“I told you, I'm good. This is the actual bowl,” she said, lifting another bowl out of the bag and handing it over. “There's a scratch on the bottom of the fake bowl that's not on the real one.”
Looking at them side by side, Lisa couldn't tell the difference. She turned the fake bowl over. Sure enough there was a small scratch that wasn't on the real one. The scratch appeared to have been there for decades.
“Who stole the bowl from Aunt Anna?” Lisa asked.
“Justin told me it was a member of your family.”
“That's not true. We might have different opinions about what should be done with the bowl, but none of us would betray Grandma.”
“You might not betray her, but someone did. I don't know the identity of the person, but I know it was a Claxton,” Magdelena said. “This entire thing was fraught with betrayal. I don't know the whole story, but I've told you everything I know.” She stood. “I have to leave now.”
“You can't leave like that. You have to talk to Alyssa and Harper.”
“No.” Panicked, she rushed toward the door, shaking her head. “I came to warn you and return the bowl. The rest is up to you.”
“You'll never be safe if you leave now,” Brian said. “You'll always be looking over your shoulder. You'll always move from place to place not knowing if Nicholas is right around the corner or two steps behind you,” he said.
Magdelena's steps faltered. When she turned, her eyes glimmered with unshed tears. She kept backing toward the door. She shook her head, her voice wavering when she said, “It wasn't supposed to be like this.”
“It never is. You don't know if Nicholas already knows your identity, if he's already here,” Brian said patiently. “It's safer for you to stay here and let us deal with him.”
Magdelena had made it as far as the living room. She stumbled to a chair and sat down hard. She couldn't tell them the entire truth. She mixed lies with partial truths. She must survive. “I don't want to end up in jail. I didn't steal anything. Justin called me just before he met with Nicholas. He told me where the bowl was and to take it to you if anything happened to him. That's the gist of my involvement in this.”
Lisa frowned. “If Justin had it all this time, why didn't he just give it to Greg? Why was he holding on to it? And who ran me off the road?”
“I don't know.” Magdelena glanced around nervously, then shook her head. It was never good to lie. It led to too many questions she was unwilling to answer. Answers that could get her into trouble. “I can't stay. I have to go. Greg might have had some other agenda.”
“If we catch Nicholas, you'll be free. But first you have to talk to Alyssa,” Brian said.
Magdelena bit on her bottom lip hard. But finally she nodded.
33
Lisa dialed Alyssa's number, knowing she was still asleep. She knew all too well that Alyssa was positively evil in the mornings.
She barked into the phone.
Lisa got right to the point. “I've got Grandma's bowl.”
“Who the hell is this?” Alyssa asked.
“Who the hell do you think it is? It's Lisa. I've got Grandma's bowl.”
She heard the mattress shift and covers rustle as Alyssa moved and a male voice asking what was going on.
“What?” Alyssa bellowed.
“Just come over here. We need to talk. Maybe you should bring Harper with you. Somebody is going to try to kill me.” Lisa hung up, but she expected Alyssa to arrive shortly.
“Come on and eat breakfast with us,” Lisa said to Magdelena. She probably guessed correctly that Magdelena had about as much of an appetite for food as Lisa had. The woman was too wound up. Probably didn't get a wink of sleep the night before.
Brian disappeared into the bedroom.
Lisa's curiosity got the better of her. “At the first reading at the mall with Jackie,” Lisa whispered. “Who was the tall man you referred to?”
Magdelena lowered her voice. “I'm embarrassed to say it was Justin. He wanted me to set things up so that you would be receptive to him if he didn't find the bowl in the Knight house. Jackie told me you were searching for the bowl and knew who had it.”
Lisa shook her head. Jackie again. “So your reading was all fake.”
“Like I said, I'm not a psychic, but I can read people pretty well. I'm observant.”
Lisa turned.
Magdelena touched her arm. “The things I said to you the other day. They were all true. I wasn't misleading you about your relationship. Is this the man you referred to?”
Lisa nodded. “Let's get breakfast,” she said. Brian had returned.
They sat to breakfast. “Where did you and Justin meet?” Brian asked.
Magdelena rubbed her hands together. “New Mexico. Like I said, I'm an artist. I had a couple of roommates there. We sold pieces to tourists, but there are so many well-known artists, it takes a lot to stand out. Then Justin came along. We'd been together for three years.”
