Her Sister's Secrets

by V. J. Chambers

  “I don’t have an invitation to that,” I said. “I wouldn’t be able to get in.”

  “Taylor Bolton got you an invitation to the Wainwright party. Why don’t you ask her?”

  “Fine,” I said. I dug out the other cell phone and shot her off a text. “I’m sending her a text right now.”

  “Great,” said Phin.

  We waited.

  “Well, she’s not saying anything,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean she won’t say something later.”

  “If you don’t hear anything from Taylor, you could always ask Drew,” said Phin. “He’s probably got an invite and a plus one. I bet he’d take you.”

  “But that would involve being alone with Drew on the way there and stuff,” I said. “And now he knows I suspect him for the murder. I mean, I tried to play it off like I didn’t, but I’m not sure he bought it. If he did it, he’d be nervous.”

  “Yeah, well, he lives next door, and if he wanted to get to you, he could,” said Phin. “But he hasn’t.”

  “Yet,” I muttered. Way to make me feel better here, Phin. I started around the house, making sure the door was locked and the windows were closed.

  “I don’t think it’s him,” said Phin.

  “You know what he did to his father,” I pointed out.

  “Nothing. He just yelled. Roman fell.”

  “Well, that’s what Drew said anyway,” I said.

  “If he’d killed his father, he wouldn’t have told you anything at all,” said Phin.

  “Maybe you’re right.” I sighed. “Okay, if I can’t get any help from Taylor, I’ll go to Drew.”

  * * *

  I waited for a text back from Taylor Bolton all night and all morning, and I got nothing. So, ruefully, I went over to Drew’s house. I realized that I would really like to have his phone number at this point, because it would make things way easier. I was worried he wouldn’t be home, but he was in the foyer when the housekeeper answered the door. He was dressed for tennis, all in white, carrying his racket.

  “Hey, there, Emilia,” he said. “What brings you up here?”

  I clasped my hands together. “I actually came to ask a favor.”

  He smiled. “Sure thing.”

  “You haven’t heard the request yet,” I said. “And I don’t even know if you can help me out or not. Are you going to the exhibition in Venice for testicular cancer?”

  “I got an invite,” he said. “But I haven’t decided yet.”

  “I would really like to go,” I said. I had prepared a lie for this. “There are some people who are going to be there who’d I’d like to network with about some opportunities for advertising on my blog. I know it’s a huge imposition to you, and I know that approaching people at an event like that might blow back badly on you—”

  “Are you kidding? It happens all the time,” he said. “People are always talking business at these kinds of things. Sure, I would be happy to help you out, but you’ll have to come along with me. I have an invite and a plus one. Is that okay?”

  “That’s great,” I said.

  “And it’s, um, it’s black tie, so do you have—”

  “That’s taken care of,” I said, smiling. “Thanks so much, Drew. You’re really coming through for me.”

  “Hey, after everything that’s happened to you, half of it the fault of my family, I probably owe you a lot more than a measly invite to a party.”

  I shook my head. “Don’t be silly. You don’t owe me anything.”

  “Well, if you need anything else, you let me know.”

  “Thank you again.”

  “I’ll have my car pick you up at your house on Saturday evening around 8:00,” he said.

  “Perfect,” I said.

  * * *

  I got to wear another of the ball gowns, which was incredibly gratifying, I had to admit. This time I went for that red strapless number. I couldn’t help it.

  When Drew picked me up, he was sitting in the back seat of his car. He smiled at me and said that I looked beautiful, and then went back to whatever it was he was doing on his phone.

  We didn’t talk much on the drive there, but as we got closer, he put his phone away and turned to me. He spoke in an urgent, soft voice. “Uh, the last time you were at the house is kind of a blur.”

  I gave him a careful smile. “Well, you had a lot to drink.”

  “I think I might have shared some things with you that maybe I wish I hadn’t.”

  “I would never say anything to anyone, Drew.” Well, except to Phin, but that didn’t count.

  “It’s why you said that stuff to me about being angry with Violet, isn’t it?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t even know why I said that. Forget I said that.”

  He sucked in a breath, considering. “I really would appreciate your discretion with all of it. If you could keep it all to yourself, it would mean a lot to me.”

  “Of course,” I said.

  He straightened, smoothing his fingers over his tux. “All right, great. So, then when we get to the party?” He was obviously changing the subject. “Do you want me to introduce you to anyone, or let you run free on your own?”

  “Um…” I considered. I didn’t want to blow my cover. I figured that I could safely convince Drew that I was talking to Jonah about advertising on my blog. But I might need to pretend to talk to other people too, which I didn’t have any desire to really do. There was no way that it would be lucrative for anyone to advertise on my piddly little blog.

  I felt a twinge, because I hadn’t even looked at my blog in days. Comments were probably piling up, and it was way past time for a new recipe. I couldn’t allow this stuff with Violet to drag on forever. I couldn’t let it disturb my real life.

  “You want to think about it?” said Drew.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Can I let you know? If things don’t go well at first, I may want some introductions.”

  He grinned. “You got it.”

