A Dizzying Balance

by Harriet E Rich

  Chapter Eighteen

  She slept not at all that night. Pacing the room, she again went over everything that had happened since the light fell on the sound stage. Then trying to relax, she stretched out on the bed, but the ceiling seemed low and the walls too close. Finally, she wrapped her cape around her and crept down to the sunroom.

  Carrying a chair out onto the terrace, she placed it where she could see out over the trees but also into the darkened room. Aces and Eights came to mind as she sat with a grim look. If there was danger to her tonight, it would come from the house, and she wouldn’t sit with her back to it.

  For weeks, she’d wondered and worried about the people close to her, only being able to guess at each one’s possible motives, but each time she thought through the list, David’s seemed strongest. Remembering those vile letters, she shivered in the warm night air. Someone hated her, or him, enough to write those hurtful lies, and if the intent had been to drive a wedge of disillusion and mistrust between them, then that someone had succeeded. At the dock, when she’d tried to speak of love, he had made it clear that what he wanted from her was the land sale that her vote would give him. With the black water behind her and his hands around her throat, she had been very frightened. Should she yield to his threat and give him the majority that he would need at the stockholders’ meeting? If he was the one trying to kill her and all he wanted was her stock, then she would be safe. But if he wanted his freedom as well, without the disastrous financial impact of a divorce, the danger to her would still exist and she would have sacrificed the forest for nothing.

  He could also gain the needed votes by Anna’s death, and she could think of no other reason why the little girl might be a target, but Rick had been right. David would never endanger his daughter.

  Saturday, while drawing with Anna, she had casually asked if anyone had known that she was planning to hide on the sailboat. Anna had been working on her sketch in that delightful way children have of sticking out their tongues when concentrating and had simply shaken her head.

  “Did you talk about sailing to anyone?”

  “Everyone was talking about the boat and how you were going to go out.”

  “When was this?”

  “At breakfast.”

  Jen had handed her a blue crayon. “They were talking about it?”

  “Yes, and I said, ‘Wasn’t I old enough to go, too?’ and Daddy said he didn’t think so, but everyone else said I was.”

  “Try the red one in that space … okay, purple would be good, also. Everyone?”

  “Ummm. Uncle Roger and Uncle Rick and Uncle Brad and Uncle Tony.”

  “Goodness, you have a lot of uncles!”

  “Oh, I know that Uncle Roger is my only real uncle, but Daddy says it’s more polite.”

  “I don’t remember seeing Tony when I came down. You were right, that purple is better.”

  “He said he had something to pick up, but Aunt Danni said she knew he just came for breakfast because Sam cooks better than he does. Could I have the black one, please?”

  Jen handed it to her. “Was Mrs. Grider there, do you remember?”

  “Uh uh, I don’t think so. I think that’s when Daddy walked away to ask her something about Grandmother.”

  “Then it was your own idea to sneak onto the boat.”

  Anna nodded. “Somebody said what fun it would be to go sailing on such a nice day and that I was old enough to learn and I was going to ask you, but I was afraid you’d say no.”

  “Somebody? Do you remember who?”

  But she had simply shrugged and held up her drawing for Jen’s inspection.

  Apparently, no one had suggested it to Anna as a prank, and if anyone had been subtle enough to put the idea into her head with the others there, it could only have been Brad. Tony was about as subtle as a sledgehammer. Roger gained nothing from her death. And if Rick had a motive, he was keeping it well hidden.

  The sky had lightened. The stars were shimmering among the high clouds and the occasional calls of night birds had changed to songbirds’ lilting melodies and the raucous caws of a crow. Jen lifted the chair into the sunroom. Carefully closing the door behind her, she went silently back to her room. It had been two weeks since the boating accident and although nothing had happened since, she couldn’t continue to risk her own life, and possibly Anna’s as well, by doing nothing. It was time for some sort of action.

  The house was still asleep when she finished dressing. Going quietly out to her office, she put everything she needed into her attaché case and drove to the studio. One of the first to arrive, she got a cup of coffee from the cafeteria and carried it up to the almost empty top floor. She’d hung up the phone and was sitting at her desk looking out over the city when Mort tapped lightly on her open door.

  “Hi, Jennette. You left a message that you wanted to see me? Legal questions at this hour of the morning are usually bad news, not good.”

  She waved him in. “Close the door, please, and sit down.” Opening her case, she took out the two blue envelopes. “This is confidential, of course, but it’s also personal rather than company-related, so no one else is to know. No one. I want to talk about some changes to this document. And I want you to draw up a new will for me.”

  When Mort had left, she swiveled back to stare out the window, thinking about Brad and about Aaron.

  It had been at Brad’s suggestion, practically at his insistence, that she’d agreed to take the boat out. He had been talking about sailing while Anna was listening and susceptible to any hints about hiding in the boat. And he stood to gain from Anna’s death because under the terms of her trust, if she died, the Kenting stock would revert to David. It had always been obvious that Brad’s loyalties lay with David. Given the additional six percent, David would have a clear majority of votes at the stockholders’ meeting and wouldn’t have to rely on his wife’s vote. Brad knew that either Jennette’s own death or Anna’s would make the sale of the land a foregone conclusion and, while David loved his daughter and would never willingly gain from her death, Brad might consider one small child merely a pawn in the game. But even if Jen had been Brad’s only target, he would profit in his own right as executor of her estate.

