Starfish Island (17 page)

Nicole wandered through the house, turning on lights as she entered rooms, trying to dispel the darkness and drive the shadows into hiding. She thought about Rena and felt a tad guilty that she hadn’t bothered to check on her or offer her any well-wishes. She disliked the woman and found it difficult to work up any sympathy for her, but felt immediately ashamed of her thoughts. She really ought to ask after the woman, and besides, she hadn’t had the opportunity to see the Greys’ quarters the day of the tour; Rena had deliberately steered her away.

The Greys’ rooms were at the far end of the house, the door slightly ajar. As she neared, Nicole heard female voices drifting out. Normally, she might have come back at another time, but she recognized the voices. The harsh one belonged to Rena and the other one was the voice of the woman who’d cried in the room next to Nicole’s last night. Without hesitation, she pushed opened the door and went in.
 

Chapter Eighteen

RENA SAT ON a chaise, dressed in somber black, her hair pulled severely away from her face in an uncompromising bun. There wasn’t a single sign of illness that would necessitate her spending any time in bed but plenty of evidence that she couldn’t contain her foul mood.

The other woman appeared to be in her late twenties. Her perfume was so overpowering that it made Nicole want to cover her nose and open the windows to ward off the headache rapidly approaching. The woman’s black hair fell freely down her back in an array of undisciplined curls. She stood out in sharp contrast to Rena; her face was overly made-up, her bright red lips highlighting her sulky mouth, and she was wearing diamonds and emeralds—not usual daytime wear. She looked very much at home as she lay on the couch, the silk bathrobe tied securely around her waist draping open to reveal plenty of cleavage.

When Nicole appeared in the doorway, the conversation in the room ended immediately. Rena looked up, anger flooding her face. She opened her mouth and then closed it, rising to her feet and smoothing down the front of her dress. The dark-haired woman sat up with a grace about her and nervously covered her earrings.

An awkward silence hung in the air as they all stared at one another.

“Do you want something?” Rena asked, clearly irritated by the interruption. “If you’d called, my husband would’ve taken care of anything you needed.”

“I came to see how you were doing,” Nicole said. “Chester told me that you weren’t feeling well today.”

Rena looked from Nicole to the woman in the silky robe. Nicole noted that the woman’s expensive earrings had disappeared.

With a touch of defiance, the younger woman said, “You might as well introduce us.”

There was more silence, and then Rena said, “This is my daughter, Lucia. She’s come for a visit.”

Nicole looked in surprise at the woman. The Greys’ daughter? “Nice to meet you,” she said, trying to hide her shock.

“That’s not all. I’m also Mrs. Kirkland Alexander.” She smirked.

“Silence!” Chester hissed at her from behind Nicole. Startled, Nicole turned to face him, her heart pounding. He glared, first at his daughter and then at Nicole, clearly angry at finding her in his room. Nicole thought he looked like a caged animal waiting to pounce. Only he wasn’t caged.

Lucia shrugged. “She was bound to find out sooner or later.” She turned to Nicole. “None of this has been fair to Kirkland. He wouldn’t have wanted me to be sneaking around, keeping our marriage a secret as though I was ashamed of it when, in fact, I loved him and was proud to be his wife. It’s about time I tell whoever I want.”

Lucia Grey...Kirkland’s wife and now widow. Nicole wished she had a moment alone to digest all this. Is that why the Greys barely tolerated her existence, the reason Rena had frightened the wits out of her the first night? Images floated through her mind of a woman crying, a threatening man, hints of blackmail.

“Congratulations. Of course you’d want people to know,” Nicole said. “Why wait until now to announce it?”

Lucia told her about her marriage to Kirkland and how they’d kept it a secret from Caroline. “I was confused! I wanted the best for Kirkland and Mrs. Alexander and didn’t know how to make that happen.”

Nicole sank into a nearby chair, not because she wanted to stay but because, quite frankly, she was shocked and wanted to hear the rest of the story. She eyed Lucia closely; she’d noticed that her voice was devoid of emotion while she told her story. Nicole was convinced that there was more to this woman than met the eye. How long would the Greys have kept this secret if Nicole hadn’t walked in on Lucia in her mother’s room? The secrecy and lies appalled her.

