Anyway, after a couple of years in prison she got cancer. She was allowed to return to High Rock where she died in nineteen ninety. After that the house was left to rot. Shame. The property is still one of the finest in these islands. Pine trees, white sandy beaches, limestone caves, mangroves. All of it going to waste.” He shook his head, undoubtedly at that thought.
“But why didn’t John or Carolyn take over the property or better still, sell it?”
“Oh, you know about those two, then.”
“Not really,” Drew replied. “Only what was mentioned in the files at the Public Records Office, and that wasn’t a great deal.” Drew voiced his thought. “Did either Carolyn or John have a daughter?”
Zip looked wistful and pursed his lips, buying a little time before he spoke.
“John lives on Cat Island. It’s one of the outer islands. If you’ve a mind to, I can take you there and introduce you to him. It’s better if you hear the rest of the story from him. If you want?”
“Yes. I would like to meet him.”
Zip reached for the bottle and nodded. “More? I’ve got a few hours to kill.”
Drew grinned broadly and proffered his glass. “Why not?” he said. “I was starting to feel my tongue again, anyway.”
Zip chuckled and poured.
Drew took a swig of the liquor, for the first time feeling as if he’d be returning to England much wiser than when he left.
Chapter Eleven
Lyford Cay was exclusive and wealthy. The private gated enclave boasted over two hundred luxurious estate sized homes and residential home sites with canal front, beachfront and hilltop locations. An 18-hole championship golf course, twelve tennis courts, a yacht club and marina, a private school and a Clubhouse set on beautifully manicured grounds. But it was also isolated and quiet.
Carolyn Robert’s house was a beautiful two-story property elegantly positioned on a hilltop with a near eight-foot-high perimeter fence sealing it from prying eyes. Jess took another deep breath to steady her nerves and stared at the huge gates providing the only entrance to her aunt’s property. She pushed the button on the intercom once more and frowned. The security guard had confirmed she’d been expected, although she’d been somewhat surprised at Carolyn’s change in demeanor.
After their last phone call she’d been prepared to fight and argue her way to her aunt’s door, but the woman on the phone that morning had sounded different…insisting Jess was welcome and that she would be expected at ten o’clock.
Jess was about to reverse the car and head down the hill, back toward the security guard, when the gate clicked open and started to roll back revealing a paved driveway. She put the rental car in gear.
The driveway meandered through a lush landscaped garden that was overgrown, although not enough to obscure its cultivated natural wildness. There was a dense array of plants and flowers, some she knew like the red-flowering hibiscus and many she hadn’t seen before or most probably not remembered.
Trees and flowers created a colorfully balanced habitat of blues and reds, and at the center of the garden, adorning the vast lawn in front of the house, were two large Pride of India in wonderful bloom. Their blossoms opening into clouds of lavender.
She parked at the front entrance and got out of the car. Strange that on such a beautiful, warm day not a single window was open.
A light breeze rustled through the palm leaves above her and out the corner of her eye she caught the white flash of movement. She turned her head sharply to where the front door now stood open allowing her a glimpse into the spacious, high-ceilinged interior. An uneasiness settled over her and she clasped her car keys tighter in her hand.
She drew closer, extending a hesitant hand and pushing the door further open onto the Italian stone flooring and dark mahogany staircase. She stood under the huge crystal chandelier, her stomach tightening to a hardened ball. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. But Jess couldn’t help her curiosity. She took a deep, steadied breath and ventured further into the house.
It was quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that crept along her nerves and isolated her fear. She called her aunt’s name and edged forward to the living room where two huge sofas faced a panoramic window. A soft rug covered the wooden floor and colorful cushions were strewn with orderly nonchalance around a low carved table near the fireplace.
She tiptoed through the rest of the ground floor. The kitchen, with its stainless and granite finishings, the dining room that could seat ten, the breakfast room and the den.
She found the upstairs much the same as the downstairs. Stately pillars and high ceilings. Everything immaculate, everything in its place, everything neat, everything tidy. She checked the small library and the four bedrooms with en suite bathrooms. And still no sign of her aunt. Her uneasiness was fast becoming anxiety. She could find nothing of Carolyn in the house. No personal touches—flowers, paintings, slippers, photos. She knew nothing about her aunt, so she couldn’t say with certainty if any of this was out of the ordinary or not—
Her steps faltered with a sudden realization. She swiveled about and listened intently to the silence, her eyes round, her breath locked in her chest and her heart pounding against her ribs. Someone had granted permission for her to come to the house and if it wasn’t her aunt, then who? What if she wasn’t alone in the house?
Jess raced down the hall and back down the stairs to the front door. She yanked it open, although she couldn’t remember if she’d closed it. She quickly climbed into her car and locked herself in. As she struggled to put the key in the ignition she heard the faint sound of the main gate drawing close.
“No,” she cried out. This couldn’t be happening.
Relief, anguish and fear coursed through her body as the key slipped into place and the motor started. She sped down the driveway, glad she’d rented the smallest car available as she maneuvered the Mini Cooper through the narrowest of possible gaps.
