by Cate Beauman
Chase continued compressions, counting off each set, stopping for Julie to breathe as the wail of sirens echoed up the drive. Moments passed in decades before two men finally ran around the side of the house.
“We’ll take over.” The paramedics swarmed in around Neve.
Chase lifted Julie out of the way when she couldn’t find the will to move.
“I need to be with her. She needs me.”
Chase set her on her feet and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. “Stay here. Let them work.”
She stood frozen in his embrace, shaking with the retched sense of helplessness. “Is she breathing yet?” she choked out.
“Give them a minute,” he said next to her ear, his voice steady among the frenzy of lights, shouting first responders, and Ferra’s wild crying.
“God. God,” she shuddered out while monitors were attached to Neve’s chest. “They’re not moving fast enough. She’s dying.”
The paramedic shook his head.
“They’re not doing anything to help her. Do something!” she demanded of the men. She broke free of Chase’s hold and kneeled in front of the woman she was just getting to know, grabbing her warm, stiff hand. “Wake up.” She squeezed. “Wake up, Neve. Please wake up,” she whispered desperately as tears poured down her cheeks.
“She has no vitals, Ma’am.”
“You’re not even trying!” she shouted at him. “Why won’t you help my mother?” she sobbed.
Chase crouched next to her. “She’s gone, Jules.”
“No.” She shook her head even as she stared at the woman who no longer looked like the kind, beautiful lady she’d watched movies with while eating ice cream truffles and laughing.
“She’s gone.” Chase pulled her away, turning her as someone covered Neve’s body.
“No.” She clung to him. “This isn’t happening. I can’t lose her too.”
“Come on.” He scooped her up and walked away as she stared at the white sheet draped over the bump in the sea of gravel and snow.
Chapter Thirty-seven
“I need a few more days,” Chase said quietly to Ethan as he leaned against the wall, staring out Julie’s bedroom window.
“Jesus, man, I don’t even know what to say.”
“Julie’s a mess.” He sighed, looking over his shoulder at her passed out on her pillow, covered with the blanket he settled over her after she finally gave into exhaustion and fell asleep.
“Do they have any idea what happened?”
It had only been a couple of hours since someone from the medical examiner’s office drove away with Neve’s body in the back of their van. “Not at this point, but I didn’t see any visible signs of violence or struggle when I started CPR. There was nothing unusual at the scene.”
“Jesus,” Ethan said again.
“Honestly, I don’t know what the hell’s going on.” He rubbed at the tension squeezing the back of his neck. “According to Ferra and Thomas, Neve sat out in the tub pretty regularly in the evenings. I overheard Noah’s interview with the police. Neve had no known medical conditions that he was aware of.”
“What a mess.”
“She—she left a book on top of my luggage—Julie’s favorite novel in first edition and a note,” he said in a rush, needing to say it to someone, more shaken than he wanted to admit. “I found it right before I called you.”
“What did the note say?”
“Second chances are a rare gift.”
“Does that mean something to you?”
He thought of reading in the hammock on hot summer afternoons and kissing Julie by the lake. Jules must have mentioned both to Neve. “Yeah. Jules and I have kind of picked up where we left off. Neve was pretty happy about it, I think.”
“Kind of eerie.”
“It spooked me a bit,” he confessed. “I tucked it away for now.”
“You don’t think she knew?”
“That she was about to die? No.” He shook his head. “Or at least I don’t think so. We were supposed to have breakfast with her before we left for the airport this morning.”
“What do you need from me?”
“More time. I can’t leave Jules right now.”
“No. Of course not. We’ll juggle people around and keep you covered.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
“I will.” He hung up, glancing toward the ceiling as another news helicopter flew over the property. “Bastards.” The media was out for fresh blood as news of Neve’s death spread like wildfire. The asshole photographer who snuck past the gates during the chaos of police cars and fire trucks rushing on scene hadn’t helped matters. Several snapshots of Chase dressed in his sweatpants and bare feet, carrying the distraught, scantily clad Porter heiress away from Neve’s dead body were on every news station and paper, according to Ethan.
Wandering over to Julie, he sat down, staring at her face still swollen and blotchy from her endless tears, worrying as he brushed her hair behind her ear. She’d been through so much during the last few weeks—too much. Julie was strong, but he didn’t know how much more she could take.
First his dicey return to Bakersfield, then the shocking surprise of her abduction and all of the turmoil that came along with that, and now Neve was dead. He scrubbed a hand over the scruff of his beard, still trying to make everything add up. Neve had been fine last night, watching movies and spending time with Julie—certainly healthy enough to leave ancient novels and sweet notes for her beloved daughter on his bed. At some point after that, she’d gone for a dip among the warm water and bubbles in the backyard and died.
She’d been found with her conservative bathing suit fully intact—no bruising, cuts, scrapes, or ligature marks anywhere to be seen. So what the hell happened? How did a relatively young, completely healthy woman lose her life in the family hot tub?
