Not This Time (8 page)

“One or two. Maybe. Please, Beth. For the moms.”

Beth grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl and began peeling its skin. “I hate it when you pull that guilt-trip stuff on me.” She chomped down on a bite.

“I know. But I’m desperate.”

“You do it because it works.”

“That too,” Sara said.

Beth sighed. “Okay. I’ll stomach them long enough to take their money.” At least it would be used for something constructive. “Does Darla know she’s donating this property?”

“She knows I’m after it.”

“Well, if she comes back to the club after today, odds are she’s giving it to you.”

“She hinted she was. That’s why it’s critical for you to be there. Darla would move mountains for you.”

She would. On two commercial acquisitions, Beth’s tips had saved Darla a fortune. It had to be hard for her, losing John, being arrested for his murder, and spending months proving her innocence. Then her own son disowned her—that had to cut to the core. “All right, I’ll go.”

“Thanks. Nine o’clock. Darla is handling the details. You’ll just need to speak a few words—and it’ll help if you don’t snarl at them.”

“Cute.” Sara obviously didn’t expect this problem with Robert to resolve quickly. Now what should Beth think of that? “I need to check on Nora. Hey, maybe she’ll come along.” Beth dialed her cell phone. “She could squeeze blood from a turnip.”

“It’s late. Don’t call her now.”

“With Clyde passing … she’s not sleeping.”

“Don’t ask. She won’t be comfortable with Robert’s friends.”

“Nora’s comfortable anywhere. Robert’s friends won’t be comfortable seeing
themselves through her eyes. Maybe they’ll donate more to make themselves feel better.”

Nora answered on the first ring. “Do you realize it’s after midnight, Beth Dawson?” Some game show played on Nora’s television. “Who else is dead?”

“Nobody. I just knew you’d be up.” Beth walked out into the yard, looked beyond the grass onto the calm cove water bathed in moonlight.

“Ah. Quit fretting, dearie, I’m fine. You should be catching a wee wink.”

Beth filled Nora in on what was going on at Sara’s.

“He’s up to no good, that one.”

Nora was not a Robert fan either. “I’m afraid so too,” Beth admitted, glad she didn’t have to guard her words. Jasmine bushes lined the edge of the yard and their scent hung heavy in the air, blending with the salt-tinged breeze blowing in off the water.

“You watch her, Beth. Our Sara puts on a fine face, but she’s had a time with that one.”

Did Nora know anything about that cryptic warning? “Why do you think so?”

“It’s in her eyes, dearie. She ain’t happy, and that’s that. Sara’s a troubled soul.”

Beth swallowed hard. “Do you know why?”

“Girl, God gave you sense. Use it. She’s married to a shyster, bless her heart.”

“Point taken.” A fish jumped and moonlight sparkled on the ripples. “So will you go with me to the fund-raiser? It’s at the club. If you don’t want to be there after today, it’s—”

“I’m mourning my Clyde, true enough, but I got enough of my wits to stay away from that club and so should you. NINA was there. It ain’t safe and that’s a fact.”

Beth had considered that. “They’ll stay away because we know they were there.”

“Your call, of course, but I don’t like it and I ain’t going. Annie and I are making arrangements for Clyde’s funeral. It’s Tuesday. Two o’clock. Reverend Brown’s doing a graveside service. Don’t be late.”

“I won’t. I’m so sorry about Clyde, Nora.” Beth swallowed a knot of tears. “I’ll miss him.”

“Me too. Something fierce, my girl.” She sniffed. “I’ll send money for the moms and kids. You know I ain’t tight-fisted like Nathara, but I can’t abide Robert’s friends. They scrape my nerves. With Nathara here, ain’t much left to scrape.”

They scraped Beth’s nerves too, though it shamed her to think it. “Want me to invite Nathara and give you a break?” She had to ask, but after Nathara’s acidic attitude today, Beth was weary.
Please decline. Please
 …

Nora cackled. “She’d fit right in with that bunch, but no need to make you suffer. Darla invited her. Spare your nerves and go on your own. Shame Joe won’t be there, but maybe you’ll meet a nice young man like him—and be sure security walks you to your car.”

