The old lady chuckled and squeezed Gemma’s fingers. “Oh, my, sometimes I feel like one around here. And my children would probably prefer that I be a ghost. But believe me, I’m very much alive.”
“Thank goodness,” Gemma finally caught her breath.
“Now you look as pale as a ghost,” Simone said. “Are you going to be okay?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Gemma said. She’d heard plenty of rumors about Mrs. Northlake, but never met her. “It’s so nice to meet you,” Gemma said, wondering if Simone knew about the rumors.
“Are you here for one of the conventions?” Mrs. Northlake asked.
“Yes,” Gemma said and quickly produced one of her business cards from her jacket pocket. “My name is Gemma Stone. I’m with HealthGems.”
“You look too pretty and too smart to get involved with that science fiction crowd,” Mrs. Northlake said, slipping Gemma’s card into the mesh bag.
“I promise I’ll stay as far away from that as I can get,” Gemma assured her. “Those zombies scare the life out of me.”
“Me, too,” Mrs. Northlake said with a soft laugh. “Will you be staying with us the whole weekend?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well I hope you enjoy your stay.”
“I will, I’m sure,” Gemma said.
The doorway to the sci-fi convention hall flew open hard enough to bounce back against the wall. Loud voices reached the two women. Before the door slammed closed again, Gemma saw the man dressed in a dark military uniform marching away from them, his gait quick and angry. She caught a glimpse of silver hair and heard the briefcase bumping rhythmically against his leg.
“I’d better get back to my table,” Gemma said. Then she noted that Mrs. Northlake looked a little distressed. “Unless you’d like for me to stay with you here until...?”
Until what? Gemma didn’t know how to finish the sentence. She wanted to help the poor woman, but she couldn’t just stand here all day, either.
But Mrs. Northlake composed herself quickly and waved Gemma’s words aside with one small hand. “I’ll be fine. This has been my home for over fifty years. I’ve never been afraid here and I doubt I ever will be. Now, quick, give me a hug and you get back to your convention.”
Gemma hugged the tiny woman, thinking that she didn’t feel nearly as fragile as she looked. At least now she knew that at least one of the rumors about Mrs. Northlake was true - she was known for her warm, friendly hugs.
Gemma inhaled her lavender scent and thought it would be interesting to do some research, maybe even have a longer talk with the elderly woman about her life. All Gemma knew was that Simone had married Winter Northlake and moved here to his ancestral home in Virginia. Did she really grow up in France? The little lilt in her speech made Gemma think so.
“Mother, what are you doing?”
Both Gemma and Simone turned toward the sound of the voice. A stern looking woman who looked to be in her mid-fifties marched toward them down the darkened hall.
“Ms. Stone, this is my daughter, Victoria Northlake,” Simone made the introductions with a wave of one pale hand.
“And you are...” Victoria looked Gemma up and down, her nose wrinkled.
“She is a guest here,” Simone snapped, meeting her daughter’s gaze.
Victoria merely nodded and under the dim light, Gemma saw that the woman was dressed in business attire. Her face was as cold as her voice had been earlier and her hair was pulled back to a severe bun at the nape of her neck. She looked nothing like her mother.
“My daughter runs the hotel here at Northlake Manor. If you need anything at all, you let her know,” Mrs. Northlake said and pushed past Gemma into the ladies room.
“Thank you, Mrs. Northlake,” Gemma called after her.
Gemma and Victoria exchanged brief, cold smiles and Gemma hurried away thinking that the temperature dropped about ten degrees after Simone disappeared into the restroom. That confirmed yet another rumor for her; things were not always what they appeared to be in the Northlake family.
“I was afraid you’d gotten kidnapped,” Holly said when Gemma returned to their table.
“Well, I sort of got lost and then I saw a ghost and...”
“A ghost?”
Gemma laughed. “Actually it was Simone Northlake.”
Holly made a face. “I’ve heard that she’s a monster to her employees.”
