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early Thursday morning, waking them up at seven. At first she’d thought he was talking to Landon, but after a while it became obvious a conference call was taking place and he was conversing with several people. She had showered and had taken care of her hair but he was still on the phone. The expression on his face looked serious. She tried to remain calm and not jump to any conclusions. To kill time, she walked around the room, tidying up a little bit. Although the hotel had someone to come in and clean their room every day, there was no need for the person to think they were slobs. Although she would have to admit the only untidy spot was the bed. Bedcovers were strewn all over the floor, the sheets were all twisted and a couple of pillows were at the foot of the bed. She didn’t have to figure out how that happened. Last night she and Duan had tried several new positions, and one required her at one end of t

16 KIM WAS PACING the floor and so was Mr. Bennie. They both had worried looks on their faces. Kim had tried a number of times to reach her mother by phone but was unsuccessful. Duan had contacted the Shreveport police and then placed a call to the airlines to check flights for Vegas. He’d been able to find out Wynona and Edward’s flight number, and according to the airline, the flight had landed in Vegas over an hour ago. So why wasn’t Wynona answering her phone? The Vegas police had been contacted and a warrant had been issued for Villarosas’s arrest. The one good thing was that Wynona wasn’t taken by force, which meant she still didn’t know the type of man Villarosas really was. Duan was of the opinion that Villarosas had no reason to harm Wynona since he probably felt secure in their relationship. At least for now. He looked over at Kim and she gave him a faint smile. A part of him realized why he loved her so much. She cared about her family. She was loyal. And she was nothing lik

17 “DUAN? WHY AREN’T YOU going to Sherri’s birthday party in the Keys next weekend?” For a long time Duan didn’t say anything. He just stared across his office at his sister, wishing he could ignore the question. But he knew Olivia well enough to know she would hound him until he came up with what she considered a good answer. Married life had definitely made her bossier. “I’m working on a case that requires my full concentration, Libby,” he said, knowing that wasn’t true. The case he was working on wasn’t going to be that difficult to solve. What was difficult was giving it his full concentration. “And before you ask, the answer is no,” he said. “I haven’t told Terrence I won’t be coming, but I will. In fact I plan to call him later today.” He knew Libby’s concern. As kids growing up they’d always shared their birthdays together and had made them special. Even when Libby lived in Paris, it was easy to do since she came home for the holidays and her birthday was two days before Christm

18 DUAN RECALLED the conversation he’d had with Terrence before leaving the office. Maybe his brother was right and he should let Kim know how he felt. To anyone who didn’t know Duan, he probably appeared to be a calm, cool and collected guy. A man defined by his achievements, someone who knew what he wanted and was proud of what he had. A man not willing to show his emotions to too many people. A private person. Definitely not a man who would bare his soul to anyone. And Duan could admit that before he’d met Kim, that image was probably right on the money. But now he was also a man who knew how it felt to love a woman, truly love a woman. Now he understood his father’s tears that day. He understood the pain of loving someone and not having that love returned. Although he was certain the depth of his father’s misery was deeper than his because of his wife’s betrayal, the bottom line was that love was love no matter how you looked at it. And he could admit that he was a man in love. And