“Me meet a nice man in Robert’s crowd?” Beth grunted. “Don’t hold your breath.”

“Smart woman. Just go take their money for the moms and run.”

“As fast as my feet can carry me.” Beth grinned. “We are so bad, Nora.”

“Decadent, dearie.”

“See you at church in the morning.”

“Keep me posted on the truant husband. Nathara says she hopes he stays gone.” Nora sighed. “Hate to agree with her on anything, but Sara could use the peace.”

“She could.” Beth should feel awful for saying that but didn’t. “Try to sleep. ’Night.” She hung up the phone and went back into the kitchen.

Pacing the floor, Sara sneezed three times, took a few steps, and sneezed twice more. Something had triggered her allergies. Frazzled and barely able to conceal it, she stopped beside the sink. “Do you think he’s all right?” She made circles at her temples. “Really?”

What in the world? Sara was fragile but not obsessed. She looked ready to crawl out of her skin. “I’m sure he’s fine.” If Beth could get her hands on him right now, she’d pull a Nora and blister Robert Tayton’s ears. “He probably got to New Orleans late and met with the editor before going to his hotel, or something simple like that.”

Beth sat across the table, thumbed the edge of a soft green silk place mat. “Honestly, if he were hurt, you’d have heard by now, you know? This is a time when no news is good. He’s just doing stuff men do when they’re out on their own.”
Hopefully that didn’t include anything he shouldn’t be doing
. Beth would rip out her own vocal cords without anesthetic before saying that to Sara.

Still rubbing at her temple, which was obviously pounding, Sara cast her a doubtful look. “If he’d just turn on his mobile …”

Next Sara would be wishing they had agreed to Robert’s suggestion to have locator chips implanted in their necks—a suggestion he made the day he supposedly found out just how wealthy Sara and Beth’s little company had made them. Beth had refused, of course, though she had wished a hundred times then that she’d had a chip implanted in her digital recorder. She’d kept everything loaded on it and when it disappeared, she lost a month’s worth of work, not to mention hundreds of notes on different projects that could never be recovered. “He will when he gets around to it,” she told Sara for the hundredth time. “Let’s get some rest, okay?”

“You’re not going home now, are you?”

“No, I’ll rest in the den. You go to bed for a while. If the phone rings, I’ll answer it right away and get you.”

“Okay. I do need to get off my feet.” Sara went down the hallway to the master suite.

How could she actually believe Robert had no idea about her money? He’d probably run financial histories on both of them before they even left Atlanta—and if not then, certainly he had after he visited Sara’s home.

Her mansion on the cove was impressive by anyone’s standards—even if they had redecorated it to make it “theirs” in a sophisticated, minimalist style
that was totally Robert and so not Sara. The house used to be beautiful and charming, warm and friendly—more like Beth’s. Now it was palatial and glacial and lacked any evidence of its owners sharing a real life in it. That manipulation of image was probably a strategic move on Robert’s part to make him seem warmer. Not that it did.

Beth stretched out on the den sofa and stared at the phone Mark brought her. Had to be for Joe. But why did he need a separate phone? He had her cell.

Clearly, he didn’t want to use it.

Which, with Joe, could mean anything at all. Her glance stole ceilingward.
Keep him safe. He might be out of my reach, but he’s not out of Yours, and I do worry about him
.

Where was he?

The phone ringing awakened Beth. She reached for her cell. It was silent—
the special phone
. Jerking it up, she pushed the Talk button. “Hello.”

“Hi, gorgeous. You okay?”

Joe
. “Not really.”

“I’m sorry about Clyde. Mark says Nora’s holding up. Is she?”

“Yeah, but it ripped my heart out to see her weeping.” Beth swiped at her eyes. “Did Mark tell you Robert’s missing?”

“Not missing, no. Just that he hadn’t yet called home.”

“He should have called in before we left the club. Still no word, so Sara’s a basket case.”

“Which means you’re one too.”