Shaking her head, Gemma said. “I don’t think so. I think we’re hearing about her daughter, Victoria. From what I just saw, having her as a boss would scare me almost as much as those zombies.”
Holly laughed and, after getting directions from Gemma, scurried away to the bathroom.
"What beautiful jewelry."
Gemma looked up into the face of the older man in the elaborate dress uniform she’d seen earlier in the sci-fi room. Silver stars shone brightly along his epaulets – four of them. She wasn’t sure, but thought that made him a four-star general. She hadn’t been able to see him well before, but now he appeared to be much older than she first thought, certainly retired military. The stars on his his thick silver hair contrasted with his deep tan and the black, neatly trimmed mustache that hid his upper lip. From his calm demeanor, he seemed to have recovered from his argument with the guy at the book table.
"Thank you," Gemma said.
"The only thing prettier at this table is you," he added with a smile and a wink.
Gemma felt heat creeping up her cheeks.
"My name is Loden West," he said, handing Gemma a thick business card which read West Industries and underneath that, Loden West, Founder. "I’m retired military, but now I run my own enterprise. Tell me about your product."
Gemma explained HealthGems, their origin and purpose and how they fit into a healthy lifestyle, from the heart rate monitors to the bio-rhythm feedback pieces to the whole line for diabetics. The longer she talked, the more excited she became about the weekend ahead. "I have a Power Point presentation that I let run in a loop on the laptop here that might explain it better. And we’ve got a few new items in development especially geared toward encouraging people to move more throughout their day,” Gemma told him as she opened her computer and turned it so he could see the screen.
He had quietly watched about half the slides when Holly appeared and Gemma introduced her as their designer.
"I was just telling your friend here the jewelry was so beautiful and now I’ve learned that it’s practical as well," he said, and there was that look again as if he was beaming at two precocious daughters. "It outshines the technology inside, which is an innovative idea."
"Thank you, sir," Holly said with a smile.
"Loden West," he said, shaking Holly's hand.
"Here's one of our cards," Gemma told him, reaching into her jacket pocket. It was empty. She’d given the last one to Mrs. Northlake. She grabbed one off the stack, paused a moment to remember her new cell number and scribbled it on the back. They hadn't had time to get new cards printed.
The general took her card and then asked. "Would you consider selling?"
"Selling?" they both said together.
"HealthGems," he said, motioning toward the table. "I buy fledgling businesses and contact my interested investors, giving them a much needed financial boost. It would certainly make you proud to see HealthGems on the Fortune 500 list."
"Yes, sir. That would make us proud, but...” Gemma said, glancing at Holly. She was pretty sure her friend was in agreement. "I’m thinking we’d like to make that happen ourselves.”
“Oh, but you could stay on as management,” General West put in quickly.
Gemma thought he no longer looked like the proud, reserved military man she’d been talking to. In fact, he was beginning to look like some sort of slick salesman.
“No, thank you. We’re not interested,” Holly said, meeting the general with an unflinching gaze. “At some point we might be, but not right-.”
"Well, when you change your mind, you have my ca
rd," he snapped, cutting her off. "I’m sure we could work something out," he added with a shrug of his broad shoulders.
"I doubt we will," Holly said quickly. "But if we do, we'll let you know."
General Loden West was already walking away from them, after one last angry look.
"Why would a retired four star general turn up at a fitness convention? Or a science fiction convention, for that matter?” Gemma asked as they watched him walk away.
“Who knows, but I recognize that name from somewhere. I’m just not sure where,” Holly said.
Gemma shuddered. “I have a feeling he’s up to no good.”
Chapter Three
“And when did you become such a man magnet?" Holly teased. "Every time I look at you today, you've got some guy hanging around."
"Some guys I don’t mind, but that one was old enough to be my grandpa," Gemma said, turning her attention to her laptop again.
"Still..." Holly said and looked Gemma up and down as if appraising her outfit. "We could put you in some hot pink spandex and..."