  Mort had explained that although removing Brad’s name as co-trustee would require his agreement, as the creator of the trust she could, on her own signature, alter the document so that the stock could be split between Rick and Rob in the event of Anna’s death. She would sign the paper as soon as Mort had drawn it up. She had to protect Anna and if it meant going behind David’s back, she would do it and worry about the future later.

  The changes to her will involved both Brad and Aaron. First: she had realized that, on the basis of experience and seniority, Aaron would receive a controlling interest in the company. Therefore, her ownership of SailingStar was to go into Anna’s trust. And second: the authorization of payments to the executor had been made due to the complicated legal work that would have been needed to distribute shares in SailingStar among the employees. Since this would no longer be an issue, Brad was again to be the unpaid executor effectively removing his personal profit motive.

  She would tell Brad that she had decided to alter her will. If he wasn’t the one threatening her, he might be disappointed, but he would accept her decision. If, however, he was the threat, it might push him into trying again to kill her. It would be risky, but she couldn’t simply sit and wait.

  With respect to Aaron, she had no way of knowing if he was aware of the terms of her will, but she intended to mention casually that she had left the company to Anna. Actually signing the will would be an issue, but saying that she had signed it would protect her from that potential motive. She had already decided how to solve her other problem with him.

  At noon, she picked up her attaché and purse, told Colleen that she had some errands to run and left the office. She went first to an art supply shop and taking a drawing from her case, spent twenty minutes with the manager of thei
r framing department. Together they decided on a frame, holding various mattings against it to choose a complimentary style and color. When she’d paid for the work, she gave him delivery instructions.

  Her next stop was a travel agency, not the one normally used by SailingStar, to meet with the agent. “Everything has been arranged as you requested, Miss Colson, and please let me say how much I appreciate your allowing us to take care of this for you.”

  She looked through the documents, asked several questions about the itinerary and, after signing the credit card receipt, tucked the envelope that he had given her into her case. “Thank you for your help.”

  “It’s been a pleasure. If there is anything else that we can assist you with, please let us know.”

  After lunch and a quick stop at a nearby store, she called the house to say that she wouldn’t be home for dinner as she had quite a bit of work to do at the studio, then went back to the office.

  At her desk with the door closed, she opened her case to take out the envelope and the oversized card that she’d purchased. The front was the typical wedding bells in gold and white, the verse inside the typical congratulations to the happy couple. Its envelope was the only one she had found large enough to contain the smaller envelope. At the bottom, she wrote --- Love and Happiness to you both --- and signed her name, then turned over the larger envelope to write --- Here’s the surprise I promised you – a Thank You for all that you’ve done for me through the years. Love, Jennette. --- With the envelope sealed and ready, she smiled as she slipped it into her case. One happy thing completed in a long day otherwise filled with worry and heartache.

  She put the case on the floor and searched her desk for enough tasks to keep her busy until late. She didn’t want to have to avoid Rob that evening in order fend off any questions about her decision on the stock vote, and thinking of David and the letters, she knew that it would anger him to see her with Rick.

  She wasn’t ready to face any of them.

  Everyone was in the living room when she came in late and walked to the open door.

  “Hey, you’re back.” Rick was lounging in one of the wingchairs, his long legs stretched out in front of him, his saucer balanced on his thigh.

  “Richard,” Adelia pointed. “Put that cup safely on the table, if you please.” He grinned and opened his mouth to reply but she stopped him. “And don’t address me in that ridiculous fashion. Robert, would you give me your arm to the elevator?”

  “I was hoping to have a few words with Jennette, Aunt Adelia.”

  “Perhaps tomorrow, Rob,” Jen said quickly. “I’m going up to check on Anna, then I’ve got to get some sleep. It’s been a tiring day.”

  They were all standing up to help Adelia as Jen wished them good night and went to the third floor. With Ellen away, the sitting room was dark. Turning on a light, she opened the door to the little girl’s bedroom and quietly went in. Mugsy raised his head to look at her, then curled up in his bed and closed his eyes again. Anna was lying with one arm around the huge rag doll Timmy had given her. She’d kicked off the covers and Jen reached to pull them up again, tucking them in.

  She smiled down at the sleeping child so dear to her and softly recited, “Anna Banana, my precious, my sweet …”

  She was turning to leave when she heard Rick’s harsh whisper behind her. “Finish it.” He was standing in the doorway silhouetted against the light of the sitting room.

  “Rick, I …” She couldn’t see his face, but she had heard his desperation.

  “Finish it,” he insisted.

  It was too late for denials. With a sigh she recited the rest of the silly little rhyme.

  “… gone off to Dreamland, the fairies to meet.”

  She saw him nod and turn away. With her chin up, she walked into the sitting room. When she had closed the door to Anna’s room, she saw that he was staring out the window and waited.

