Deadly Gift

by Heather Graham

  He kept his hand on hers until they had left the ground and were leveling out. Then, slowly, he released her hand.

  She made an effort to release the armrest.

  What a contrast she was, he thought. Fearless, determined, knowledgeable, cool—until it came to something as simple as riding in an airplane.

  It was a long flight, and he spent most of it keeping an eye on what his traveling companions were up to.

  Caer got up several times to speak with Sean and make sure he took his medication—despite the chilly looks Amanda shot her way every time. She remained low-key, something Amanda no doubt appreciated. He had to admit, he had found it difficult to look Amanda in the eye that morning.

  In fact, he had a feeling he might never look at her again without remembering her breasts blinking red and green.

  He helped Caer with her headphones, and smiled later when she actually enjoyed the chicken pasta she chose for lunch. She also had a glass of champagne, but he noticed that she sipped it slowly. As much as she seemed to savor the taste of alcohol, she wasn’t about to overdo it.

  She fell asleep shortly after lunch, so he allowed himself to rest, as well. In fact, despite the fact that it was a day flight, when he woke up after a short nap and looked around, he saw that most of the passengers he could see were sleeping soundly, including Amanda and Sean.

  He rose and stretched, then walked silently over to check on Sean. He felt a little foolish, like a new father standing over his baby just to make sure the infant was breathing, but given everything that had happened…

  Sean was breathing.

  When Zach turned back, he saw that Caer was awake and studying him, eyes dark and thoughtful. She didn’t look away; instead, she lifted a brow and tipped her head to the side, indicating Sean.

  Zach nodded, letting her know that the older man was fine.

  They were served dinner before landing, since they were landing at night, despite having left in the morning. Caer seemed bemused to be eating again so soon.

  When they deplaned at Kennedy Airport, she seemed a bit overwhelmed, just staring. Dublin was certainly a sizeable city, but no one, he thought, could really be prepared for the reality of New York, the sheer number of people, the speed at which everyone moved, the plethora of accents—the noise. She had stepped out boldly, but now he saw her just standing there as people rushed past her. She looked as if she were simply trying to breathe while she assimilated the sounds and sights around her.

  “Ah, there you are,” Sean announced, as he was wheeled behind her, an airport employee pushing the wheelchair that had been waiting for him. He’d groused about it, but they’d all—including Amanda—vetoed the idea of his walking, Amanda muttering beneath her breath that if sex was too much for his heart, she certainly wasn’t going to tax it with a long walk.

  “First time in New York, huh?” the airport employee asked, smiling. He was a very tall black man, both dignified and friendly. He wore a name tag that identified him as Samuel Smith.

  Caer looked at him and smiled, nodding.

  “Yeah, yeah, how cute,” Amanda said, walking by. “Come on, let’s go. We don’t have that much time between flights. Let’s just get this over with.”

  “Sorry,” Caer said, and started walking. Suddenly she stopped and looked back. “Mr. Smith, am I going the right way?”

  “Indeed you are. Straight ahead. Just follow the signs and don’t worry about me. I’m so good at navigating these strollers, I could probably win the Indy 500.”

  When he saw the blank expression on Caer’s face, Zach stepped up beside her. “It’s a car race,” he told her, slipping an arm through hers. Amanda was being particularly annoying, he thought, and felt an urge to make it up to Caer somehow. “Maybe there will be some time to pop back down here. New York is one of the most amazing cities in the world.” He flashed her a smile. “With lots of good Irish history.”

  They cleared customs in good time and changed terminals. The much smaller plane that would take them to Rhode Island was already there and boarding. As they stepped onto the plane, Caer looked a little white again. “No champagne on this one, huh?” she whispered to Zach.

  He laughed. “No, but they do carry alcohol,” he whispered. She flushed.

  There was a row of single seats on one side of the aisle, with double seats on the other. Zach was once again next to Caer, with Amanda and Sean in front of them. Once again, Caer gripped the armrests as they took off.

  This time, when he set his hand on hers, she actually flashed him a smile of gratitude. It was a rocky flight; she was gripping his hand by the time they had been in the air for fifteen minutes.