Gemma burst into laughter.
“Oh, I saw Nick out in the lobby,” Holly told Gemma. “He was with some huge guy in a green costume.”
“Like the Incredible Hulk?” Gemma asked, rolling her eyes.
“Yeah, you would have thought he was twelve years old the way he was acting,” Holly said. Both of them giggled.
Gemma had seen that boyish, child-like side of Nick often, even after they had become adults. It was one of the things she loved about him.
“Smile.”
Both Holly and Gemma turned to find themselves staring right at Nick and his photographer from the newspaper. He talked them into posing for a few more and then began telling them excitedly about the magical cane someone had invented and was showing off at the sci-fi convention.
“A cane?” That was Holly.
“Yeah,” Nick said and in his excitement began to explain. “It’s called steampunk, modeled after the Victorian era, but full of fantastical machines and gadgets.”
Gemma remembered seeing a man in a long coat and a top hat with a cane. “I just thought it was another costume. But then I thought that general was just a guy in costume as well.”
“He’s not,” Nick said, suddenly serious.
Holly shook her head and Gemma handed Nick his card.
“Loden West – he stopped by here a few minutes ago. I think the uniform makes him a retired four star general from the United States Army,” Holly explained.
“And he tried to buy HealthGems,” Gemma added.
Nick looked up at them wide-eyed. “You’re not considering...”
Both women were shaking their heads. “Not in a million years,” Gemma answered.
“Good, because General Loden West is a con artist.”
“He’s not really military?”
“Oh, he’s military alright, retired. A four-star general, like you guessed. But he’s been involved in several schemes where he buys businesses, gets investors to pump money into it and then, somehow, it takes a nose dive,” Nick explained.
“Right into his back pocket?” Holly asked.
Nick nodded.
“I saw him in a very heated discussion over on the other side with a guy with some books,” Gemma offered.
“Hard to tell what that was all about,” Nick said. “Promise me you’ll stay away from him and I’ll do a little snooping to see if I can figure out why he’s here.”
“We promise,” Holly said and Gemma chimed in.
Nick moved in to give Gemma a quick hug and kissed her forehead. “Hey since we’re both going to be here all weekend, we might as well share a room,” he whispered.
“This is a working weekend,” Gemma reminded him with little smile as she pushed him gently away.
“Nick, I just saw Spider Man,” the photographer shouted and pointed toward the lobby.
Nick was off like a shot, Gemma, Holly and the general all forgotten.
Besides being hungry at lunch time, Gemma was anxious to get out from behind the table. Greeting customers and telling their story over and over was something she grew tired of quickly, while Holly seemed to thrive on it. She waited until the steady traffic slowed and then offered to go over to the restaurant and get them a sandwich. Holly thought that was a fine idea.
The restaurant wasn’t quite as ornate as the front lobby. In fact, Gemma thought it looked a little run down. The carpet was threadbare in some places and she noted that one or two of the stools at the bar had small tears in the leather. Even though the place was practically empty, the waitress who took her order seemed quite nervous and kept looking over her shoulder.
“Is everything okay?” Gemma asked.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry. Everything is fine,” the waitress said, taking the last of the order. She turned and walked toward the kitchen disappearing behind two swinging doors.
Moments later, Gemma heard shouting. She could only make out a few words but it was obvious who was doing the shouting - Victoria Northlake. And from what Gemma could hear, the shouting was aimed at the waitress and the kitchen staff. Gemma winced when she heard glass shatter and wondered if she should leave. Before she could make that decision, though, General West and a tall man with jet black hair came out of a door on the far side of the restaurant.
The shouting in the kitchen had grown louder and more irate, and the tall man was looking in that direction as they walked past Gemma’s table.
“But Benjamin...,” the general was saying.
“I told you, Loden, I don’t have time to talk right now. As you can hear, I have some issues in the kitchen and we’re expecting a large party for dinner tonight,” the man named Benjamin said, his tone as cold and clipped as the look on his lean face.
