Playing with Fire (28 page)

“Okay.” She let go of him with great reluctance and moved toward the kitchen. “I’ll call Carol right now.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon going over the information on the nursery and preparing a counteroffer. She realized Griff had done his homework with great thoroughness. He had a thick file of information from other nurseries he’d talked to, so they had some idea of where to start.

“I’ll call the guy in the morning,” he told her when they finished, stacking everything together. “I think what we’re offering is a fair price and close to what he’s asking.”

Cassie poured herself a glass of iced tea and sat at the kitchen table with a pad of paper, trying to make a list of anyone Diane might have been involved with. She threw the pen down, shoved the pad away from her, and looked at Griffin. “This is impossible.”

“No, just difficult. But I have a feeling we’re getting close, so don’t give up now.”

Monday, Cassie drove to the Bank of America office and met with the manager. She presented her probate papers, explained what she was looking for, and the manager scrolled through her computer.

“I don’t see a box here for either your mother or father,” she said. “Are you sure they’d have come here? I don’t believe this is where they did their banking.”

“For this, I think they’d have wanted some anonymity,” Cassie explained. “Can you see if there’s a box under Diane Fitzgerald or Diane Hunter?”

Again Janet searched her database, and again she came up empty.

“Thanks, anyway.” She tried to hide her disappointment.”

“Hold on a second,” Janet said. “Let me go into the main data base and see if there’s one at another branch.”

Cassie sat, crossing her fingers while the woman’s computer did its thing.

“All right, Miss Fitzgerald.” Janet looked up at her. “I have a box listed for a Diane Hunter at a branch in San Antonio. Is that where she’s living now?”

Cassie was shocked.
San Antonio?
“My sister died six years ago! I don’t understand. Who would even be paying for it now? Doesn’t it have to be paid for each year?”

“Yes, but according to my records, when Mrs. Hunter rented the box, she paid for ten years in advance.”

Planning. Covering her bases.

She left the bank in a daze then sat in her car with the air conditioner on and called Griff on his cell phone.

“Hunter,” he answered.

“It’s me. You’ll never believe what I found out. Can you talk?”

“Hold on a sec.”

She heard a door slam and assumed he had climbed into his truck.

“That’s better. I can crank up the A/C for a minute and have some privacy. What’s up, sugar?”

She gave him all the details of her meeting with the bank manager. “I’m stunned, but not as much as I thought I’d be.”

“But that’s too weird,” he said. “Why did she pick that location? And pay for so many years in advance?”

“I’d say she wanted it to be as far away from Stoneham as possible. She picked a place where it would be lost in the records of a big bank but close enough for her to access when she wanted. As to paying for it, I think she wanted to hedge her bets. Life was pretty unstable for Diane.”

“Tell me about it.” He snorted. “So, what can we do next? You said they wouldn’t give you access to the box, right?”

“Yes, but you could get into it. You were her husband. I think all you’d need is a copy of the marriage license and her death certificate.”

“All right.” He thought a minute. “We’ll do it tomorrow afternoon. Can you call and find out how late they’re open?”

“Sure, but what about your jobs tomorrow? You can’t keep blowing people off.”

“I’ll just start earlier than usual. Anyway, don’t worry about me. These people may hate my guts, but, right now, I’m the only game in town. Besides, I’m hoping we won’t have to worry about this much longer.”

“I just don’t want you to have any more hassles than you’ve already got.”

He laughed. “Honey, that’s my middle name. I’ll see you later at home.”

The rest of the day brought them good news, more than enough to counterbalance the moments of dread that had hovered over them. The owner of the land accepted their offer and wanted to close as soon as possible. The nursery owner was happy with Griff’s price and asked when he could come over to sign papers and bring a deposit check. And Carol called with a firm closing date for the house.

“This is all good luck.” Cassie hugged Griff when he got home. “Everything’s going to work out the way we want. I just know it. I feel so sure we’ll find what we’re looking for in that deposit box.”