Tears gathered in her eyes. “I know that he wasn't the best, that he had plenty of flaws, but when you don't have anyone else . . .” She stopped and lifted her chin. “He was good to me.”
How long had Lisa felt that way? And what made women feelâherself includedâthat they had to settle rather than wait for the right one, or be alone? For the last year she'd done just fine with her single statusâuntil Brian came along and made her realize how much she missed being in a relationship. She didn't think
good
relationship, because she'd never had it good before now.
She glanced at Brian. His health was improving. Not well enough to return to his SEAL duties yet, but Lisa had no doubt he'd soon be in top form. He was exercising regularly. He'd leave. She must prepare herself for his departure.
“How did Justin get involved with this job?”
“He got a call from Greg. A friend suggested him. Others who'd tried to get the bowl had failed. Greg came up with this plan to switch the bowls so no one would detect it was missing. Justin came here to gather information about the place. That's how I ended up at the artist colonyâto duplicate the bowl while Justin hunted it down.”
Two cars drove into the yard. Alyssa and Harper arrived at the same time. Harper was more laid back approaching the door, but Alyssa strode aggressively ahead of him.
“What the hell is going on?” Alyssa asked when Lisa let them in.
Magdelena was even more nervous in their presence. They asked even more questions than Brian and Lisa. She looked ready to bolt.
“Were you in the house when Harriet was killed?” Harper asked pointedly, his booming voice enough to scare the dickens out of Lisa, and she wasn't even being questioned.
“No.” Magdelena might have been a fool, but she wasn't fool enough to place herself at the scene of the crime. The way the law was designed, just by being there she would be as responsible for Harriet's death as Justin was. She was having second thoughts about coming to Lisa's. Although she'd worn gloves, usually some evidence was left behind if they searched hard enough for it.
“How did you end up with the bowls?” Alyssa wanted to know.
She repeated the story she'd given Lisa and Brian.
“And you haven't seen Justin since then?”
“He called me before he met with Nicholas and gave me instructions if something happened to him.”
“Two women have died. What can you tell me about the woman who drowned?” Sheriff Porterfield asked.
Magdelena knew Justin killed Mrs. Mable, too, but she wasn't going to reveal that. “I don't know anything about the woman who drowned,” she said.
“Why did Justin go back to my grandfather's house?” Brian asked. “He'd already been there. The bowls were gone.”
“I just don't know.”
“Why are you coming here now?” Alyssa asked.
“Justin left a note. He wanted me to tell Lisa she was in danger.”
“What kind of danger?”
She handed the note to them and repeated the details she'd already told Lisa. She shouldn't have let Lisa and Brian talk her into staying.
34
“Listen, Grandma wouldn't want you to endanger your life for the bowl.” Filled with frustration, a disgruntled Alyssa placed both hands on her hips and paced across Lisa's living room. “Where's the coffee?”
“I'm doing my shift and I'm making my speech,” Lisa said, unbending.
“Look, this is crazy.”
“Don't call me crazy. The booth is in an area where no one can hide in the bushes and shoot me. Plus Brian will be with me.”
Alyssa rolled her eyes heaven wide. “Brian can't stop a damn bullet.”
Lisa turned her head stubbornly. “I don't have time to argue with you. I have to let Grandma see the bowl before I put it on display. Then I have to make a speech. I've got to calm myself.” Lisa sighed. “I can't believe I'm actually making a speech.”
“Me neither.” Alyssa leveled a narrow gaze on Brian. “Don't leave her for a second,” she said.
Brian held up his hand. “Don't worry.”
Security personnel would be there to guard the family bowls and Brian would guard Lisa. They would display the original bowl and the one the family acquired in the 1800s this time, Lisa thought happily, hoping she wasn't being the idiot Alyssa accused her of.
Although the last place Magdelena wanted to spend her day was in the sheriff's office, Harper convinced her to go there with Alyssa. She would be safer there, he assured her.
“I can only spend the day there,” she said. “I have to go home.”
Brian left for the bedroom to make a phone call in private. He roused an old SEAL friend from sleep.
“Yo.”
“It's me,” Brian said, knowing the guy would remember him.
“Hmmm. Been a while.”
“I need some info.”
“It's Saturday. I don't go into the office today.”
“Make an exception.”
“It's that important?”
“Yeah,” Brian assured him.
“Shoot.”
Brian gave him Nicholas Doyle's name. “I want anything you have on him. You can reach me on my cell,” Brian said as Lisa entered the room.