“I wish you’d known Kirkland,” Lucia said, momentarily lost in thought. “He was an amazing man and a fine writer.”

“How long were you two married before he died?”

“One year.” Lucia stiffened her spine. “But we were in love long before that, and I know Kirkland would have wanted me to be taken care of after his death. Mrs. Alexander agreed. She promised to give me a check for Kirkland’s life insurance policy before she died.”

“I don’t know anything about this,” Nicole said.
I need to talk to Michael before making any promises.

Rena spoke up. “Mrs. Alexander wanted Lucia to have the money—Lucia’s own husband’s insurance. It wouldn’t mean much to you; you could write the check.”

“This is a matter for my lawyer,” Nicole said. “He’s having dinner with me tonight. I’ll discuss it with him then. I’m sure he’s going to want to see proof of the marriage and the insurance policy.”

“Weren’t you listening when I told you I left my marriage certificate with Mrs. Alexander?” Lucia asked. “No one’s been able to find it. It’s disappeared.”

Nicole stood up, tired of being talked to like a small child. “Mr. Sadler will get in touch with you.” At the doorway, she stopped. “Chester, someone broke into the house last night.”

The words dropped like a bomb. Rena paled and drew in a breath. Chester glared.

“It was probably me you heard,” Lucia said. “I arrived quite late last night, and Father let me in.”

“It wasn’t you I saw, unless you used the window instead of the door,” Nicole said.

“Saw?” Lucia’s face drained of color. “Were you able to see a face?”

“I saw a man climb out the dining room window and fall into the plants,” Nicole said. “I’m sure I could make an identification. You did report the break-in, didn’t you, Chester?” She wasn’t going to mention that she’d seen the man’s ring clearly: large and ornate.

Chester looked ill at ease. “I saw the broken plants, but no evidence that anyone broke in.” He drew himself up in a defensive posture.

The faster she got the Greys out of her house, the better. “Please call the police now to report the break-in.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Chester said.

      “I’m glad to see that you’re feeling better,” Nicole said, nodding to Rena. “Nice to meet you, Lucia.”

~ ~ ~

The rest of the day, the world outside was blocked from view by grayness and the unrelenting rain, which beat angrily against the window panes, the force of the wind shaking the house.

Nicole changed into a pair of black pants and a cashmere cowl-neck sweater. In spite of the storm, Ellis arrived promptly.

He greeted her as though no angry words had been exchanged between them. “We get heavy storms sometimes, and this is a good one. The streets were flooded with water, and a couple of times, I wondered if I should turn around and go home, but here I am.” He looked her over. “You look good tonight. You gave me quite a shock this morning.”

Chester appeared in the doorway. “Dinner is served.”

“We’ll eat first and talk business over dessert,” Nicole said. Ellis took her arm to escort her to the dining room.

The table, bathed in soft light, held a small vase of bright hydrangeas to counteract the raging of the storm outside. If she’d thought of it sooner, she would’ve thrown together the dinner herself and served it at the large kitchen island. She found it pretentious for two people to eat at a dining room table that sat eight. She’d requested fish and they’d been served steak, but the dinner was delicious. Chester hovered every moment, sinking into the shadows but always within earshot. Nicole noticed the danger signal—the vein in Chester’s temple throbbing—and concluded that her decision to wait until after dinner to discuss business had been a good one. They could close the doors to the library and talk freely.

Ellis entertained her with amusing stories of her grandmother and the generous way she dealt with people and family stories of Kirkland. “Your grandmother will be missed, especially by me. I loved her and considered her one of my closest friends. She was a good person with high morals and standards. Did I tell you she and I were working on another business deal right before she died?”

“No, you didn’t,” Nicole said. She tried hard to keep her suspicion from reaching her eyes.

He helped himself to more French green beans and those delicious little red potatoes in a buttery sauce. “I’m not a jealous person by nature, but if I were, it would be of Michael Edwards. Not for anything he stands for personally,” he clarified, his voice filled with contempt, “but because of his family background. No one realizes how much he owes his success to his sister and her first husband, who provided the financial backing and social connections to start his business. Add to that his family name, and it makes the competition tough for a man like myself, who’s earned every dime without connections.”