  “This is a short flight at a lower altitude, and that’s why you’re feeling the air, plus it’s a much smaller plane, moving at a slower rate. But there’s nothing to fear. Think of it as if you were on the water. The air has waves, just like the sea, and we’re moving over those waves.”

  She nodded, but she didn’t let go of his hand.

  As he’d said, it was a short flight, and after they cleared the plane and collected their luggage, they climbed into the limo that was waiting for them. Zach handled the luggage—and there was a lot of it—with the driver, and at last, they were driving toward the house. Caer didn’t seem put off by the limo, Zach noticed. In fact, she seemed to love it. She seemed particularly enamored of the fact that there were bottles of water, soda and liquor in deep built-in wells.

  “I’ll have a water, if you don’t mind,” Sean said.

  “I’ll have a whiskey,” Amanda said, sounding bored.

  Caer handed Sean a water as Zach reached in and found a whiskey. “Want some ice with that?” he asked Amanda.

  “No way. Just hand over the bottle,” Amanda said. “I need something to get me ready to face the fury.”

  “She means Kat,” Sean explained to Caer dryly.

  Caer looked questioningly at Zach, who merely shrugged. “We all see the world in different ways,” he said lightly.

  “Of course we do, Mr. Flynn,” Amanda said irritably. “You, of course, have a vested interest in seeing her as an angel. She’s making him a mint,” Amanda explained to Caer, as if they were suddenly best friends.

  “Amanda, that’s not true,” Sean put in. “Kat is doing very well thanks to Zach managing her career. And he doesn’t need anyone to make him a mint—he, Aidan and Jeremy are doing extremely well with their investigation firm.” He turned to Caer. “Did you know he was a policeman in Miami? Now there’s a city you should see if you can stay in America a while after you’re done taking care of me. I don’t think I’m going to need a nurse for very long, you know.”

  “I certainly hope that’s true, but you do need a nurse right now,” she told him gravely.

  He smiled. “I know I need a nurse at least through the holidays,” he said, winking at Zach as if he were offering him a gift.

  Amanda sighed in impatience and looked out her window.

  As they entered Newport, Caer looked out at the long row of mansions, each decorated for the upcoming holiday stylishly and tastefully, but to the hilt. One tree was covered entirely in blinking lights of red and green, and she turned to Zach, a small smile on her face, and he couldn’t help but smile back, knowing they were sharing a memory of Amanda and her light-up breasts.

  The driver slowed down, and Zach watched Caer’s eyes fill with admiration as she caught her first sight of the house.

  The O’Riley place sat atop a hill on more than an acre of land. The rear of the house sloped gracefully down to the cliff walk. It had massive pillars, and a cupola with a widow’s walk. Painted white, it was simply beautiful and majestic. Because it was Christmas, a large crèche had been set up on the front lawn, and holly swags and evergreen boughs had been twined together and were wound around the pillars.

  Lights gleamed from within.

  Zach let himself out and stared up at the house. He saw someone staring down at them from one of the second-floor windows and
waved. It had to be Bridey.

  The front door opened, and Kat came racing down the walk. She was a redhead, with her hair cropped short, and she’d dramatically highlighted the color since the last time he’d seen her, so she looked like a ball of fire flying across the lawn.

  “Dad!” she cried. “Oh, Dad!”

  “Kitten,” Sean said in reply.

  For a moment Zach was afraid she might throw herself into her father’s arms and knock them both backward into the limo. But she stopped a foot away, took a breath and walked toward him before wrapping her arms around him carefully and gently.

  Sean held her as if she were the most precious being in the world.

  Then Amanda exited the car, slamming the door loudly, as if to make sure everyone knew she was there.

  “Hello, Kat,” she said coolly.

  Kat mumbled something against her father’s chest.

  “Such a loving child,” Amanda said with saccharine sweetness.

  Kat pulled away from her father. “Isn’t it lovely that he has one—and married one, too?”

  “Excuse me. We have visitors,” Sean said sternly.

  “Visitors? Kat, this is Miss Cavannaugh, the nurse your father hired in Ireland,” Amanda said. “And Zach is really family, isn’t he?”

