by Alice Sharpe
“The saleswoman said he was on his way home from a trip to Vegas.”
Kate rubbed her forehead again. The mention of Las Vegas threw her; she hadn’t heard the saleswoman say anything about Vegas….
“Danny liked to play cards,” she mumbled.
“He was a gambler?”
She nodded.
“Did he go often?”
A surge of bitterness all but lifted her off the seat. She said, “Danny did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. He loved to fly. That little plane was his passion. Well, that and gambling. He was the only child of wealthy people with his own money, thanks mostly to his grandfather’s trust. After college, Danny didn’t seem to have a single goal in life except to fritter away his money, none of which he’d actually earned himself.”
“Oh, Grace,” Mac murmured, probably in reaction to the acerbic tone of her voice. He didn’t seem to notice he’d used the wrong name.
But even Kate was having a hard time thinking of herself as Kate and not Grace, especially sitting next to Mac. Talking about Danny, remembering the good times before the stress of the bad times, made the old feeling of despair reappear behind her chest bone.
But more than that she realized she liked being Grace better. Grace was a blank page with a million opportunities. Kate had baggage.
Tears welled in her eyes. Kate also had Charlie and Harry, and they were all that mattered. Her feelings, Mac’s feelings, the truth—none of that meant a thing, not when compared to the needs of Charlie and Harry.
And what they needed was what she needed: to be together.
“Danny couldn’t seem to understand how much I just wanted him to…care,” she said softly.
“So why did you stick around?” Mac asked, wearing his inscrutable cop face.
Already aware of how flaky she must sound to Mac, she felt reluctant to admit that she’d been about to leave Danny when he died. She’d been plotting it in secret, waiting for the right time. How did she confess this to a man whose wife had scribbled him a note as she ran out the door with her new boyfriend?
She mumbled something about the children.
“What about Danny’s family?”
“His dad is a doctor in Boward Key. The doctor, if you know what I mean. He grew up poor in Chicago, then moved south after becoming a physician. He married Paula Boward, the only daughter of a land developer responsible for all sorts of things up and down the Florida Keys. Boward Key is named after Paula’s grandfather.”
“What’s she like?”
“She’s a Southern girl from the old school, the stand-by-your-man type. A little wishy-washy, but I think she truly loves her husband. Everyone loves Dr. Priestly. And he knows it, too.” She wasn’t sure why, but as she’d talked about Danny’s father, she’d felt a tightening in her vocal cords as though someone was choking her.
Mac’s gaze flicked to the rearview mirror. He finally said, “Grace—I mean, Kate—hold on a moment. What happened to you? How did you end up in Billington?”
“I don’t have the slightest idea,” she said, which was the truth.
“Think back. You and your husband were having marital trouble. Then he died. What did you do?”
“Nothing,” she said. Nothing but covertly plot an escape. Nothing but wait for probate to clear so you could get the hell out of Florida. Biting the inside of her cheek, she said, “I thought about going up to Oregon. I haven’t seen my dad or Tom in five or six years.”
“You didn’t want to stay near your in-laws?”
“No,” she said. Her head began to throb again and her throat felt tighter than ever. Deciding what not to say was as hard as deciding what to say.
“You’re not close to Danny’s parents,” Mac said.
“No, I’m not.”
“Why exactly?”
“Why?” She pressed her fingers against her forehead. “Because Dr. Priestly hates me.”
There it was, out in the open, and still she felt no better. Having said it, she now realized she had to explain it. Very carefully, she said, “I wasn’t exactly the kind of woman Dr. Priestly had in mind for his one and only son.”
“He disapproved of you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Oh, Mac, does it matter? I don’t think anyone would have been good enough for his little boy. Certainly not a girl like me, with no education and no money of my own—I just wasn’t good enough for a Priestly, that’s all.”
“And he told you this?”
She shrugged. “When Danny and I would argue, he’d retaliate by telling me how his dad felt about me. Dr. Priestly wanted Danny to divorce me, even after I became pregnant. And then Paula sometimes told me things he’d said, to try to explain his behavior, I guess…let’s just say I was very aware of his feelings about me.”
Mac looked properly incensed, which warmed her heart.
“And things just got worse after Danny died,” she added, “because then there was money to worry about. Oh, not like in the old days, when I supported myself, or as though there was never enough. The problem after Danny died was that there was too much. Trust funds for the boys, assets, stocks, land deeds…money I suspect the Priestlys believe I have no right to. It’s a mess.”
“Money is a great motivation for all kinds of mayhem,” Mac said.
Kate grew wistful. “For two years, all I wanted was to get out of there. It looks like I got my wish, doesn’t it? Now all I want is to get back.”
Mac kept his gaze straight ahead. He said, “So, tell me the very last thing you remember.”
She worked on organizing her thoughts, picturing the day over a week before when she’d taken the boys to see their grandmother. “I remember being at my in-laws’ house,” she began slowly, wanting very much to get it right. “It’s close by. The boys and I took the shell path down by the water. They like to throw rocks. My father-in-law was supposed to be away at a medical conference in Orlando.”