“I told the guy in Marble Falls we’d be able to drive over tomorrow evening,” he told her. “Does that work out for us?”

“Sure. The bank’s open until five. If we leave here at four, we can get there before closing. If we’re lucky we can get to open the box with no trouble. That way we can be in Marble Hills before eight.”

“All right. Can you call the real estate agent and set up a date to close on the land? Maybe we can sign the final papers for the nursery then, too.”

“No problem,” she assured him. “All I’m doing tomorrow is getting rid of those boxes of clothes.”

“Okay. I’ll be home early enough to shower and change.”

Cassie was surprised at how easy it was to run through her tasks the next day.
Too bad every day isn’t this simple
,
she mused. Family Services was happy to get the clothes and anything else she wanted to give them. A used furniture dealer in Kerrville said he’d come by Thursday to see what she had, and, if it suited him, he’d take everything off her hands.

Confirming a closing date on the land was the last thing she did before heading off to shower and change and wait for Griff. She sat in the kitchen, reading the police and autopsy reports one more time on both Diane and her father, when he came in the back door.

“I thought you’d have those memorized by now.” He kissed the top of her head. “You know, sometimes I have to pinch myself to be sure everything is real. How could someone whose life has been so messed up have caught the brass ring?”

“It was always there waiting for us.” She smiled up at him. “We just had to reach for it.”

He chuckled. “Before long, we’ll even be like normal people, owning a business, building a new house, starting a new life together.” He brushed light stands of hair back from her hair. “I wake up sometimes in the middle of the night in a sweat, wondering if I dreamed it all. Then I touch you, and I know it’s all real.”

“It’s real alright.” She rested her head against his chest for a moment. “If only I didn’t keep thinking we’re missing something. My reporter’s nose is twitching.”

“It’ll come to you.” He set her away from his sweaty body. “Give me ten and I’ll be ready.”

They were silent, driving into the city, both expectant at what they might find, both worried about the process of opening the box. But that, too, followed the rest of the day, and everything went more with greater ease than they could have hoped. Griff’s documents were examined and copied along with his personal ID. He pulled out the key, and in short order they were in a small room with the box sitting on the table between them.

Cassie and Griff stared at each other, neither of them making a move.

“You open it,” she said. “You were her husband.”

“Yeah, right.” He reached for the box and flipped open the lid.

They both stared.

In one side of the box were neat stacks of hundred dollar bills, each with a rubber band around it. Next to the money sat a soft velvet pouch. Griff opened it, and a bracelet studded with precious gems fell out into his hands. He looked at Cassie, bewildered.

“Blackmail,” she murmured. “It has to be.”

Last, tucked in the other corner of the box, a small red-leather book that couldn’t be anything but a diary.

“You take it,” Griff said. “I don’t know if I can stand to open it.”

Cassie lifted it out with trembling hands. Holding her breath, she thumbed the lock and opened the book. Almost every page was filled with writing that she recognized as Diane’s. Would they find the answers to their questions at last?

She pushed the book toward Griffin. “You should read this.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think I can. In fact, I don’t think I can sit here another minute. Dump all that in your purse and let’s get out of here. I feel like I’m choking.”

Once they were on the way to Marble Hills, they relaxed a little.

“I can’t read that book.” Griff gritted his teeth. “I know it probably has clues in it, but I’m asking you to be the one to do it. When Diane told me about the baby, I was willing to make an effort to shape up. That bitch had no intention of being straight with me. She must have been on the prowl before the ink was dry on the marriage license.” There was more anger than pain in his voice.

Cassie didn’t ever remember hearing him sound like this. “Don’t let her keep reaching for you from the grave. We’ll get the answers and be done with it. We have a life together now. Don’t let her ruin that, too.”

The muscles in his jaw worked as he tried to calm himself. After a moment, he reached over and took one of her hands. “I love you, Cassie. That’s the one good thing that’s come out of this.”

