by Kathi Daley
“I don’t know, but it sounds like if we are ever going to get our answers, we’re going to need to get them from her.”
When Georgia and I returned to the inn, we found Rena sitting in the garden, watching Jeremy and Mylie work now that the rain had cleared at least temporarily. She seemed content even though the landscape was wet and muddy from the morning moisture.
“Afternoon, Rena,” Georgia said, sitting on a bench near her. “It’s turned out to be a nice sunny afternoon, but it’s still damp. Are you warm enough?”
“I’m fine,” she answered. “I enjoy watching the young ones while they work. Mylie especially has a freedom and energy about her that reminds me of my younger self.”
“Do you remember your younger self?” Georgia asked. “Do you remember coming here to Maine during the summers?”
She smiled. “I do. I remember the garden, the sea, and the fun that could be had. I remember being able to let my hair down and be myself. Father didn’t like it when I wore my hair down at home. He didn’t like it when I took off my shoes and let my feet touch the ground, and he didn’t like it when I spoke to the help.”
“So, you remember him?” Georgia asked. “Your father?”
She frowned. “No. Not really. I remember how he was, but not who he was. I do remember that he wasn’t here on the coast with us. I remember being happy. For a while, at least.” She looked Georgia in the eye. “Do you know my father?”
“No. I don’t know him,” Georgia answered. “But if your father was Conway Chadwick, I’ve heard about him. Was that his name? Are you Catherine Chadwick?”
The creases on her forehead deepened as she struggled to remember. “My name is Rena. I remember Richard calling me that. Father hated it, but I liked it.”
Georgia glanced at me, and I nodded. It really did sound as if Catherine and Rena were the same person. Now to help her remember without traumatizing her. Of course, at this point, the most important thing was to help her remember where it was she belonged, so we could help her find her way home.
“Do you remember how you came to be here now?” Georgia asked.
“Thomas brought me. I wanted to come here one last time. I wanted to say goodbye to Sebastian. Michael is going to help me to see him. He told me to wait here at the resort.”
“Do you know how we can get ahold of Thomas?” Georgia asked.
She narrowed her gaze.
“Just to make sure everything is on schedule,” Georgia added.
“Thomas will be back for me after the party. We need to make sure that Father doesn’t know what we’re doing. He wouldn’t like it.” She looked around. “I thought I knew what to do, but things are different. I need to find Michael. He’s going to help me.”
Georgia glanced at me, and I stepped forward. “I’m afraid Michael isn’t here. Not any longer. It has been a long time since you were going to meet Sebastian. Do you remember what happened?”
She looked confused for a moment, but then her expression cleared as if a light went on. “Father found out about Sebastian and me. He took me home and locked me in my room, and he sent Sebastian away.” She looked down at her hands. “I came here to remember the night of the party.” She looked Georgia in the eye. “Father died. He can no longer find or hurt me.”
Oh God. My hand flew to my mouth. This poor woman had lived her life terrified that her father would find her and return her to the institution, where he’d held her captive. The story he’d told everyone was that she’d gone crazy after Sebastian left, but suddenly, I realized that Conway had kept Catherine locked up, not to protect her, but to control her.
“Yes, that’s right,” Georgia said, tears streaming down her face. “Your father has died, and you are safe. But we need to let Thomas know that you’re okay. Is there a way we can call him?”
She closed her eyes as if trying to remember. “Thomas is my driver. The man I hired to bring me to Holiday Bay. He is going to come for me on Monday.”
“So you hired Thomas to bring you from your home to Holiday Bay,” Georgia said. “Is that right?”
“Yes. He brought me to my hotel and dropped me off.” She paused and looked around. “I wanted to stay here at the inn, but when I called, you said you were booked.”
“We were booked,” Georgia confirmed. “We had a last-minute cancellation. So once you arrived at Holiday Bay, how did you get all the way out here?”
“I hired a car to bring me out to the inn. That first day I had him wait while I sat on the bench and remembered. The second day one of the housekeeping staff where I am staying was getting off just about the time I’d gone into the office to use the phone to call for a car, and she agreed to bring me out to the inn and drop me off. I was going to call for a taxi when I was ready to go back.” She paused. “I remember sitting on the bench and looking back over my life. I remember feeling sad and so very lonely. I remember wishing that Sebastian had been able to meet his son and then…”
“And then?” I asked.
Her eyes dimmed. “I’m not sure. Everything gets fuzzy after that.”
“His son?” Georgia asked, picking up on the most important part of what Rena had said. “You had a child with Sebastian?”
She nodded. “Joseph. His name is Joseph. Emily took him away so he would be safe, but I eventually found him.”
“And who is Emily?” Georgia asked.
“My maid. Or at least she was at the time. She took Joseph and raised him after I begged her to get him away from my father. I was going to run away and join them, but Father kept a close eye on me. Eventually, he sent me away to an institution where I was watched every moment and unable to leave. I dreamed each day of seeing Joseph again. Of holding him and telling him how much I loved him. I was determined to have my own life, and while it took a long time, I was finally able to get free.”
“And were you reunited with Joseph?” I asked.