“So, you remember walking to your in-laws’ house, that’s it?”
“Yes. No, wait, there’s more,” she said uneasily, memories pummeling her brain now like flashes from a strobe light. She rubbed her eyes. The past was not only coming back, it was beginning to taunt her. As her thoughts morphed into words, some of the pressure in her head seemed to dissipate; she talked fast, her heart racing.
“Paula was there,” she said. “She was…distraught. She said Dr. Priestly thought I was responsible for Danny’s death! He told her that if Danny had loved me more, he wouldn’t have had to fly away so often. I was hurt, of course. I tried to explain about gambling addictions, but she was crying by then. We were standing on the stairs and then Dr. Priestly was there…”
She trailed off because the memories had collided with one another and left a huge, black hole.
“So the doctor wasn’t at a conference after all?”
“No. I don’t know.” She closed her eyes completely, and once again saw Danny leaning over her with a needle.
Danny with his gray eyes—
No! Not Danny.
She gasped. “It was Dr. Priestly who attacked me, Mac. Not Danny. Daniel Priestly. I must have said something about moving away, I don’t know for sure, but I can remember the expression in his eyes.” She shuddered with the memory of the glacial indifference that had stared right through her.
Mac made a noise in his throat. “Your father-in-law! Are you sure, Kate?”
Was she sure? “I think so,” she said, tears welling in her eyes as panic rose in her throat. “Yes. Mac, the children must be with him and Paula. Hurry.”
MAC TRIED not to glance too often at Grace—not Grace, not Grace…Kate—but the former cop in him was having trouble with her story.
Or would it be more accurate to state that the former cop in him was having trouble with her?
Who was this woman?
Why did she skip over the details of her past?
He had to admit that her evasiveness disturbed him. In the
last few days, he’d come to admire what he’d seen as her innate honesty. He thought they’d developed a kind of mutual trust unlike any he’d ever shared with a woman. All that seemed to be crumbling now. He hated the doubts about her story that were beginning to take a stranglehold on his mind.
Had he built his reality of her on shifting sand?
He put aside what he hoped was rash disappointment and concentrated on what Kate had said, and what she’d said about her father-in-law was troubling mainly because, in Mac’s opinion, it was so improbable.
Why, for instance, would a well-respected man—a physician—attack his dead son’s wife? What would be the purpose? Because he didn’t want her taking his grandchildren out of state?
If the old guy really thought Kate was unsuitable to raise his grandchildren, he’d hire a slew of lawyers and go to court to prove it, wouldn’t he?
For money?
If the gambling son had money, it figured the parents had even more, didn’t it? Besides, hurting Kate wouldn’t help them get her share. Even if she died, whatever was hers would revert to her children.
Kate was still sitting forward in her seat, her hands twisted around the shoulder harness.
“We’ll go to the police, first,” Mac said. “You need to file a complaint. If you’re sure your father-in-law moved you between states, that’s a matter for the FBI.”
“No,” she said with conviction. “Absolutely not.”
“Listen, Kate—”
“I said no. Boward Key is named after my mother-in-law’s grandfather, for heaven’s sake. I told you Dr. Priestly is well-known—but that’s just part of it. He’s well-loved, too. No one else sees him the way I do.”
Mac felt a renewed sense of alarm as Kate talked. She sounded paranoid. He said, “Okay, first we’ll go to Dr. Priestly’s house and knock on the door. We’ll find out what’s going on.”
Her response was immediate. “We can’t just knock on the door. I told you, Dr. Priestly attacked me. I can’t just go waltzing into his house—”
“You won’t go waltzing into his house,” Mac interrupted. “I’ll go.”
“No.”
“Then we’ll call your mother-in-law and talk to her. Get the lay of the land. See if she can tell us what’s going on.”
“That’s better,” Kate said slowly, and he was relieved. She sounded reasonable again.
A moment later, she shattered this perception. “If it’s true Dr. Priestly attacked me, then he’s guilty of breaking all sorts of laws, right? He’ll try to cover his tracks. He’ll never admit he did anything wrong. So, he won’t just hand me back my babies, not when he almost killed me to get them in the first place.
“So this is what we’ll do. We’ll wait until bedtime. Paula will put the boys to sleep upstairs. Gloria, their maid, sleeps in the next room, but she’s a heavy sleeper. You’re clever, you know about things like this. You figure out how to get into their house and we’ll take my boys. It won’t be against the law, they’re my children. Then you can help the three of us disappear!”
Mac was thoroughly alarmed by the craziness of Kate’s scheme. Had she been this erratic just a few hours ago before all these memories started coming back? And how many of the memories could be depended on? She was obviously distraught. Despite his growing apprehension, his heart went out to her.
“You’re talking about breaking and entering,” he said, struggling to keep his voice calm, hoping if he acted sensible, she would too. “Can you imagine how terrified your kids would be if we tried a stunt like this? Think, Kate.”
“I’ll be there with you,” she said. “They’re not scared of me.”
Mac shook his head. “Kate,” he said gently, “let’s take this one logical step at a time. Let’s not borrow trouble. I know you think your father-in-law is the cause of all your current troubles, but you don’t know that for sure.”