The cop he’d spoken to said the ME’s preliminary findings suggested natural causes, but something didn’t sit right. He narrowed his eyes, flashing back to the initial scene when he ran outside, hand-in-hand with Julie, remembering Ferra screaming hysterically and tall, thin, elderly Thomas fighting to pull Neve from the water. There was no denying Neve’s staff had been shocked and heartbroken, but something made him want to comb through all of the facts again. Going with his gut, he pulled his phone out and dialed Ethan as he stood and walked back to the window.
“Hey, man.”
“What’s Tucker up to these days?”
“The usual. Why?”
“I wouldn’t mind bending his ear on this one.” It never hurt to get a former homicide detective’s take on an untimely death.
“You don’t think that everything going on is quite as simple as a cruel twist of fate.”
“I don’t know what I think, but ever since Dorman hinted that Julie might still be in trouble—”
“Chase.” Julie sat up in a rush, her eyes wide with panic. “Chase.”
“I’m right here, Jules. I’ve gotta go.”
“I’ll fill Tucker in on the latest and have him give you a call.”
“Thanks. Talk to you later.” He put his phone away and hurried to Julie’s side, taking her trembling hands.
“I had an awful dream.” Tears overflowed as her chest started to heave. “But it’s not a dream.”
“No, it’s not.” He pulled her against him, settling her head against his chest as she sobbed. “I’m so sorry, Jules.”
“I was just getting to know her. Last night I told her I was glad to have two moms.” She looked at him with eyes so full of pain and sadness his heart broke for her all over again. “Neve said she was coming to see me next month. We were going to do more yoga.”
He wiped her tears, letting her talk.
“I wasn’t nice to her in Washington and when we first got here.”
He shook his head. “Don’t do that to yourself.” He sat back against the pillows and settled her in his lap, rest
ing his cheek on top of her head. “You two were finding your way just fine.”
She clutched at his shirt. “I’ll never have a chance to really know her. She just found me, Chase, and now she’s gone.”
“I know.” He didn’t know what to say or do for her, so he held her and let her cry.
~~~~
“Julie?”
Julie’s eyes flew open as she lay cuddled against Chase, realizing she must have dozed off again. “Yes?” She sat farther up as Elaine, dressed in full business attire, burst into the bedroom, her eyes red-rimmed and full of shock.
“Oh, Julie.”
Tears started pouring again as she freed herself from Chase’s arms and crawled out of his lap, hugging Elaine.
“I got here as soon as I could,” Elaine sniffled. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Mere hours had passed in a blur since they took Neve away. “I’m so sorry,” she shuddered out with the latest wave of suffocating guilt. “This is all my fault—”
“What?” Elaine interrupted.
“We were going to sit in the hot tub together after we finished our movie last night, but I went to bed instead.”
Elaine touched Julie’s cheek. “Now that’s nonsense.”
“No.” She shook her head. “If I’d stayed with her, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Chase rubbed his hand up and down her back. “Jules, this isn’t your fault.”
“You listen to Chase, sugar plum.” Elaine grabbed a tissue, holding it out for Julie to take. “Neve sat out in the hot tub all the time—”
“I want you out.”
Everyone’s eyes whipped up to Noah standing in the doorway dressed in his typical suit and tie, pale and more rigid than usual.
“Pack and leave,” Noah said.
“Stop.” Elaine demanded.
“You don’t belong here.” Glaring, he pointed his finger. “Small-town trash.”
“That’s enough, Noah,” Elaine snapped as Chase rushed off the bed.
“There’s no need to come to her rescue, bodyguard,” Noah tossed at Chase. “You have thirty minutes to get the hell out of here or the cops will be back.” He turned and walked off.
“Don’t you dare pack a thing, Julie.” Elaine took her hand, squeezing. “That’s not what Neve would want,” she choked out, shaking her head. “She would want you here. He’s devastated just like the rest of us. I’ll go talk to him.” Elaine plucked a tissue from the box on the way out the door, her heels slapping against wood with her hurried steps.
Julie rested her face in her hands, fighting to steady herself as the room grew quiet again. “What should I do? I don’t know what to do.”
The mattress sank next to her as Chase sat down and settled his arm around her shoulders. “I think we should do whatever’s going to make you feel the most comfortable. We can get a hotel room or we can stay right here.”
She looked at him, watching him struggle to unclench his jaw after Noah’s outburst. “If I leave, I might not be able to come back. He’ll make it so I can’t come back.”
“When the DNA results come in, he’s not going to have much of a leg to stand on. You have as much right to be here as he does.”
She didn’t care about DNA or any of the rest. “I just want to be able to say goodbye to her.”
“You’ll be able to say goodbye.” He cupped her face. “No one’s going to take that away from you, Jules. I can promise you that.”
She nodded, feeling her moment’s reprieve from grief crumbling. “My heart hurts.” She touched her hand to her chest and the steady beat. “Neve said she would’ve known in her heart if I had died long ago.” She swallowed choking emotions. “I think I know what she meant, because I can feel it in mine. Somehow there’s a little part that’s empty. It’s different from the way it was when Miranda—Mom was killed.” She sucked in an unsteady breath. “Neve told me to come to you, but I should’ve stayed with her.”