“Yes. He was a teenager by then and didn’t know me, but Emily had told him about me, so he opened his life to me, and he, along with Emily and me, became a family. He married a woman named Gwen, and they had three children. My grandchildren. Joseph passed away a couple of years ago, but I still see my grandchildren from time to time.”
“And Emily?” Georgia asked.
“Dead as well.”
Wow. I had to admit I really hadn’t been expecting all of this. I wanted to cry for this woman. I wanted to scream at the man who’d robbed his own daughter of much of her life. But I supposed it was more important for me to help the woman who was with us today. “So one of the housekeepers who works at the hotel where you’re registered brought you out to the inn for a visit, but while you were sitting on the bench remembering Sebastian and your baby, you became confused and ended up coming inside looking for a room?” I asked.
“Yes. I guess that’s what happened. It’s all a bit fuzzy.”
“And your luggage? I suppose it’s at the hotel where you are supposed to be staying?” I asked.
“Yes. I guess it is.” She looked sad. “I suppose you want me to go now.”
“No,” I said. ‘That won’t be necessary. You can stay here if you’d like until your driver comes for you next week. I can send Jeremy to get your things.”
“That would be lovely. Thank you. I’ve enjoyed being here very much.”
“And we’ve enjoyed having you,” I said. I helped her to her feet and looped my arm through hers to help her across the uneven ground. “So, where do you live now? Do you live with family? In a senior home?”
“I live alone. I spent too many years being controlled by everyone around me. I plan to keep my independence until the day I die.”
I supposed I understood that.
“There’s someone you should meet,” Georgia said. “His name is Baron. He is Richard’s son.”
A look of fear returned to her face.
“Baron isn’t anything like your father,” Georgia assured her. “He’s a very nice man, someone you can trust. I
promise. If it’s okay with you, we’ll call him and tell him you’re here.”
“So, he’s Richard’s son?”
“He is,” I confirmed.
She took a minute to think about it. “I guess I would like to meet him after all these years.”
I called Lacy, who called Baron. Once she filled him in, he told her that he was going to come to Holiday Bay as soon as he could get his chopper pilot to make the trip. He called me back directly an hour later and told me that he was on his way. When he arrived at our front door, Rena broke into tears. Apparently, Baron looked an awful lot like Richard, who Catherine had always loved with her whole heart.
Baron planned to rent a hotel room in town and have his pilot come back for him tomorrow, but we had a couple of empty rooms, so we invited him to stay with us. Initially, we left Rena and Baron alone to catch up, but once dinner was cleared, and we’d gathered in the living room, I was finally able to ask some of the questions that had been rattling around in my mind for months.
Chapter 16
By the time Friday rolled around, life had mostly settled back to normal. Rena had decided to leave with Baron yesterday rather than staying until Monday as she initially planned to do. The aunt and nephew had really hit it off, and Baron wanted Rena to travel to Boston with him to meet his family. As much as I wanted to continue reading the journals, they did belong to Catherine, so I boxed them up and sent them with her.
While I hadn’t gotten all my answers, Catherine had been able to fill in a few of the blanks, the most important having to do with Olivia and her death. It had been rumored for years that Will had argued with Olivia, which led to him pushing her from the cliff, but in Catherine’s opinion, Olivia hadn’t been pushed, she’d jumped. I had to admit that surprised me, but Catherine reminded us of her father’s cruelty as well as his controlling nature. After the situation with Sebastian and Catherine had come to a head, Conway had informed Olivia that summers at the sea had come to an end, and she should bring anything she cared about back to Boston with her. According to Catherine, Olivia was a free spirit, trapped in a marriage with a controlling man who would never let her be the person she really longed to be. Catherine admitted that she hadn’t seen Olivia jump, but she did believe that a future without summers away from her husband was a future Olivia had been unwilling to consider.
Catherine also pointed out that Will seemed to have genuine affection for Olivia, so in her mind, even if they had quarreled, it was unlikely he’d have killed her. Although she’d added, there was no doubt in her mind that Conway had killed Will and probably Sebastian as well.
I was happy that Catherine and Baron had found each other. Based on Catherine’s age, I doubted they’d have a lot of time together, but from what I observed, it appeared as if Baron planned to make the most of the time they did have.
As for Patrick’s murder and the mystery related to the stolen items, Colt was still working on that. He hadn’t heard back from his FBI buddy, but I knew he planned to call him again. We weren’t sure the meeting Patrick had at the bar with the Englishman dressed in a suit was relevant to the murder case, but Colt admitted he was running out of ideas on how to tie everything together, and he felt this man might be the missing link.
“I’m going to head into town to take Molly to the vet,” I informed Georgia after poking my head into the kitchen at the inn.
“You are? Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine. She’s just due for her shots. Do you need anything in town while I’m there? I have a few stops to make, so I should be a few hours.”
Georgia stopped stirring what looked to be cake mix. “Actually, it would help a lot if you would stop by and pick up the flowers I ordered for the food tables tomorrow. I was going to send Amy, but she went with Jeremy and Mylie to get paint for the signs.”
“Yeah, no problem. Anything else?” I asked.
“Not that I can think of offhand.”