  We arrived at the party, which was being held in someone’s home. The house was blocky and white with several stories. It had an austere atmosphere that was only broken by the palm trees that grew around the place. Inside, it was the same. White walls. White furniture. Sharp angles. The only splashes of color were from the art pieces that were being sold here tonight for the cause. They were displayed prominently.

  The party spilled outside where there was a glittering lit pool with several different levels. Waterfalls flowed down to a small green pool nestled among the rocks below. The house was built into a cliff and the ocean crashed against it far, far beneath us.

  Drew cut me loose, as we had agreed upon, and I went wandering around on my own, looking for Jonah.

  But he didn’t seem to be anywhere.

  I hoped this hadn’t all been for nothing, because this had taken a lot of doing, and I couldn’t very well go around asking Drew for invites to all the society parties in the area. I was probably going to have to hope to run into Jonah at Captain’s. Or go to his house alone. Or call Oliver and see if he thought it was enough evidence to warrant questioning him.

  A servant was going by with a tray full of the party’s signature drink, which was some sort of pink mojito, and I snagged one. One sip, and I thought I had fallen in love. It was watermelon. Fresh watermelon juice and mint leaves muddled with sugar and rum. I couldn’t even imagine the work that had gone into making all of these. Wow.

  Then I went outside to scan the faces outside the pool. I’d already been out here, but maybe Jonah had shown up while I was looking. Or maybe I hadn’t found him yet. I hadn’t seen Drew again since we came in together, so it was utterly possible that Jonah was here, but that I hadn’t seen him.

  No Jonah.

  I stood, overlooking the pool and the steep drop to the ocean below, and I sipped at watermelon mojito, and I felt a little ridiculous. What did I think I was doing? This wasn’t working out, and I should have known better.

  “Emilia?” said a deep, fami
liar voice. “Is that you?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  I turned.

  It was Jonah Fletcher.

  I managed a smile. “Hello, there.”

  “You are the last person I expected to be at this thing,” he said. “I don’t get it. Why would you bother? Are you planning on snagging one of these paintings? I hear they start at five grand.”

  I couldn’t help but feel perturbed. “You can’t resist an opportunity to point out that I’m not wealthy, can you?”

  He looked at his feet. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  But I was allowing myself to get distracted here. Whether he was offending me or not was immaterial. I needed to ask him questions. I needed to do what I’d come to this party to do. So, I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders.

  He was still looking at his feet.

  I waited until he raised his gaze to mine, and I looked right into his eyes. “Were you sleeping with my sister?”

  He coughed and took a step back. “Come again?”

  “You didn’t hear me?”

  “I told you that I never met your sister,” he said.

  “And that was a lie,” I said. “Because you hired her to plan your father’s retirement gala.”

  His face froze. “Oh, hell, Emilia.”

  “I saw the records,” I said. “She wrote that it was an utter disaster and that she was considering calling the police.”

  “Listen, you don’t understand.”

  “No, I said, I don’t. Because I also talked to someone who was working the gala, who saw you and Violet arguing with each other.”

  “That was a misunderstanding.”

  “Yeah, that’s apparently what Violet said later,” I said. “So, why would she say that? Did you turn on the Jonah Fletcher charm and talk to her in that rumbly voice of yours? You’re smooth, Jonah. I’ve noticed. But if you killed my sister—”

  “Killed? Wait, what? How did we get to killed?” He rubbed his mouth. “Was she murdered? I thought she drowned.”

  “You knew her, and you lied to me.”

  He nodded. “Yes, I suppose I did. But it’s not because…” He turned away, looking out at the other people at the party.

  “Hey,” I said. “Look at me.”

  He turned back. “I don’t tell anyone at all about knowing Violet. I don’t like to talk about that retirement gala.”

  “You didn’t have any problem telling Brett Donnelly about it. You recommended Violet straight off.”

  “Oh, so that’s how this happened,” he sighed. “How did you even end up at that wedding? How are you here in all these places? I don’t understand.”

  “Oh, no,” I said. “You don’t get to ask me questions. That’s not how this works.”

  He put a hand to his chest. “I didn’t bring up Violet to Brett. He asked me point blank who I’d hired for my father’s retirement party. I don’t know if you noticed while you were digging through all of that, but my father died that day.”

  I was quiet. I actually felt ashamed. But only for a moment. “That doesn’t explain anything,” I said. “Why were you fighting with Violet? Why did she back off and say it was only a misunderstanding?”

  “Because,” he said, nostrils flaring, “I cleared it up for her, and then she did understand.”

  “So, clear it up for me,” I said.

  “No,” he said.

  “No?”

  He put his finger in my face. “I don’t owe you anything. I don’t know a damned thing about you. You say that I have charms, but it’s you, you’re the one who’s screwing with my head. You’re the one I can’t stop thinking about for no apparent sane reason, and now, you’re asking questions about—No.” He turned away from me.

  I grabbed him by the shoulder. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  He shook me off. “Don’t touch me.”

  “Maybe I’ll go to the police,” I said.

  “Fine,” he said, eyes flashing. “Do what you like. But kindly get out of my life, Emilia Farrow.” And then he stalked off.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Well, that had gone well.