She finished dressing and they left in plenty of time to stop by her grandparents' house.
As Brian drove her there, he asked, “What do you think of Magdelena?”
Lisa shrugged. “I guess she's telling the truth.”
“She's got no reason to lie. But do you think she was involved in Harriet's murder?”
“She doesn't strike me as a murderer.”
“Do you think she was there?” Brian asked.
“I don't know.”
“There are enough holes in her story to drive a tractor trailer through. I think she was there. I think that's how she got the bowls. That's the reason she didn't want the police involved.”
“You think she killed Harriet and Mrs. Mable?”
“No. I think Justin killed them. I think he didn't give the bowls to Greg because she disappeared with them. Magdelena must have disappeared after the robbery. The murder probably spooked her. She didn't expect that. Maybe she didn't realize what she was getting into until it was too late.”
Lisa shook her head. “More women wind up in prison because they trusted the wrong guy and ended up in a fix like this. A robbery turns into a murder and even though she doesn't pull the trigger, she'll be held accountable because she was there.”
Brian nodded, maneuvered around a slow-moving car. “You're going to have a huge crowd today.” He'd never seen so much traffic on the island. It seemed like a different place.
They reached the Claxton household and Lisa carried both bowls inside. She was going to see if her grandmother could tell the difference between the fake bowl and the real one.
Lisa smiled.
Grandma will be so happy
.
“Hey, Grandma. Today is the day,” she called out as she entered the side door. “Why isn't your door locked? There are thousands of visitors here today.”
“You know I never lock my doors during the day.”
“All those killings lately should have taught you a lesson,” Lisa's mother said.
Her grandparents were sitting at the table. Her mother had prepared breakfast and was getting ready to leave.
“Wish you'd come earlier. I'm on my way out.” Her mother had her keys and purse in her hand.
“Bye, Mom.” Lisa waved her away.
Lisa and Brian sat at the table, Lisa beside her grandmother after she kissed her on the cheek.
“We have plenty of food,” Naomi said.
“We already ate,” Lisa told her. “I'll get some coffee, though. But first, I have something for you.” Lisa was like a kid with a secret she couldn't contain.
“Oh?” Naomi quirked an eyebrow.
Lisa took the fake bowl out of the bag and handed it over. “I found it.”
Her grandmother gasped. “Oh, my word.” She clasped both cheeks with her hands, then lifted the bowl gingerly from Lisa. “How in the world . . . ?”
Coffee forgotten, Lisa watched as Naomi inspected and frowned at the bowl.
“So you found the bowl,” her grandfather said.
Naomi shook her head. “Where did this come from? This isn't our bowl.”
“Looks like it,” Hoyt said, frowning. “Let me see that.”
“What do you mean?” Lisa asked. How could she tell after so long?
“It's heavier. And the color isn't right. Some of the markings aren't right, either.”
“Like what?”
“See this?” Her grandmother pointed out several markings that were on the original bowl, but not on this one. She also pointed out the marks that were on the bowl that shouldn't be.
“You're smarter than me, Grandma.” Lisa retrieved the real bowl from the bag and handed it over.
Naomi inspected it with the same critical regard as she did the fake bowl. She smiled. “Now this is our bowl. How on earth did you get it? And where did that bowl come from?” she said, frowning at the fake one.
“It's a long story,” Lisa said. She and Brian repeated Magdelena's story, but Lisa did not tell her the part about a relative having stolen the bowl. That would just about kill her grandmother. Besides, the way Lisa used to feel about the bowl, she'd be the first one her cousins would accuse. Also, she didn't know which relative was involved, if that part was true. The truth was she was afraid Jackie was involved.
Lisa got up and poured cups of coffee for Brian and her, setting his cup in front of him. She topped her grandfather's cup.
“Is that tea you're drinking, Grandma?” she asked.
“Decaf, no less. Might as well top it off, too,” she bemoaned, and Lisa complied before she sat.
“Got a nice garden going out back,” Hoyt said. “Want to take a look?” he asked Brian.
“Sure.” The men went outside.
“You and Grandpa seem to be getting along okay,” Lisa said quietly. They'd been doing a lot better since Grandma's visit to the hospital.
Naomi glanced toward the back to make sure the men were out of earshot. “Hoyt's been a lot better. Finally told me what was bothering him. But I'm keeping it close to my belt. He's been worried because things weren't quite working the way they used to.”