“I do, though, Mac! I remember—”
“But your memory isn’t reliable,” he said. “At first, you thought it was your husband who drugged you. Now, you think it’s your father-in-law.”
“I know it’s him!”
“Grace—”
“Kate!” she snapped.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry I keep getting your name confused.”
She stared at him in response.
“Honey, independent of who did what, there is at least one man with a big gun following us, and he isn’t your father-in-law or anyone else you recognize, right?”
“You mean our Elvis impersonator.”
“Exactly. The man who spared us. The man who shot at your would-be abductor back in Macon. And don’t forget him, either. We don’t know if he’s dead or alive.”
He saw her hand fly to her throat and he knew the memory of that knife blade still haunted her.
He added, “You told me Elvis said to go home. He said someone or something called B.O. wanted you back in Florida. If your father-in-law shipped you out, why would he send a man with a knife to bring you back? It doesn’t make sense.”
Eventually she said, “You’re right. It doesn’t.”
“We just don’t know for sure what’s going on,” he reasoned, “but breaking the law right off the bat is overkill. Trust me, okay?”
Her answer this time took even longer to come, but finally he heard her whisper, “Okay.”
Just in time, too, as a big sign on the side of the road had just welcomed them to Boward Key.
MAC PULLED INTO the parking lot of a convenience store and turned off the engine. Kate reminded him of a boiling tea kettle, almost levitating from her seat with anxiety, hands shaking with pent-up emotion and nerves. Any second now and she’d start whistling.
“Now what?” she said.
“Now we need a plan.”
“Then you believe me?”
He hedged by counting things off on his fingers. “If things are as you remember them, Kate, then this is what we know. One, your mother-in-law is grief-stricken. Two, your father-in-law lost his marbles and attacked you. You still don’t remember the time between seeing them both and being under attack, is that right?”
“Yes,” she admitted.
“So we don’t know how you got to Billington, we don’t even know for sure where your children are. Let’s go to your house,” he continued. “Let’s make sure your kids aren’t there. For instance, do they have a nanny?”
“Of course not. They have a mother. What would they need a nanny for?”
“I don’t know, I just thought rich people had nannies.”
“Not me.”
What he was hoping was that someone—a nanny, a gardener, a neighbor, anyone—would be around Kate’s house and that that person would recognize her and corroborate some of her story.
“Nellie,” Kate said softly. “I’ve forgotten completely about Nellie.”
“And Nellie is—”
“The housekeeper. What day of the week is it?”
“Tuesday—”
“Then she’ll be there even if the children aren’t. Probably.”
Another thought struck Mac. “Kate, what’s the last calendar date you recall?”
She wrinkled her brow. Her blue eyes looked fathomless to Mac. She was so lovely that he yearned to take her in his arms. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe her, he told himself, it was just all so complicated. She finally said, “January ninth. I took the kids to see their grandma on January ninth. I remember because it was the two-month anniversary of Danny’s crash.”
“Today is the eighteenth. You’ve been gone over a week.”
“And you found me when, a couple of days ago?”
“No, more like five days ago.”
Her frown deepened as though time had gotten away from her. He added, “It took us four days to get down here, but of course, we slept through most of one twenty-four hour period.”
“And we spent hours today getting my hair dyed and going to L’Hippocampe.”
“Exactly. So,
say it took someone a couple of days to drive you to Billington, where were you for the two days preceding that?”
She shook her head. “What does it matter?” she said at last, obviously frustrated.
“I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on.”
“Just get my babies back for me, then we’ll figure out what happened to me. I have money, I know that now, so you will get paid.”
Now he was frustrated. “This isn’t about money,” he snapped.
“Of course it is. You’re a private eye, I’m a wealthy widow due to inherit even more. Now drive me to my house and help me or I’ll find someone who will!”
She shocked him with that statement and he stared at her as though she was a stranger because suddenly, that’s exactly what she was.
Her eyes filled with tears as she studied his face. Reaching across the seat, she touched his cheek with trembling fingers. “I’m sorry, Mac. I just don’t understand why we’re wasting time in this parking lot. Please, take me to my house. It’s down the road a ways, I’ll show you how to get there. Maybe my in-laws hired Nellie to stay and care for my boys. Maybe I’m all screwed up and Charlie and Harry are playing in their own yard waiting for Mommy to come home. I just don’t know anymore. Please, please help me.”
He put his hand over hers and kissed her palm, breathing in the scent of her for a moment, her skin soft and fragrant against his lips.
And he thought.
Was she as confused as she sounded? Did she really believe the words she spoke? Had she abandoned the idea that her father-in-law had attacked her and carted her off to Billington, Indiana?
He lowered her hand and looked into her eyes. He saw the woman he’d come close to making love to, the woman who needed him, the woman he felt he’d known for half a lifetime instead of a few days.
The woman who was now the most singularly important person in his life. Talk about cruising for heartbreak. He could feel it in his bones, as if he had a trick knee that warned of impending storms.
Hurricane Grace.
Kate. Hurricane Kate.
He started the car and followed her directions.