Neither man seemed to notice Gemma but she knew, without a doubt, that the man named Benjamin was Victoria’s older brother.
“It wouldn’t take long and I could be on my way...”
“We have a meeting time set up with both Vince and Victoria and you’ll just have to wait until then to discuss all of the details. This involves all three of us,” Benjamin shot back. Turning on his heel, he left the general standing by the bar and headed for the kitchen where it had grown suddenly, eerily quiet.
Loden West stalked past her without a glance in her direction.
Gemma sat there for a moment, not quite sure what to do. Just as she decided she should probably leave, the waitress appeared with her sandwiches and drinks in brown bags. Her face was tear stained.
“Is everything okay?” Gemma asked, instinctively keeping her voice soft.
The young woman sniffed and swiped at her eyes. “Just a typical day here at Northlake Manor.”
“I’m sorry,” Gemma said, wishing she knew something else to say or do to make it better. She dug in her purse for a tip and handed it over with a sympathetic smile, then headed back to their booth.
Gemma and Holly ate their lunch between customers while Gemma reported to Holly what she had seen and heard.
“There are clearly some issues with the family here,” Holly said. “I wonder if Mitch knows any good gossip.”
Gemma’s cell chimed and she pulled it out of her pocket to see that it was a message from Ross. She smiled, quickly texted him back and then looked up to see Holly watching her.
“Well?” Holly said, lifting one perfectly arched dark brow.
“He was just reminding me of dinner tonight,” Gemma said.
“Like you were going to forget,” Holly teased.
“I might,” Gemma said.
“I don’t think so. What else did the good detective have to remind you of?” Holly asked, her grin growing wider.
Gemma grinned as well. She hadn’t felt this giddy, this excited about a man, in a long time. It might be time to think a little harder about her relationships with both Nick and Ross. Nervous energy surged through her. “Listen, I’m going to go get our room keys.”
“Oka
y,” Holly said. “I’ll let you off the hook this time but...”
Still smiling, Gemma headed toward the lobby again, which was even busier than it had been earlier in the day. She moved to the end of the long line in front of the desk. Mrs. Northlake was standing near the huge wrought iron doors of the lobby, greeting guests with warm hugs and a generous, welcoming smile. Victoria Northlake stood behind the counter, arms folded across her chest, her cold glare moving from her mother to the employees frantically working to get everyone checked in in a timely manner.
“Well, Loden West.” That was Mrs. Northlake, her soft French accent clearly audible.
“Simone, my dear, you’re looking well,” the general said.
Gemma glanced over her shoulder to see Mrs. Northlake. The woman’s gaze had gone dull, and she didn’t offer the general a hug. Simone was so tiny compared to him that they looked almost silly standing together. She was still carrying the mesh basket and Gemma could see what looked like balls of yarn inside. They reminded her of another fact about Mrs. Northlake - she loved to knit and was often seen knitting on one of the big porticos or even in the lobby of the hotel. Her mother had knitted, and Gemma had the fleeting thought that she could ask Mrs. Northlake to teach her how.
“What brings you out here?” Mrs. Northlake was saying.
But Victoria Northlake chose that moment to add verbal abuse to her cold scrutiny of one of the employees behind the counter. Gemma whirled around at the commotion. It was obvious that Victoria was quickly losing control of her temper. Gemma had never seen anything escalate so quickly.
“Victoria.” A man said her name loudly, commanding everyone’s attention. Gemma watched as a heavy-set man maneuvered her from behind the counter with a firm grip on her elbow.
This had to be Vincent, another one of Victoria’s brothers. As far as she knew there were three Northlake children. A murmur went through the crowd as Victoria stalked away from the area, guided none too gently by her brother. Gemma glanced around just in time to see Simone Northlake hurrying after them. She did not look happy, either.
Now, not only was the room crowded and hot, but there were several hushed conversations going on at the same time. The line inched forward slowly.
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