In Dark Waters (23 page)

"I did. And we weren't friends, exactly. Shortly after Boyd and I were married, your mother came to work for us as a maid." Her gaze bore into Kelsey. "It never ceases to amaze me how much you look like your mother."

"Yes, I've heard that often."

"No, I don't think you realize how remarkable the resemblance is. There are times when I feel as if I am talking to Donna." Sylvia's gaze locked on Kelsey, transfixed.

A tingle snaked down Kelsey's spine. This wasn't right. "Donna is dead."

Sylvia broke her stare. "Yes."

"Look, if you'd rather not have the lesson today, I understand. Maybe another time would be better." Maybe when hell froze over.

"No, no, don't go. I do want my lesson today. I've waited so long for it and I'd be quite disappointed if we couldn't have one." Sylvia seemed tense, anxious even.

This was too weird. "I think it's better you work with Stu." As Kelsey lifted the large rolling suitcase that she used to carry the equipment, Sylvia reached for a silver box on a glass table next to the chaise. The glint of metal in sunlight caught the corner of her eye and she glanced up.

Sylvia was holding a gun on her.

Mitch dreaded breaking the news about Chris to Stu, but there was no avoiding it. He found Stu in the back of the dive shop. He'd half expected to find Kelsey at the shop, but to his disappointment, she wasn't there.

Stu glanced up from a regulator he was working on. "Hey, Mitch."

Mitch took off his hat. "Fixing a regulator?"

"Yeah, it always amazes me how rough divers can be with their equipment. The fellow that owned this one kept it in his attic for three years and now he wonders why it doesn't work. Hello, heat's hell on computers."

Mitch nodded, wishing there was some way to avoid what he needed to say. "I've got bad news."

Stu didn't glance up. "It's about Chris."

"We found him. He's dead."

He shoved out a sigh. "What happened?"

"He was shot."

Stu's jaw tightened. "Jesus, who would shoot Chris?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out."

Stu set the regular down. "He was the nicest guy. Never had an enemy."

"Did anything unusual happen that last day?"

"He borrowed a couple of hundred bucks from me, but that wasn't out of the ordinary. He was always strapped for cash."

"Why?"

"He liked to gamble. Nothing major, just a game of craps here and there."

"Could he have lost more than you realized?"

"Naw, he was always good about knowing his limits. And he always made good on his debts on payday." He frowned. "He did get a phone call a week or two ago. He was pale when he hung up. When I asked him about it, he laughed it off."

Mitch glanced around the shop. An overwhelming sense of unease settled in his bones. "Do you know where Kelsey is?"

Stu nodded. "She headed up to the Randall place. Sylvia wants to take dive lessons from Kelsey."

"I can't picture Sylvia getting her hair wet, let alone diving."

"I was as shocked as you were. I figured she'd walk a wide circle around Kelsey, considering her history."

"Her history?"

"Donna and Boyd had an affair years ago, before Kelsey was born. In fact, there was even talk-that Boyd was Kelsey's father."

"Boyd told me about the affair, but he didn't menthe paternity issue."

"Despite Boyd's overactive libido, he adores Sylvia. When she threatened to leave him, he dropped Donna. I'm not sure how he fixed things between him and Sylvia, but he did. Donna left town and all was forgotten."

Kelsey looked so much like her mother. It made no sense that Sylvia would want to spend any time with her. And it had been his experience that women never forgot anything.

"You know Kelsey's staying for the summer," Stu said.

"What?"

"She wants to hang around for a while, see what develops."

His heart tightened. This was her way of giving them a chance. "I'm going to drive out there and check on Kelsey."

"She'll be back in a couple of hours."

His skin itched with worry. "No, I'm going now."

For a moment, Kelsey's mind didn't quite register the fact that Sylvia Randall was holding a gun on her. It was almost as if she were watching a television show. She could just switch the channel and the show would change.

But the show didn't change.

She struggled to keep her voice calm. "Sylvia, I don't understand."

"Don't you think the dumb blond act is getting a little old,
Donna
."

Kelsey drew in a breath. "I'm not Donna. I am
Kelsey
."

A faint smile curved the edge of her lips. "Right."

"Donna is dead."

"I know, I killed you. But you came back."

A wave of panic washed over her.

Sylvia was insane.

"You killed Donna. Why?" The words tumbled out of her with her breath.

"Please don't play me for a fool."

Kelsey's gaze dropped to the gun. She needed to stall for time. Perhaps if she could keep Sylvia talking, someone would find them, or she could edge close enough to get the gun. "I'm not. I'm just trying to understand."

Sylvia's eyes looked wild. "Understand? What's there to understand? You seduced my husband and then stole
my baby
?"

The seduction part didn't surprise Kelsey. Who hadn't Donna seduced? But the baby—that part she was almost afraid to ask about. "What baby?"

For a moment, Sylvia just stared at her, as if she were suddenly confused. Then she drew in a breath and her eyes seemed to clear. "Your mother never told you, did she?"

Sylvia was talking to
her
now and not Donna. "Tell me what?"

"Boyd and I wanted to adopt you. We wanted to give you all this," she said gesturing around the pool-side with her gun. "We desperately wanted to love you and raise you as ours."

Donna had planned to give her up to the Randalls! The Richmond attorney had represented Boyd and Sylvia. "I never knew that."