  He turned, his voice deadly. “Well, Jennette?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “You really are a liar.” His face was set in cold, hard anger. “Only you, only Jennette, could have known about that rhyme. The two of us made it up the night before you disappeared. It’s been you all the time, hasn’t it? Right from the start.”

  If he was the killer, then she was definitely in danger now, but she had to see it through. She’d become such a good liar. What scruples she’d started with were gone and only once in a while, like now, did her conscience make itself felt. But she couldn’t trust her feelings – couldn’t trust anyone. Somebody close to her was hiding murder behind a familiar face.

  Would she be in more danger now that Rick knew she wasn’t Jenet? Her knees were trembling, and she walked unsteadily across the room to sink into an armchair. As she looked up at his angry face, she lifted her hand helplessly. “Rick, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  “Oh, prettily done! You must put that gesture into one of your movies.” His voice was biting. “The story of an actress who fakes amnesia so she can make a fool of a man who loves her. If I didn’t want to kill you before, I certainly do now.”

  So many lies … the hurt in his eyes was unbearable.

  She forced herself to go on. “No, you’re wrong, at least partly. I didn’t fake the amnesia. It was real, but my memory came back in the boat with Anna. I picked her up and jumped and it was like jumping into a sea of reality. My life, my whole life, washed like waves through my mind and I was drowning in those memories. If Anna hadn’t been there to hang on to, I might truly have drowned.”

  “And after? The picnic, the benefit … yesterday …?” His lips twisted. “It was all just an act?” Jen knew he was remembering the kiss. Her throat closed and she couldn’t speak as he went on bitterly, “Well, you really can act. If they gave awards for this kind of deception, you’d win hands-down. You took me in completely and I never suspected a thing. Jenet Croft! How you must have laughed to yourself when I fell for your sad little story about the crab meat.”

  “No, Rick. I’ll admit I’ve lied to you straight-faced, over and over, but that was the truth.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous! Everyone knows your family was killed in a plane crash.”

  “No, that was a lie. What I told you at the picnic is true, or rather most of it is. My parents wanted me to start college and they were furious when I told them I was going to Hollywood to become an actress.” She stared off into the distance, remembering. “We had a terrible argument when they refused to accept my decision. I yelled at them that I’d make it on my own and that I’d tell everyone I was an orphan so they wouldn’t have to bother with me anymore. “When I met Tony, I was still angry about the fight so I did tell him I had no family. Three years later, an interviewer sprang that question on me. ‘Tell us a little about your life, Miss Colson. Your agent tells us that you’re an orphan?’ I could have denied it – should have denied it – but I didn’t. It was a live broadcast and without stopping to think, I made up the story about the plane crash. Then …” her voice broke, “… like a punishment, my parents got food poisoning four months later …” there were tears in her eyes, “… and I wasn’t there with them. By the time I found out what had happened, they were dead. I didn’t even go home for the funeral. I was stuck with my shameful lie.” She sighed and looked at him. “I’ve wanted to tell someone the truth for years. You were there and I was Jenet Croft, so I made it Jen’s story.”

  “Yes, you were Jenet.” He walked to the couch and sat. His anger was burning itself out and he rubbed his forehead wearily. “You weren’t David’s Jennette; you were my own Jen and I fell in love with you all over again.” He looked up at her. “How could you do that to me?”

  She had no defense. “Rick, please believe me, I didn’t plan for it to happen. If you hadn’t caught me up on the cliff …”

  “But I did catch you.” He gave her a questioning look. “Your explanation was so pat, with so many details.”

  “Because I had it ready. I’d decided that if my life as
Jennette got too dangerous, I’d tell everyone that I was really Jenet Croft and give them the story I told you. Then, as time went on, I realized that I needed help. When you overheard my conversation with Jake and didn’t believe that I was Jennette, I knew that if you thought I was someone else, I’d be safe.”

  “If I were the killer, you mean.” She nodded. “And, now that I know you are Jennette?”

  “I guess I’ll just have to take my chances.”

  “That’s what you’ve been doing for weeks.”

  “I know, but there’s too much at stake. My … daughter needs me.”

  He had pushed his pain and anger away, shielding behind safe cool logic. “Why were you up there at the trail?”

  “After Anna and I escaped from the sailboat, I knew that if the next attempt succeeded, I’d have to leave some sort of explanation behind so that the police would start an investigation. I wrote out a long statement and gave it to Jake for safekeeping.”

  She could feel him withdrawing, pulling back from her as she sat staring at her wedding rings, heartsick and so very tired. He loved her, and she had betrayed him.

  “What was that you said about your sister?”

  Jen’s head came up quickly. “Sister?”

  “When you were talking to Jake. You said something about your sister and her baby.”

  Jen hesitated, trying to remember exactly what she had said. Another lie. She shrugged. “Oh, that. They’re lines from a play.”

  “A play?”

  “Yes. Jake is someone I knew before I became famous. We were in acting classes together, and those were two of our speeches. It’s something we do when we say goodbye to each other, a joke we share.”

  “I was so sure. And it was just a joke.” His short laugh rasped, and he shook his head as he stood up. “Never mind. It’s late and I’m exhausted.”

  He started for the door, but she stopped him. “Rick, what are we going to do?”