What in the heck is he up to?
They sat in silence. Did he hope she’d put up some financial backing for one of his business deals?

To break the silence, she said, “We’ll have coffee and dessert in the library, Chester.” She resisted the urge to clench her hands together in a nervous gesture. Before standing, she took a breath, made herself relax, and straightened her shoulders.

Once settled in the library, Ellis started in on her. “You’ve caused me a lot of trouble with this hair-brained idea of yours. I had a credit check run on the buyers for your properties, and their financial report came back first-rate. You can’t imagine my embarrassment when they came to the office expecting finalized contracts and I had to put them off with vague excuses.”

“Put them off? I told you very clearly I didn’t want to sell,” she said, her voice just below a yell.

“Where did you get this wild idea of yours?” he asked, his tone condescending.

“Everything told to me was said in confidence.”

Ellis’s eyes were like ice picks, but a moment later, he affected a benign look. “I’m your lawyer, and if we’re going to work together, you’re going to have to trust me. How do you know your information is even reliable?”

“You’ll have to take my word for it.”

Ellis reluctantly gave up. “Then I guess I made a mistake. You’d assured me you were more than willing to sell the Tampa properties if I could obtain a good price. And I had both of them sold for the asking price, no contingencies. Now that’s a sweet deal. Have you forgotten that you’re the one who introduced me to Templeton, who introduced me to the ladies? He seemed like a nice guy. I saw him dancing with Cecilia and talking with your fiancé.”

“What are you talking about, my fiancé?”

Ellis’s eyebrows shot up. “Did I say something wrong? I took it for granted you’d decided to capitulate and marry the man your grandmother chose. Another thing she did without consulting me.” His voice was tinged with resentment. “He will never make any woman happy, with his unscrupulous dealings. That, and he’s an unabashed womanizer.”

“I suppose by ‘he’ you mean Michael Edwards. What in the world makes you think he’s my fiancé?” Nicole said.

“It seems to be a general rumor,” he said vaguely.

How could that be?
She’d blurted out that ridiculous story of a new relationship in front of only four people: the Edwardses, Greg, and Chester. It had to have been Greg spreading the rumor. Michael would never have said anything, and anyway, he’d refused, according to Ellis.
That’s what I get for making up ridiculous stories
, she thought.
Inevitably, they come back to take a bite out of my posterior
.

This is impossible. I can’t suddenly change my story and tell people I made up a fiancé.
That would spread like wild fire, and she’d become the hot gossip, branded a liar for who knows how long. Not to mention bringing Greg buzzing back around her. No. As long as Greg was lurking around, she would stick to her story.

“Please make it clear to anyone interested that my property is not for sale,” she said, shifting the subject back to business.

“You’re the boss,” Ellis said. “We were both a bit upset when we talked over the phone this morning, but I hope you weren’t serious about finding a new lawyer.”

“As long as we understand each other about what I want done, I don’t see why we shouldn’t continue.”

“Caroline trusted me so completely, I know she would’ve wanted us to work together.

“Did Grandmother ever ask you to hire a detective?”

“A detective?” he echoed. “Certainly not, what made you ask that?”

Nicole considered a moment. Well, what did she have to lose? She told him about the note she’d found. “I’ll show it to you.” She ran upstairs to her studio and unlocked the file where she’d hidden the piece of paper.

When she returned to the library, she handed it to Ellis. “That’s your grandmother’s handwriting,” he said. “I wonder why she never mentioned anything to me. This is probably something she made note of a long time ago and then forgot.”

“I don’t think so; I found this note in the pocket of the dress she wore on the day she died, according to Ava. I think I know what could’ve been bothering her,” Nicole said. “Lucia Grey paid her a visit several days before she died and informed her that she and Kirkland had been married for over a year at the time of his death. Lucia told me about it herself; she’s here now. She’s claiming she asked Grandmother for his insurance money.”

Ellis stared at her. “That explains the withdrawal slip I found among Caroline’s personal belongings.” He nodded thoughtfully. “That clears up a lot of things. I’m not surprised; Kirkland loved Lucia. I always thought the two of them would end up together. The last time I saw Kirkland, he dropped several hints, but I had no idea what he was getting at when he asked me to look out for his interests.”