"We'd had it all arranged." She sighed, her eyes wistful. "I had the loveliest nursery for you. It was yellow, with white clouds, and a hand-crafted crib from Italy."

"What happened?"

"Donna was a greedy bitch, that's what happened." Ice coated each word.

No surprise. "She wanted money for me," Kelsey said to understand.

"And we were willing to pay very handsomely for you. Money was no object for me. I wanted you so much I ached." A tear ran down Sylvia's cheek. "Just days before you were born, Donna went to the attorney and said she wanted double the money. And if we didn't pay, she threatened to disappear."

She knew what happened next, but she wanted to hear it from Sylvia. "What happened?"

"That idiot attorney contacted my husband first. Boyd was furious by the demand and refused to pay. Donna got angry and took off. When I found out I was heartbroken. I tried to find your mother and you, but she simply vanished."

There'd been times when Kelsey was a child that her mother would say she should have taken the money—that they both would have been better off. Kelsey had never understood. Now she did.

She drew in a deep breath. "Is Mr. Randall my father?"

"Boyd got your mother pregnant. She was so lovely in her day and he was taken with her. She knew it and used it to her advantage. I caught them in our bed. I still remember Donna's smug expression." The smile faded from her eyes as she relived that dark moment. "I adored Boyd and he rammed a knife in my heart. I threw him out of the house." She drew back her shoulders trying to collect herself. "He came crawling back several times, but I refused to see him. And then he came home offering the perfect peace offering. A baby."

"Me."

"Yes. Donna had told him she was pregnant and that the baby was his. For a price, she'd give us the baby." Tears glistened in her eyes. "We'd tried for five years to have a baby. Nothing worked. You have to understand, all I ever wanted to be was a mother. I'd dreamed of having four or five children. And I couldn't have
one
."

Kelsey willed her voice to remain calm. "Why did you kill Donna?"

Sylvia frowned. "Because she came back to town and demanded
more
money. Boyd was running for reelection to the state senate. That greedy bitch. She was determined to ruin us all over again. I couldn't let it happen. I had her meet me at the quarry. She had such a smug smile on her face." She straightened her shoulders. "I shot her while she sat in her car and then pushed it into the quarry."

Kelsey's head spun.

Sylvia nudged the gun toward the pool. "Get in the pool."

"You ran Stu over?"

"Yes."

Panic shot through her. "Why?"

"If he'd died, the quarry wouldn't have been opened and there'd have been no investigation." Her eyes narrowed. "Now get in the pool."

Kelsey glanced around looking for anything to use as a weapon. "Why?"

"Because you are going to drown today. It's going to be a terrible accident."

She took a step back. "You don't have to kill me. I can leave town."

"I told you to leave, but you didn't."

"You left the doll."

"Yes." Tears pooled in her eyes. "Did you know that doll cost me hundreds of dollars? I'd bought dozens for my baby girl. When my baby was stolen, I put them all in the attic. I couldn't bear to look at them."

Kelsey's heart ached for Sylvia. "Sylvia, please let me help you."

Her eyes sharpened and she swiped away a tear. "You think you can just hang around town humiliating me, whispering about Boyd's affair with Donna behind my back."

No matter how much she pitied Sylvia, the woman was dangerous. She glanced around for something she could use as a weapon. "I haven't said anything, I swear."

"You are a lying slut like your mother. You are just like Chris and the other woman. You all think you can bleed money out of me. Now get in the water!"

"I don't want your money."

"No, you took my daughter."

Sunlight glistened like diamonds on the crystal clear pool water. Fear choked Kelsey. There had to be a way out of this.

Sylvia fired her gun.

The bullet grazed the side of Kelsey's arm and exploded into a potted plant behind her. Pain seared her arm. Warm blood trickled down her arm.

"Get in the pool!" Sylvia said.

"Someone is going to hear that gunshot," she said easing toward the pool.

"No one is here."

"That maid let me in."

"She's running an urgent errand in town for me. She won't be back until late."

Kelsey's heart sank. True panic started to settle in her bones. "People know I'm up here. If you shoot me, they will be suspicious."

"I got away with three other murders. And frankly I've gotten quite good at it."

"Who have you killed?"

"You. That stupid paralegal and that greedy diver Chris."

"Why them?"

"Both somehow figured out that I'd killed Donna. Both wanted to blackmail me." She sighed. "If there is one thing I hate, it's a blackmailer. No morals. No class." She nudged the point of the gun to the pool. "Get in."

The sound of the front door opening and closing echoed through the house. Kelsey's heart leapt with hope. "Help!" she shouted.

Sylvia glanced over her shoulder, her face hardened with panic.

Boyd came running out to the patio. He wore a white Izod and tennis shorts. His thick gray hair hung recklessly over his forehead. He was the image of a perfect father. She couldn't have dreamed of a father so perfect. He was going to save her when she needed him most.

His gaze darted between the two women. "Sylvia, what the devil is going on?"

"Mr. Randall, help me!" Kelsey said. "Your wife is trying to kill me."

He looked at Sylvia. "What is she talking about?" he said to his wife.

Sylvia looked relieved to see her husband. "Donna came back. I tried to get her to leave, but she wouldn't. Now I have to make her leave. Donna has to get in the pool and drown."

"Sylvia." His voice sounded so sad. "She's not Donna. She's Kelsey."

"She's Donna! Look at her. She hasn't changed a bit."

"Honey, you've got to listen to reason."