Lisa swallowed hard. Her grandparents were in their eighties. Was she talking about sex? They were still worrying about sex at their age?
“He got some pills from the doctor,” Naomi continued. “We've got that taken care of.”
“You're not scared they'll kill Grandpa?” Lisa asked, concerned.
“We aren't going to use them that much. I'm no spring chicken, but now and then I still get the urge.”
Her grandma was telling her more than Lisa wanted to know. She didn't want to think about her grandparents getting their groove on. She thought about the delicious things Brian had done to her body and wondered how she'd manage having to do without sex.
On the flip side, if she was in her eighties, she'd probably want that part of her life to still be active. And she didn't want Grandma to think she couldn't unload with Lisa. Her grandmother had certainly been there for her enough. So Lisa kept her reservations to herself and listened intently, nodding at the appropriate time.
“He's been spending a lot of time with me lately and less time with his boys.”
“That's good to hear.” Okay, at least her grandparents were on the right track again. Took a year, but better late than never. Another thing to celebrate.
Lisa reached over and clasped her grandmother's hand.
Naomi rubbed the back of Lisa's hand. “I'm okay, you know.”
“Yeah. You're okay.” Lisa got up and gave Naomi a warm hug. “I'm coming back tonight to tell you all about Founder's Day, so get a nap so you'll have the energy to listen.”
“You'll do fine today. Don't worry.”
Lisa hoped so. God, she hoped so.
“And don't let the mayor talk too long,” Naomi warned. “He'll talk for an hour if you let him. You cough or something if it gets too long. If he doesn't get the message, get up there and interrupt him. People are there to enjoy Founder's Day, not to listen to his long-winded speeches.”
Lisa recalled his speeches the one year her grandmother didn't attend. As much as their parents had tried to keep the kids there, she and her cousins had run off after five minutes.
“He's not going to listen to me. I don't have the power you do.”
“Honey, nobody gives you power, you demand it, you take it,” Naomi said forcefully. “You don't give them a choice.”
Early that morning, Nicholas nodded at Gabrielle Price as she registered him for his room. She was Gabrielle Long when he'd visited last year, but he doubted she remembered who he was. And he figured she certainly didn't recognize him as the older gentleman who'd stayed a few days ago.
“Is your wife joining you?” she asked, surprising him that she did remember.
“Not today,” he said. “She had other commitments.” Not that he needed to explain himself, but Deana had talked her head off last year. He couldn't be the sourpuss. She'd remember that detail. He wanted to fade into the woodwork. Just another tourist there for the weekend.
“She's going to miss a real treat this year. We have the original bowl back. Isn't that wonderful?”
It took enormous control for Nicholas to school his emotions into polite concern. “Your family must be pleased.” How the heck did they get the bowl back, he wondered, when Justin assured him he hadn't located it? They'd better enjoy it while they could. They wouldn't have it for long. By the end of the day, he'd have the bowl in his possession. It belonged to himâa last gift from his brother.
She handed him the key. “Enjoy your stay. You're still early enough for breakfast. Will you need help with your luggage?”
“I have it.” He thanked her, gathered his bag, and climbed the stairs to his room. It was a lovely room, the same one he and Deana had shared the year before. What a difference a year made.
He couldn't afford a trip down memory lane. And he didn't take the time to appreciate the amenities as he unpacked a few things for show. Then he returned to his car and drove to a secluded area where he changed his appearance to a distinguished gentleman once again.
By the time he drove to the fair, the parking area was already packed with cars. A security force was directing drivers into parking spaces. There was also a bus that transported guests to and from the ferry.
The sun shone brightly in the sky. It was going to be a grand day, Nicholas thought.
It was a warm day in Williamsburg and after a million calls from her mother stating her dismay with the funeral arrangements, Deana had to get out of town. Her family had been deeply embarrassed by Greg's offense and even more so about the spectacle Nicholas had put on in his honor, as if Greg was a conquering hero instead of a common criminal.
Her mother acted as if
she
should have been able to control Nicholas's actions.
She doesn't know Nicholas,
Deana thought.
She couldn't go to the country club. People were talking about her behind her back. She couldn't leave Nicholas. Her parents would be out on the street. Her father wouldn't think of getting a regular job. Truthfully they couldn't be expected to find a job at their age. What a spectacle that would be, she thought sarcastically. So she could only stick it out.
What a burden parents put on their children.