* * * *
Jess cast a quick glance over her shoulder before slipping into her hotel room. She was convinced she’d not been alone in her aunt’s house. She hurriedly closed the door behind her and pressed her back rigidly against it. She couldn’t help but feel something had happened to her aunt. She’d sensed it the moment she entered the house, but how could she go to the police without proof of any kind of a crime?
She made a beeline for her travel bag. There was no telling if she’d been followed or not, but she wasn’t about to taking any more risks. Jason’s revelations had changed her life irrevocably, but she was being drawn deeper into something even more sinister. Something she had no control over.
A sharp, unexpected rap at her door jolted through her body, sending a shockwave of fear to her heart. Drew?
She didn’t dare move, or breathe. She fixed her eyes on the door and waited, thanking God she’d the presence of mind to leave the lights off.
Another sharp rap rang through the silence. She drew in the little breath she held over and lowered her gaze to the thin line of light from the corridor peaking under the door. She expelled her breath slowly and watched the shadows under her door draw back until they disappeared completely. Quickly and quietly she packed her bag.
She reached for the door with trembling fingers, holding her breath as she pulled it open. She waited, her ears straining to hear and her body prepared to run or fight. She took a hesitant step into the hallway, still afraid to breathe. The corridor was empty. She pulled the room door closed behind her and dashed toward the elevators.
She kept her eyes glued to both the elevator doors. It pinged suddenly, causing her to jump. She’d been frightened before, but never to such an extent that she feared her own shadow. When the elevator doors opened, Jess swiftly stepped in. She waited nervously for them to close.
“Come on,” she muttered.
The doors moved. She relaxed against the wall of the elevator and sighed, only to have her breath hitch loudly in her throat as a blond haired woman climbed in be
side her.
“I’m sorry if I startled you,” the woman said.
Jess shook her head. “That’s all right. I’m fine.”
“Good.”
The woman reached across to the panel of buttons.
“Lobby?” she inquired.
Jess nodded and briefly closed her eyes. How long did it take to get down to the lobby?
The elevator pinged, and the doors opened. She hurried across the marble floor, hastening toward the reception desk. Her eyes locked with the impeccably dressed young man behind it.
“I would like to check out, please.”
“Of course, Mrs. Addison,” he said.
Jess suppressed a smile, although she was impressed that the young man had remembered her name. His fingers danced nimbly across his computer keyboard as he checked and tallied the expenses incurred during her five day stay.
“Did you enjoy your stay, ma’am?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
She promptly handed him her credit card and with great difficulty tried to suppress her anxiety to be gone.
“Should I call a taxi for you, ma’am?”
Jess gazed wide-eyed at him. She hadn’t thought about any of that. Where she was going or how she was going to get there.
“That won’t be necessary, Serge. I’ll see to it my wife gets to where she wants to go.”
Her heart stopped and she sucked in a shaky breath.
“Of course, Mr. McCormack,” the young man answered.
Jess read the bewilderment in his eyes before he tactfully withdrew. She may to all intents and purposes be married to Jason, but her passport as with her other documents and credentials confirmed her status as Mrs. Tom Addison. Her life had changed so drastically and so quickly. And still was.
“Jessica.”
Jason uttered her name softly, but the underlying tension in his voice belied an anger that ignited her own. She stiffened noticeably before turning to stare at his stony countenance. How dare he be angry with her!
“How did you find me?”
He let out a weary sigh and brought a hand down his face. “Process of elimination. I’ve been searching for you for four days.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have bothered. There’s nothing to say,” she said.
She reached for her bag and rushed toward the hotel door. Jason grabbed her arm, spinning her forcefully back to face him. She steeled herself against the flood of emotions engulfing her. He looked tired. She’d wanted to touch his face and feel his lips again on hers, but she’d not let her guard down again. She couldn’t.
“The hell there isn’t,” he said. “Damn it, Jessica, I’m not your enemy.”
“No. Your father is,” she hissed back.
“I told you that.”
“But not that he was already under investigation,” Jess countered.
“What?”
“Detective Inspector Mahon told me.”
She could hardly speak with the emotion constricting her throat. She felt betrayed…manipulated.
“I thought Tom’s death was some dreadful coincidence, but as it turns out he worked for your father. Which throws a rather different light on this whole mess, doesn’t it?”
“I didn’t know, Jessica.”
“You didn’t know, what?” she returned heatedly. “That Tom worked for your father or that I would find out.”
“That my father was already under investigation,” Jason answered with quiet patience. He glanced about him. “We can’t talk here.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I won’t listen to any more of your lies.”
“I haven’t lied to you, Jessica. Everything I’ve told you has been nothing but the truth. Perhaps limited, but the truth nonetheless.”
She shrugged off his hand and his protestation. “Why did you marry me?” she demanded. “As a favor to your father? To take up where Tom left off?”
She heaved a sigh, and lowered her gaze. Her voice was resigned, and somehow lost when she spoke again.
“Containment is everything in your line of business, isn’t it? Damage control?” she mocked. “My father, Sean, Tom—” Her gaze lifted slowly back to his. “Me.”