“I’ve had calmer days.” Beth scrunched a throw pillow under her head. “But I’m feeling better now that you’ve called.”

“Really?”

Clueless man had no idea what he did to her. “I’m not sure why but you have that effect on me.”

“Glad to hear you’re not totally immune to me.”

She laughed. “I wish.”

“Now that’s just mean.”

“It’s not.” She tested the truth. “I just never compete for a man’s attention.” Didn’t he realize how many women were after him?

“Ah, you’re being compassionate to other women.”

“Excuse me?”

“They can’t measure up.”

That was a different take than intended or expected, but no way was she taking that comment seriously. “See? Calming.”

“Did you want to talk about anything specific, or just talk?”

“Honestly, I just needed to hear your voice.”

“Careful, gorgeous. I might just start believing you care about me.”

“I’m a caring person.”

“Yes, you are, or you’d be at home and not at Sara’s.”

She stilled. “How do you know I’m at Sara’s?”

“She’s in crisis. Where else would you be?”

“Joseph.”

“Okay, okay. You caught me. I called Crossroads to check on Nora, and Lisa told me you were at Sara’s. But I already knew you would be, and that’s the truth.”

Beth’s lips twitched, wanting to smile. “You’re kind of adorable.”

“Hold that thought a minute, and tell me about the missing Robert.”

She filled him in and answered his questions as best she could. “Are you coming for Clyde’s funeral Tuesday?”

“I wish I could be there now.”

He couldn’t. A pang of disappointment rippled through her. “Me too.”

You’re being stupid, Beth. He’s gonna break your heart
.

Maybe my heart needs breaking. Maybe I need to know I’ve still got a heart capable of breaking. Otherwise, isn’t Max defining my life? Shouldn’t I define my life?
“Why did I need this phone?”

“So we can communicate in a way no one else knows exists.”

“Okay.” Was that important on his end or hers? Probably both. “So you’re still tied up?”

“More or less. But I’m only a phone call away from you. Remember that.”

Odd conversation. “All right.”

“I haven’t forgotten you wanted coffee. Next time you see me, I’ll bring you a cup.”

There was a message there. What it meant, she had no idea. “I’ll hold you to it. Two sugars, one cream.”

He laughed. “I remember, gorgeous.”

Gorgeous
. It sounded so natural coming from him, tugged her into baring her soul. “Joe, I’m scared.”

“I know. But that’s not a bad thing considering the circumstances. Fear can be healthy. It keeps you on your toes. But you can’t give in to it, or your enemy’s already won.”

“How do you fight it?”

“Think steel. Just focus on the solution and think steel.”

Shadow Watchers
. They used that phrase; she’d heard it. “Do you think NINA attacked us at the club?”

“Yeah, but I can’t prove it.”

“I think I’m even more scared of whatever’s going on with Robert.”

“Why?”

“I’ve got a bad feeling he’s up to something. I feel it.” Down to the marrow of her bones. “I don’t know what, but I’m worried it’ll hurt Sara. She’s acting totally weird.”

“Totally weird—how?”

Beth told him about Sara’s warning, about the hundred unusual things she’d said and done in the past week, and especially the odd tidbits relayed tonight. “But you know what scares me most?”

“What,
sha
?”

Sha
. A Cajun endearment for “sweetheart” or “darling.”
Heart, don’t you dare leap. He probably uses it all the time
. “The way she looked at that cake topper.
The bride and groom had been torn apart, and the groom was missing. Sara’s reaction was bizarre.”

“With Robert missing, her reaction seems pretty normal.”

“It wasn’t normal for Sara. She wasn’t devastated, Joe, she was angry. Unnerved and scared, but really angry … and I think a little relieved.”

“Now that’s interesting. Why would she be angry or relieved?”

Beth slid down on the sofa and checked the darkened hallway to be sure she was still alone. “I don’t know, but tonight she told me she wished she could go back. It wasn’t clear if she meant back to before Robert, but that’s how it came across.”

“Maybe she regrets marrying him.”

“See? Totally weird. Since day one, she’s been besotted with him.”

“Put your bias aside and tell me what your gut says about him.”