  I tried to go after him, but he’d disappeared. He probably left.

  I got myself another watermelon mojito, but it didn’t taste as good as the first one. I finished it anyway.

  Then I went looking for Drew and told him that I wasn’t feeling well and that I was going to get a cab home. He said not to be silly, he didn’t have any reason to stay and that he’d take me home.

  So, we went back. He spent the whole drive back on his phone again.

  I stared out the window and began to wonder how much longer this could really go on. What had I expected would happen when I talked to Jonah? Did I really think he’d confess to me, tell me that he was actually a murderer? At a charity benefit?

  That was crazy. No one did that.

  I wasn’t even sure why I was doing all this anymore. I kept telling myself that it was for Violet, but I was lying to myself.

  No, I realized as I stared out the window of Drew’s car, it was because I was weak. I had ridiculed that weakness in Violet when we argued. I had said that she was shallow to want to be part of this world of glitz and wealth and excitement. But the truth was, I liked it too. The truth was, some part of me had missed it all these years. Even though horrors had been visited on me in the Wainwright house, it was also my childhood home. Being here was like going back into the bosom of my childhood. Like coming home.

  But I was going to have to leave. Because I was getting nowhere, and I didn’t belong here. And I didn’t even know if Violet had been killed.

  Maybe it really had been an accident.

  Drew dropped me off in my driveway, and I said good night to him. I also asked for his number.

  “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be next door,” I said.

  “You’re leaving?”

  I nodded. “I can’t stay here forever. This place isn’t really real. My real life is back in Sarasota. I have to get back to it.”

  “Yeah, I guess you would,” he said. He gave me his number. He said he would miss me.

  I said I’d miss him too. I would.

  His car drove off into the darkness and I started to trudge down to the house to think about how I was going to pack everything up.

  But my phone rang.

  I answered it.

  “Emilia? It’s Tania,” said the person on the other end of the phone.

  “Hi, Tania,” I said. I wondered why she was calling me out of the blue.

  “Can you meet me to talk?”

  “Uh, what do you want to talk about?”

  “I don’t want to say over the phone,” she said. “Last time you mentioned Captain’s. You like it there? We could meet there.”

  Well, I guessed it was safe enough in public. “Okay,” I said. “But give me a little bit. I need to change.” I wasn’t going out to the bar in a gown.

  * * *

  Tania had a glass of white wine and she was toying with it, but not actually drinking it. Her face was red and her eyes were bloodshot, as if she’d been crying.

  I sat down with her, but I didn’t bother buying myself a drink. I wasn’t up for more drinking tonight. I was probably going to go back to the house and start packing up.

  “Are you sleeping with Drew?” said Tania.

  I raised my eyebrows. “What?”

  “I just need to know,” said Tania. “I’m not going to be mad, because he and I aren’t together anymore, and you and I aren’t really even friends, so there’s no reason for it not to be happening. But I need to know. So, tell me the truth.”

  “No,” I said. “Why would you think that?”

  “Are you lying to me?” Tania sniffled. “Because I asked your sister point blank, and she lied. And back then, Drew and I were engaged.”

  “I’m not lying,” I said. “Trust me, I have no desire to sleep with Drew.”

  “What’s that sup
posed to mean?”

  “That I’m not into him.”

  She took a drink of wine. “You don’t think he’s attractive?”

  “He’s my sister’s ex,” I said. “It would be incredibly weird.”

  “So, that’s the only reason why not?”

  “No, there are lots of reasons, but chiefly just that I don’t really think of him that way.”

  “You guys have been together a lot,” said Tania. “And tonight, he took you to the exhibition in Venice.”

  “He did, but that was just a favor to me. We didn’t go romantically.”

  “I heard that he stayed at your house the night his father died.”

  “How did you hear that?”

  She shrugged. “Servants see things. They like to gossip.”

  “Well, he did stay at my place,” I said. “He got wasted drunk and passed out on my couch.”

  “Really?” She looked up at me hopefully. “You’re not just saying that?”

  “I’m telling the truth. I wouldn’t lie to you.”

  “Yeah, you say that. And then days from now, you and Drew will be out somewhere again together. And then how long will you keep denying it? When you move in together?”

  “We’re not going to move in together,” I said. “Because we’re not together. I don’t think Drew likes me like that either.” Comments about pushing me up against the wall notwithstanding. “Hey, quick question, might sound a little weird, but did Drew ever… get forceful with you?”

  “What are you talking about? Like in bed?”

  I considered. “Yeah, or out.”

  She went back to toying with her glass. “Maybe a little, sometimes.”

  Huh. I thought about that. Now, there was no way that I thought that raping women was genetic, that it could be passed down from father to son like hair color. But I did think that if Drew had grown up watching both his father and his grandfather get away with that kind of behavior, maybe he would have learned to behave that way too. “So, what are we talking about here?” I said. “Like, did he ever hurt you or—”

  “No.” She sighed. “Listen, I want him back. I just want him back. That’s all. I thought maybe I could be there for him, considering everything he’s been through lately. But you’re the one who’s always there.”