The Butterfly Conspiracy (11 page)

    
“Morning, Stephen,” she said as she approached him.
 
“Did you sleep well?”

    
“Yes, very well.”
 
Stephen was about to ask, “and you?” but he thought better of it.
 
He didn’t want to have a vision of her in bed.
 

Britt pulled a cushion off the couch, tossed it on the floor and sat close to the fire.
 
Stephen was uncomfortable.
 
He wasn’t sure it was a good idea to be alone in a room with such a sexy woman, especially with what she was wearing.
 
Britt stared into the fire.
 

    
“With this weather, I doubt my fan club will be picketing the gate today.
 
Such a relief.
 
It makes your uncle so mad.
 
I hate to cause trouble, but sometimes I just can’t sit back and be silent.”
 
 
 

    
Stephen didn’t know what to say.
 
To disagree with her would be rude, but to agree with her would be going against his uncle’s wishes.
 
He just silently sat there, feeling awkward.
 
From the side, Stephen could see the full curve of her breast through the thin material of her negligee. The room he had thought felt chilly at first was now feeling much warmer.
 

    
“This cushion’s hard,” Britt said. As she stood up, Britt stepped on the hem of her night gown and fell over the arm of Stephen’s chair, landing neatly in his lap.

Stephen’s coffee, which had been balancing on the arm of the chair, went crashing to the floor at the same time Uncle Phillip walked into the room.

“What broke?”
Phillip asked.

Phillip’s gaze moved from the shattered coffee cup on the floor up to the leather chair.

“Britt!”

Stephen jumped up from the chair so quickly Britt slid down to the floor. “Wait, Uncle, don’t…”

    
Uncle Phillip stormed over to Britt. “Get out of here.
 
Get back to the house.”
 

He grabbed Britt’s arm and walked her out of the room, shooting Stephen an icy stare.

    
Hearing the commotion, Jeanette appeared in the doorway.
 
“What happened?” She asked.
 
She took one look at Stephen and could tell whatever happened was not good.
 

“I was sitting in here by the fire finishing my breakfast when Britt skipped into the room wearing almost nothing.
 
The next thing I know, she fell into the chair with me.”

Stephen was watching Jeanette’s face for a reaction.
 
She didn’t seem surprised or shocked at all.

He continued, “Before I could even move, Uncle Phillip came in and I think he jumped to a bad conclusion.”

Stephen was visibly upset and he was speaking loudly.
 
Jeanette bent down to pick up the pieces of Stephen’s broken cup and saucer.
 
  

Bobby, the guard appeared at the doorway.
 

“Everything okay?” He asked.

 
“Yes, Bobby.” Jeanette said, “Everything’s fine.” The

guard turned and headed down the hallway behind Phillip and Britt.

“Stephen, settle down.
 
I know this is putting you in a very uncomfortable position.
 
Come with me, let’s go upstairs where we can talk.”

They marched up to the third floor without speaking.
 
Jeanette pulled Stephen into the billiard room.
 
A quiet tension filled the air.

“Do you play pool, Stephen?”

“A little.
 
I never really played that much.” Stephen said.
 

Jeanette grabbed two pool cues and handed one to Stephen.
 
She racked up the billiard balls and said, “Go ahead, break.”

Stephen hit the cue ball with a glancing blow.
 
It hit the racked balls with only enough force to knock a few balls loose.

Jeanette took over and sunk five balls in a row.
 
Stephen hesitated as he walked up to the table.
 
His shot missed the ball completely.
 
Jeanette grabbed the cues and set them back in the rack.
 

“Let’s go to the library, I can see your heart’s not in this game.”

Once in the quiet surroundings of the library, Stephen regained his composure.
 

“I can’t believe Uncle Phillip would think that I’d make a pass at his girlfriend?
 
She’s attractive, there’s no discounting that. She’s a lot older than me.
 
How rude does he think I am?”
 

Stephen was pacing the floor.
 
“I’m only here a few days and he thinks I’m making moves on his girlfriend.
 