She let out the breath she didn’t even know she’d been holding. “Then everything else is a piece of cake.” She squeezed his hand then brought it to her lips and kissed his fingers. “Let’s go buy a business. When we get home, I’ll look through the diary. Right now, let’s just concentrate on us.”

The whole time they were at the nursery, signing papers, writing checks, making arrangements, the diary was a hot coal in her purse. Cassie could almost feel its heat. Not to mention the money, shoved into an envelope the bank manager had provided. What in God’s name would she do with it? She was thankful when, at last, they were back in the truck and headed for Stoneham.

Griff reached over and gave her hand one of his reassuring squeezes. “Even with all the distractions, we did good, honey.”

“Did we?”

“You bet. We got him down to an acceptable price, and we’ve got ninety days before we have to close and take possession.”

“Can we do that?” she asked. “I mean, I’ll be done with my house in another week, but you still have yours to get rid of, not to mention your business. Where will we live while we’re building our new house?”

“Don’t sweat it. I’m putting an ad in the paper tomorrow for the landscaping service, and I guess I’ll go ahead and get Carol to list my house. Maybe we’ll get lucky there, too.”

“But where will we live?” she repeated.

“We’ll rent. The guy in the nursery said there are several small houses in town that are available. Tomorrow, you can call the agent handling the land and get him to e-mail you some listings to look at.”

“I can’t say I’ll be sorry to see the last of Stoneham,” she said with resentment. “Good riddance.”

“Are you hungry?” he asked, when they were finally home. “We haven’t eaten at all.”

“Yes, but I want to look at this diary. I can’t wait any longer.”

“Then I’ll make sandwiches while you read, okay? You can tell me what I need to know.”

When they entered Griff’s house, she took the book into the living room, kicked off her shoes, and curled up on the couch, the diary in her hands. She looked at the cover for a long time, knowing the minute she opened it there’d be no turning back. At last, she released the catch and turned to the beginning.

The first several pages yielded nothing, just musings about Griff, about parties, words about nothing in particular. She sat up when she came to another page.

No one can know. It has to be our secret, but I don’t care. The secrecy is part of the fun. And I know I can get him to buy me presents. He just wants me to keep my mouth shut.

The page was dated three months before Griff and Diane’s wedding. So, this was where it began. No name yet, but it was the first indication of the dangerous game Diane was about to play.

The next entry was dated a week later.

He certainly knows more than the guys I’ve been hanging out with. I guess sex is all about what you know after all. Too bad I can’t teach some of this stuff to Griffin or any of the other guys, but they’d wonder how I learned everything all of a sudden. Oh, well. I guess once a week will hold me. For now.

A week later, she wrote more.

I told him I love the bracelet. He gave me cash, too, lots of it, to buy stuff to wear for him. Also, I think he knows if he gives me money, I’ll keep my mouth shut. He doesn’t have to worry. I don’t want to upset his applecart or mine.

The next few pages were more of the same, then a new entry.

If it’s good with one, it’s great with two. Little did I know there were so many frustrated men in this tiny town. Their wives must sleep in an icebox. Although my Cookie has worse problems than that. But he’s a nice addition to my collection. He doesn’t mind paying, either.

Cassie felt as if a lead weight had dropped into her body and taken up residence, her stomach roiling with nausea. She knew her sister had been wild, but this was beyond even her imaginings.

“Find anything yet?” Griff carried in a tray with two drinks and a plate of sandwiches, setting it on the coffee table.

She looked at him, trying to find the words to describe what she was reading.

His face took on a closed look. “That bad, huh?”

“Griffin, I—”

“Never mind.” He shook his head. “That’s why I wanted you to read it. Here. Eat something.”

“I can’t.” She waved the food away. “I don’t think I can swallow anything.”

“Cassie, you are not responsible for what she did. You have to eat or you’ll be sick for sure. Come on.” He handed her half a sandwich on a napkin, which she took reluctantly. “That’s right. Now chew and swallow.”

In spite of herself, she had to smile, and she forced herself to take a bite. She scanned through a few more pages of the diary then stopped on another page where the words leaped out at her.