  Kat looked at Caer, intrigued, as she offered her a hand. “How do you do? Welcome to Rhode Island.” She was obviously pleased that her father had found a gorgeous young nurse—one who irked her stepmother.

  “Thank you,” Caer said. “Lovely to meet you.”

  Even though the situation’s possibilities clearly pleased her, Kat couldn’t keep her attention from her father for long and turned back to him. “Dad, are you all right? Really?”

  “I am. Really. I have a bucket of pills that Caer makes me take, but other than that, I’m doing great. Now how about we go inside?”

  Kat slipped her arm through her father’s and started slowly toward the house.

  The limo driver was struggling with the luggage as Amanda brushed past Kat and Sean. Zach and Caer followed, and Zach saw Tom, the caretaker, come out to welcome his employer home. The two men embraced warmly; Sean had always earned not only loyalty but genuine affection from everyone who worked for him.

  After welcoming Sean home, Tom came forward to help with the bags, but Zach noticed him staring curiously at Caer.

  Zach nudged her and smiled. “You’ll like Tom. He’s originally from Ireland.”

  “Glad to see you got the boss home, well and fine,” Tom said, still staring curiously at Caer.

  Zach quickly made the necessary introductions.

  “A pleasure to meet you,” Tom said, and he clearly meant it.

  “It’s my pleasure to meet you, Tom,” Caer said.

  A few moments later they were in the hall, surrounded by noise and confusion. Clara, Tom’s wife, the housekeeper and cook, was going on about how glad she was that Mr. O’Riley had come home, Bridey was hugging Sean as warmly as Kat had hugged him earlier and exclaiming over the fact that he was alive and well. Cal, the junior partner, and Marni, his wife, were there, as well, welcoming the O’Rileys home and congratulating Sean on his narrow escape. Bridey was particularly happy to see Zach, her eyes widening with pleasure when she broke away from Sean and realized he was there. After a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, she said how glad she was, more than he would ever know, to see him.

  “All will be well now that you’re here,” she assured him.

  He suddenly felt the massive weight of responsibility, but he told himself that it was no different from the responsibility he’d laid on himself to get to the bottom of Eddie’s disappearance.

  Then Bridey noticed Caer, and her hand fluttered to her throat as she just stared.

  Caer stepped forward, offering her own hand. “How do you do? I’m Caer Cavannaugh. I’m Mr. O’Riley’s nurse.”

  Bridey was still staring. Then, as if operating purely on instinct, she accepted the handshake. “I know who you are,” she said.

  Was he the only one who found Bridey’s tone to be strange? Bridey was actually staring at Caer as if she were a ghost.

  “Has there been any sign of Eddie?” Sean asked Cal anxiously. “Have you talked to the cops?”

  “Nothing,” Cal said. “And yes.”

  “Maybe Eddie’s off on a secret adventure,” Marni offered. “Sean, you have to worry about yourself right now.”

  “And…Zach is here to look into things now,” Cal said. He was lanky, with a wiry strength and a pleasant face. He was handsome in a washed-out way, or maybe it was just that Marni had the look of a playful kitten. Her hair was a sable brown, long and lustrous, and her eyes were a deep matching brown. She was pretty, and so delicately built that she appeared smaller than her actual five-ten.

  Kat spoke up with concern in her voice. “Dad, you need to go right to bed. That was a long flight.”

  “Kat O’Riley, I’ve sense and a mind of my own,” Sean told his daughter, laughing.

  “And I can take care of getting my husband up to bed,” Amanda said.

  “Up? Oh, no,” Kat said firmly. “Clara and I set up a room down here for Dad until he’s feeling better.” She turned to Caer. “We’ve got you in a room on the first floor, too. It’s right by my father’s room, so you’ll be close if he needs you.”

  “I would prefer to take the room down here,” Amanda said.

  “Sweetheart, you keep our room warm and lived-in. I’ll be back up there before long,” Sean said. “I promise.”

  “Sean,” Amanda began.

