Jane Bites Back_ A Novel - Michael Thomas Ford [88]
“I know about Charlotte,” he told her.
Jane gritted her teeth. Of course you do, she thought. “What of it?” she asked, not even trying to deny his implied accusation. “Anyway, maybe I should be asking where she got the manuscript I gave to you.”
Byron held up his hands. “I know,” he said. “And I’m sorry. But you don’t know how obsessive she is. Was. How was I to know she would take it?”
“So you did turn her,” Jane said. “Tell me, is there anyone else I should be on the lookout for? Christina Rossetti, maybe? Dorothy Parker? Truman Capote?”
Byron shrugged. “It’s difficult to say,” he answered.
Jane turned with a huff and started to walk away. Byron caught up to her. “Jane, darling,” he said, “I’m so sorry. It’s just that I couldn’t stay away. You’re like a magnet to my heart.”
Jane made a retching sound. “And you are like a purgative to my stomach,” she said.
“A fine thing to say after what I’ve done for you,” Byron said. He adopted a hurt expression.
“What you did for me?” Jane repeated. “Do you mean threatening to kill Walter and do worse to Lucy? Do you mean allowing my manuscript to fall into the hands of the one person in the world who would wish me harm?”
“To be fair, she’s probably not the only person,” said Byron. “But no, I wasn’t speaking of those things. I mean in Chicago.”
Jane inhaled sharply. “You were the one who bit that girl!” she accused him.
Byron shook his head. “No,” he said. “Charlotte did that. I was the one who saved the girl. And saved you,” he added.
“And just how did you save her?”
“Charlotte was not the most … adept of our kind,” he said. “She was never quite able to finish a job, so to speak. She thought she had killed the girl, but she had only weakened her.”
“What was she doing there, anyway?” Jane asked.
“Attempting to frame you, I would imagine,” said Byron.
It was a plausible enough explanation, although Jane had her doubts. “And what were you doing there?” she asked Byron.
“Watching out for you,” he said. “I was worried.”
“Mmm,” said Jane. “Always the gentleman.”
Byron lowered his eyes. “Jane, I’ve kept my promise,” he said. “I haven’t bothered you, or Walter, or Lucy. I’ve just been protecting you.”
Jane had nothing to say to that. If he really had taken care of Farrah in Chicago, she did have something to thank him for. And perhaps Charlotte really had simply stolen the manuscript from him years ago. She supposed he could be telling the truth.
“Have dinner with me,” Byron said. “It’s your last night in New Orleans.”
“No,” said Jane firmly. “That’s out of the question. I might possibly be able to forgive you for—”
“Just dinner,” Byron said. “And then I promise I’ll disappear forever.”
“Your definition of forever is sorely lacking in specificity,” said Jane. He was looking at her with his dark brown eyes. “All right,” she said. “Dinner. Then you’ll go away. Promise me.”
Byron smiled. “Promise,” he said. “I’ll come for you at seven.”
“No,” Jane said quickly. “I’ll meet you there.” She didn’t want him knowing where she was staying.
“La Maison des Trois Soeurs,” said Byron. “I know.”
“You’re impossible,” Jane said as she turned and left him standing in the lobby.
When she arrived back at the hotel she found Jasper lying in a pool of sun outside the front door. When he saw her he jumped up and ran to her, his stub of a tail wagging furiously. As Jane bent to pet him she saw that he was wearing a new red collar. “Aren’t you the handsome boy,” she told him.
“I thought it was a good color for him,” Luke called through the door.
“It most definitely is,” Jane agreed. “Thank you for getting it.”
“No problem,” Luke said. “His new crate is up in your room. All you need to do is check him in at the airport.”
Jane looked down at Jasper. “Do you hear that?” she said. “You’re going for a plane ride tomorrow.”
Jasper woofed at her, and both Jane and Luke laughed. “Thank you for taking care of him today,” Jane told the young man.
She headed upstairs with Jasper at her heels. Once there, she took off her shoes and lay on the bed for a while, thinking about the events of