“If you do think of something, you can text or call. Like I said, I’ll be in town for a few hours.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
After I grabbed Molly and loaded her into my SUV, I headed toward the town of Holiday Bay. It was busy on the highway. It was always busy during the summer, but today seemed even busier than normal. I supposed there were a lot of people in town for Lobsterfest, which was actually underway as of yesterday. I hadn’t been planning to come into town for the carnival and crafts fair, but it did look like fun. Maybe I’d ask Colt if he wanted to come with me this evening.
When I arrived at the veterinarian’s office, I found the waiting room, like the rest of the town, to be crowded. Luckily, I didn’t actually need to see the veterinarian since the tech could administer the shots, so Molly and I were shown to an area in the back where the dogs and cats needing to stay over were kept.
“You can set her on the table, and I’ll grab the shots she needs,” the tech said.
“Looks like the little guy in that cage is ready to go home. He seems alert and energetic for someone who is sick or has just had surgery.”
“He’s not a patient,” the tech said. “A friend of Betty’s asked her to find him a new home. She dropped him off here, and Betty just hasn’t had a chance to take him home yet.”
I knew Betty was the receptionist who worked at the front counter. “Aw. That’s too bad. What happened with the home he had?”
“I don’t know all the details, but apparently the woman who used to own the dog is leaving town and can’t take him along.” She pulled the fluid into the syringe.
“It’s too bad she didn’t re-home him herself if she knew she was going to move,” I said as the tech administered the first of two shots.
“I guess her leaving town was a last-minute thing. Betty said she works at the museum, and something happened that caused this woman to up and leave at a moment’s notice.”
“The museum,” I said as the tech administered the second shot. “Was the woman who left the dog named Nadine?”
She smiled and gave Molly a treat for being such a good girl. “That sounds right. Molly is all set. You can see Betty on your way out to arrange for payment.”
I thanked the technician and then picked Molly up and headed toward the front. Luckily, there wasn’t a line, and I was able to walk right up. “I understand Nadine from the museum is leaving town,” I said, handing her my credit card.
“Yeah. I guess she had some sort of family emergency. She doesn’t know when or even if she’ll be back, so she asked me to find a new home for Mugsy.”
“Is Mugsy the dog in the back?”
She nodded. “He’s a cute little guy, so I shouldn’t have any problem finding him a good home, but I’m sure he’ll miss Nadine. I know how it is when your plans are uncertain. You hate to have to drag someone else into your uncertainty.”
“So Nadine wasn’t sure about her destination?” I asked as I signed the credit card slip.
“It didn’t seem like it. She told me she needed to take off, but wasn’t sure where she would be staying. Molly is due for a teeth cleaning next month. Do you want to make the appointment now?”
“Yeah. But let’s do it in September. August is going to be busy at the inn.”
After Molly and I left, I decided to stop by the museum. There was a volunteer on site named Fred, who told me that Nadine had up and quit without notice the prior day. Fred also informed me of Nadine’s intent to head out of town to an undisclosed location. The whole thing sounded fishy to me, so I called Colt. Unfortunately, Colt wasn’t in, and his cell went directly to voicemail, so I decided to stop by Nadine’s home and try to ascertain if she was still in town. When I pulled up in front of her house, I found her loading suitcases into her car.
I probably should have continued on, but it was broad daylight in a crowded neighborhood. I didn’t feel I would be in any sort of danger by confronting Nadine, so I slipped out of my car and headed toward her driveway.
“Abby. What are you doing here?�
� Nadine asked.
“I was just at the vet with Molly, and I heard you were leaving town. I thought I’d stop by and say goodbye.”
She attempted a smile, but I could see that it looked forced. “That was nice.”
“I was surprised by the news. You didn’t say a thing about taking a trip when we last spoke.”
“You know how it is. Things come up. Now I really need to finish up. I want to get out of town before rush hour.”
“Here, let me help you,” I offered.
“Oh, there is no need for that. Really.”
“Nonsense. You’re in a hurry, and I have time. I insist.”
Nadine did not look happy to have my help, but she didn’t argue. I followed her inside, where she had a stack of boxes waiting to be loaded into her back seat.
“So where are you heading?” I asked as I grabbed the box on the top of the pile.
“To see my sister. She’s been under the weather, and I want to help out.”
“I’m sorry to hear that your sister has been ill. It seems, however, that if you were just heading to your sister’s, you could have brought Mugsy with you rather than having him re-homed.”
“She’s allergic. You know, I think I can get the rest of this myself. Really.”
I turned and headed back toward the house after setting the box I’d carried out into the back seat. “I don’t mind, and it seems like you’re in a hurry.”
“What about Molly?” she asked, glancing toward my car.
“I guess I should get her. I’ll be right back.” I jogged toward my car to get Molly, who was watching me with her head out the window.
“That’s not what I meant,” Nadine called after me. “I meant that maybe you should just go.”
The fact that Nadine was so anxious to get rid of me had me wondering what was really up. I called Colt again when I arrived at my car, and this time I left a message, telling him to meet me at Nadine’s home as soon as he could get there. I then clicked the leash on Molly and headed back toward the house. When I arrived, I could hear Nadine on the phone down the hallway.