He hugged her. “We have no idea what happened. We have no idea if that would have made any difference.”
“I feel like I’m going crazy.” She clutched his back—the warmth and strength—something real. “I can see her, Chase. Whether I’m awake or sleeping, I can see her wet hair tangled around her and her gray skin. She didn’t look like her—like Neve.”
“She wasn’t there anymore.” He kissed her temple. “She wasn’t in pain.”
“I don’t want to remember her like that. I don’t want that to be the image I see when I think of my mother.”
He lifted her chin, staring into her eyes. “How can I help you? What can I do for you right now?”
“Help me think of something else. Anything else at all.”
“Should we go downstairs and see if we can do something for Ferra and Thomas?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “That’s perfect. They’ve taken such good care of us this week. We should take care of them. I can make sandwiches or something—maybe soup.” She stood in the yoga pants and long-sleeve shirt she’d changed into before she spoke with the police and took Chase’s hand, relieved that she had something to do for the next little while. And Chase would be at her side.
Chapter Thirty-eight
Julie secured her hair back in a loose bun as she stood in front of the bedroom mirror. She slid simple gold hoop earrings into place and stepped back, studying the black slacks and white fitted button down top she wore, realizing she still looked pale despite the extra blusher she’d swept across her cheekbones. Selecting dark raspberry gloss from her bag, she applied the welcome hint of color, pausing when her cell phone rang. She pushed the applicator back in the tube and answered. “Hello?”
“Julie Keller?”
She hesitated, wondering if the press had gotten ahold of her number. “Who’s this?”
“This is Martin Vosburgh, Neve’s attorney from Vosburgh, Miller, and Tame.”
“Yes. Hello, Mr. Vosburgh.”
“Julie, I’m calling because we have the results back from the DNA testing.”
“Oh.” She dropped the tube of makeup as her heart started to race, already certain she didn’t like the apologetic tone in the man’s voice. “Okay.” She turned away from the mirror, leaning against the sturdy dresser for support.
“Julie, I don’t know how to tell you this with everything that’s going on—”
Swallowing, she gripped the phone. “I’m not Neve’s daughter.”
“I’m afraid we don’t know.”
She frowned, standing straight, expecting to hear anything but that. “I don’t understand.”
“The test came back inconclusive.”
“Inconclusive?” She shook her head. “How is that possible?”
“I called the lab and asked that very question. Apparently Neve’s sample was unreadable.”
Was this some sort of sick cosmic joke? “Why?”
“Another good question. It appears that Neve’s swab didn’t contain enough buccal cells for testing.”
She paced away from the dresser and back. “But we were tested at the same time. The technician swabbed my cheek exactly the same way she did Neve’s.”
“That may be so, but the results are inconclusive.”
She pressed her palm to her forehead, struggling to believe this was really happening. “So what do we do?”
He sighed. “That’s where this gets tricky. Without conclusive results, you have no legal rights. In the eyes of the law, you’re not related to Neve until we can prove otherwise.”
She sunk to her bed. “Can’t we—how do we do that?”
“You can hire an attorney and petition for access to Neve’s DNA.”
“But Noah had her cremated after the autopsy.”
“The medical examiners will have her DNA on file for the toxicology samples.”
Suddenly cold, she picked up her gray wrap and pulled it around herself. “I’m not interested in the money, Mr. Vosburgh. I just want to know if Neve’s my mother.”
“Be that as it may, Alyson has a significant inheritance left to her by Jay and Neve. I’ll suggest you talk to Noah and see if he’ll allow you access to his mother’s samples without having to involve the courts.”
That would be a waste of time. In the two days since Neve’s death, Noah hadn’t been back to the house, yet she’d still walked on eggshells waiting for him to reappear and make good on his promise to evict her from the property. “I’ll see what I can do. Thank you.” She hung up and tossed down her phone.
Chase walked in dressed in a black suit and tie. “How’s it going in here?”
“Not great.” She stood. “I just heard from Neve’s attorney.”
He fiddled with the knot of his tie. “And?”
“The results are inconclusive.”
His fingers paused against the silky fabric as he frowned. “What?”
“Neve’s sample wasn’t good.” She gripped her hands around her waist, wishing for the blissful numbness that periodically cloaked her brain, keeping the burdens of her reality two steps out of reach. “We have to retest, but I have to seek Noah’s permission to access the samples the medical examiner has on file or I can petition the court.”
He sighed, scratching his neck.
“I don’t care about the money. I just need to know.”
“Jules, you don’t have to tell me that.”
She turned away, staring blindly out the windows on the other side of the room. “He’s going to draw this out to punish me, to punish her.”
Chase came up behind her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “We’re going to get you your answers, Jules. One way or the other, I’m going to get them for you.”
She pulled away, too frustrated to stand here and listen to another round of reassurances. Nothing was okay anymore. Nothing. “I’m going to clear my head.”
“It’s a little chilly for one of your walks.”
“I’ll be all right,” she gentled her voice. This wasn’t Chase’s fault.
“Do you want me to come with you?”