  But Sean interrupted her firmly. “Amanda, I am feeling a bit tired. And I’m not sleeping well. I toss and turn at night, and you need your sleep. It will just be for a little while.”

  Marni breezed through the awkward moment, striding over to Caer and introducing herself and Cal.

  Marni was saying the right words, and she was smiling, but Zach could see that her eyes, as she scanned the newest member of the household, were not so welcoming.

  Cal, on the other hand, had genuine appreciation written all over his features as he stepped forward. “Welcome to the States. We’d heard Sean was bringing a nurse, but we never expected anyone quite so beautiful.”

  “Thank you,” Caer said.

  “I need to know what’s being done about Eddie,” Sean said firmly.

  “Detective Morrissey will be over in the morning to fill you in, Dad,” Kat said. “Now please, go to bed and try not to worry.”

  Sean started to speak, but Caer stepped in. “Your daughter’s right, Mr. O’Riley. You should lie down for a bit. And you have pills to take.”

  “Sean, do what she says. The business can’t afford for you to be laid up for long,” Cal said.

  “Cal!” Marni chastised. “Stop worrying the man. Sean will be just fine.”

  “Of course he will,” Bridey said. “Zach is here.” Then she turned to stare at Caer again.

  Once again, the weight of the world seemed to settle on Zach’s shoulders.

  “I just know someone attacked Eddie, and that…oh, God, Zach,” Kat said miserably. “He’s dead. I’m sure of it. I already didn’t like the idea of my father heading across the Atlantic with that woman, and then it seemed like such a bad omen when Eddie didn’t show.”

  The two of them were alone in the kitchen, sitting at the round breakfast table overlooking the water with its trail of reflected moonlight.

  “Kat, I spoke with his doctors. They found no trace of poison.” Zach sat back, wondering why he was defending Amanda when she had showed up at the hospital, all decked out in her electric underwear, to lure a sick man into a wild romp that she must have known could kill him.

  Admit it, he told himself. You just don’t think she’s smart enough to come up with a poison not even the doctors in one of Dublin’s best hospitals could discover.

  Kat sat back, staring at him, shaking her head. “She’s even gotten to you,” she said with disgust.

  “No,
no, no. I promise you, she hasn’t.”

  But she was still looking at him doubtfully. “Zach, come on. Eddie disappears and my father winds up in a hospital in Ireland the next day, and you don’t find that suspicious?”

  “I find it very suspicious. Particularly because they had barely arrived when he got sick.”

  “So you think my father was poisoned here? Before he left?” Kat demanded.

  “Kat, I told you. There’s no proof that he was poisoned at all,” he said firmly, then rose. “Look, Kat, it’s nearly midnight. I’d be over seeing Detective Morrissey right now if it weren’t. I’ll get on it first thing in the morning. But if you love your father, don’t go throwing accusations at anyone until you have some kind of proof. Whatever the reason, he chose to marry Amanda, and he is of sound mind.”

  Kat sniffed. “Not when it comes to her.”

  “Don’t cause friction that will create more tension for him,” Zach said firmly, staring hard at her.

  She stood, as well, distracted, picking up the cups they had used for their late-night tea and their private chat. She had seen Cal and Marni off to their own place, and made sure that her father was sleeping, with Caer in the room beside his, that Amanda and Bridey were upstairs in their own bedrooms, and that Clara and Tom had left for the cottage out back, before they had settled down together. She was trying very hard not to flat out rage against Amanda, but she couldn’t keep her antipathy entirely in check.

  “All right,” she agreed now.

  “I mean it, Kat. He loves you, and he loves Amanda. Don’t make him struggle to keep the peace.”

  “I won’t,” she promised. “As long as you promise you won’t stop until you get to the bottom of this.” She laughed suddenly, almost carefree for a moment. “Where did you find Caer?”

  “I didn’t find her. She was your father’s nurse when I arrived.”

  “I love it, oh, God, I love it!” She giggled and caught his hands. “Did you see Marni’s face when Cal couldn’t stop looking at her? And Amanda’s about to burst! She thinks she’s so hot, but put her next to Caer and she looks like a bleached-out pile of plastic. I must say, I am going to enjoy having her in the house.”