rained down as she thought of Josh, but Lai Tsin offered no words of comfort, for he knew none. And when her tears were finished he said, “Your family’s honor will be vindicated. Now we must look to the future, to the child who will soon come into our lives.”
And as she dried her eyes and blew her nose, Annie knew he was right that, thanks to Lai Tsin, her father would be able to hold his head up proudly again. She put the confession safely away to be mailed to the British police, and then she went to tell Zocco that he must ride to Santa Rosa and fetch the doctor.
A low, dragging pain woke Francie a short while later. She sat up quickly, her eyes wide with shock. “Oh, Annie,” she said half-nervous, half-excited, “I think the baby’s on his way.”
Annie’s worried eyes met Lai Tsin’s. “Just as Lai Tsin predicted,” she said, “he’s already sent Zocco for the doctor.” She walked to the window and looked doubtfully out into the night. The wind that had