I’ve got enough women problems of my own now.
 
I don’t need any more.”

Jeanette wondered what that statement meant but decided not to ask any questions.

 
“What’s wrong with her, anyway, Jeanette?
 
Parading around dressed like that in front of everybody.”

“Stephen, I’m sure you were totally innocent and probably caught up in something with a little more history than you can even imagine.”

Stephen stopped walking and sat on the arm of a chair, listening.

“Britt’s a beautiful woman, but she is not as pretty as she once was.
 
You remember your uncle pleading with her to go back to
Hollywood
with him?”

“Yea, that kind of surprised me.”

“Well, she loves it here with her animals and nature, she also shuns
Hollywood
.”

“Why is that?” Stephen asked.

“Probably because she’s not being offered the parts she once was.
 
Britt got to where she was by being young and beautiful. She can see now there’s another generation of young actresses who have taken her place.”

“I never thought of that, that has to be hard.”

 
“That’s not easy for any woman, let alone one who has successfully used her looks and sensuality to achieve what she has become.”

Stephen pondered Jeanette’s words.
 
“That makes sense, but why try and get me in trouble with my uncle?”

“Not to undermine your handsomeness,” Jeanette said glancing down with a quick blush, “but I think this was more of a ploy for Britt to get your uncle jealous and have him pay more attention to her.”

Stephen was trying to digest all of this.
 

“You were probably just a circumstantial pawn.
 
A handsome one, but a pawn, nonetheless.”
 

Jeanette sighed,
 
“I’ve worked here for years and, unfortunately, I’ve seen her in action before.”

 
“I hope Uncle Phillip’s not mad at me for long. I was going to get out of here for the day anyway.
 
I was going to ask him to borrow a car and drive into Grand View.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“I wanted to spend a little time looking for that goon that may have been following me, but I can’t ask him for a car now.
 
He’s not even speaking to me!”

“Take mine.
 
I think it would do you good to get out of here for a while and I’m supposed to be working.
 
My car is just sitting there, so let’s go back to my office and I’ll get you the keys.”

Stephen appreciated her support and he was thankful for the information she had shared with him.
 
He had an urge to just grab her and give her a big hug, but he didn’t want his uncle to pop in and get the wrong idea about that too!
 

Stephen controlled himself, thanked her for the use of her car, and slipped quietly out of Cliffside Manor, not wanting another confrontation.
 

 
An hour after Jeanette handed Stephen her car keys, Phillip appeared at her office door.

“Jeanette, have you seen Stephen?”
 

“About an hour ago.
 
He wanted to drive over to Grand View so I let him borrow my car.”

Phillip frowned. “What?
 
Oh, that’s not good. He should have stayed here.”

“He was upset at what happened and felt terrible that you were mad at him.
 
He felt a change of scenery would do him good.”

“I was upset, but not at Stephen.
 
I over reacted and I wanted to apologize.
 
I guess I can do that later, but I wish he had not left the property.”

“I thought it would be a good thing for him to get away, under the circumstances.”

“Maybe not.
 
Don’t say anything to him, but I think it would be better for him to stay close to home for while.”
 
Philip turned and headed back to the office.
 

Jeanette stood quietly.
 
Was there more to Stephen’s suspicion of being followed than it seemed?

Chapter 13

Stephen was surprised to find that Jeanette drove a Mustang convertible.
 
The car was ten years old, but it seemed to be in excellent shape.
 

Stephen glanced up at the clouds.
 
He spotted one small sliver of blue, enough reason to put the top down.
 
Stephen folded the top down and turned on the heater.
 
As he waited for the gate to open, Stephen saw two young men and a girl jump up and grab signs.
 
They waved their signs at his passing car.
 
Stephen could read two of the signs; “Don’t Mess With Our Hunting Rights” and “Venison, it’s OUR dinner!”. The guy with the third sign was waving it too fast for Stephen to read as he drove by.
 
They seemed harmless enough.