Jason narrowed his gaze. “If you believe that, then why did you leave Jake with me?”
“I left Jake with my mother,” she returned childishly.
“And both in danger, Jessica, if I’m the man you think I am.”
“Anonymity, Jason. You said it yourself. The McCormacks depend on it. You won’t risk doing anything that would bring the police to your door, not at this stage of the game.”
“But you think I would hurt you. Is that what you thought to achieve by this? Lure me out by making yourself vulnerable?”
Jess shifted her gaze past his shoulder. A family sat across from them, pretending not to notice their heated exchange. A young couple watched them too. She could almost hear them naively reaffirm their commitment never to fight. An older couple smiled at her. Perhaps they’d endured their own private battles and lived through it.
She looked everywhere except at Jason. Had her vanity endangered her life from the very man she willingly married? He knew everything about her and used that knowledge with skill and conviction to accomplish his father’s bidding. She spoke into the distance.
“There was a fire at the old plantation yesterday. If it hadn’t been for Drew—”
“Drew?”
She blushed and guilt pricked at her skin.
“Detective Inspector Mahon,” she corrected with a little awkwardness. “He saved my life…”
She gasped as he instantly closed the distance between them and cupped her face between his hands.
“Jessica. Are you all right?”
Her heart shuddered at his touch. Drew’s kiss had come close to covering the cracks in her heart, but it still bled for Jason even if there was nothing left between them.
She touch her lips with the tip of her tongue. “Do you really care? Is this show of concern meant to regain my trust? Then what? You blindside me again?”
Anger flashed in the dark depths of his eyes. “You think I started that fire?”
“Your father is clever enough to never get his own hands dirty.”
He let his hands fall from her face. “God Jessica, you don’t know me.”
“No, I don’t,” she returned quietly.
“What’s changed, Jessica? Drew Mahon?” he retorted dryly.
Jess took a step backward, enabling her to breathe. “The Inspector—”
“Seems very protective of you. He obviously said something to make you change your mind about me.”
“He made me see what you’ve said yourself. I don’t know you.”
“You knew me when we made love,” Jason parried smoothly.
“That was…I was upset—”
“Don’t! Don’t make that night anything less than it was, Jessica,” Jason said. He stepped closer. “It was real. Don’t deny us.”
He placed the crook of his finger beneath her chin and tilted her face up to his. She didn’t pull away when his fingers brushed her cheek and teased her lips, reminding her of a night that was all too long ago.
“Contrary to what Drew Mahon may have told you, I don’t work for my father.”
In these few days she’d wanted nothing more than to banish thoughts of Jason from her mind. She’d been glad of the distance between them, but he was standing in front of her, his very presence threatening to shatter her resolve.
“Give me the chance to make this right, Jessica.”
“I don’t think you can,” she said.
“You promised. Remember?”
How could she forget the night they’d made love? She’d broken every rule of her heart with him and had suffered the consequences. How could she trust him again? She closed her eyes against the insistence in his.
* * * *
Jess gazed in silent admiration at the hundred and sixty-one foot yacht moored in
the Nassau Yacht Marina. MCORMC-1.
“Your father’s?”
Jason nodded. She sensed him tense and watched his eyes scan the harbor.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think we’re being followed.”
“Your father?” She stepped unconsciously closer to him, her gaze searching with his own.
“I don’t know, but we’ve got to get going.”
“Where?”
“I’ve a house on one of the outer islands. You’ll be safe there.”
Jess hesitated, feeling like the proverbial moth that despite the warning heat still felt compelled to fly into the flame. But she’d been left with two choices—to go with Jason or stay on her own. And what if there was the slightest possibility she was wrong about her husband? If Jason didn’t start the fire then somewhere out there was the person who did. She turned and climbed aboard MCORMC-1.
The interior of the yacht was exquisite. She couldn’t fault it—lots of mahogany woodwork expertly complementing myrtle and honey onyx. And she could scarce miss the opulence assailing her senses as she followed Jason to the main deck. They passed through the salon and dining room, bar and a private office before coming to the master suite.
“This is your room,” he said, opening the door onto the spacious cabin. “The crew sleeps below deck so you won’t be disturbed at any time.”
“And where will you sleep?”
She bit down on her lip. She hadn’t meant to be so abrupt. “I’m sorry. I—”
His stare turned to a glare. “I’ll be below deck, as well. There are three guest suites in addition to the crew’s quarters. If you need anything, feel free to ask.”
He turned and left without another word, closing the door firmly behind him.
Jess briefly closed her eyes, shaking off the haunting look on Jason’s face. She expelled a long breath and looked longingly at the enormous bed. That was for later, first she wanted to bathe. She quickly locked the cabin door and headed toward the en suite bathroom.
She piled her washed hair in a loose bun on her head and stepped into the warm water, submerging her body under the scented bubbles. Powerful jets massaged her skin and, for one trouble-free moment, she let go of her fears.
Blood of His Fathers (Sinners and Saints) Page 14