As she opened the bathroom door, a knock sounded on the apartment door. That annoyed her, but so did the wary look Forrest shot her way as he crossed the room. When he opened the door, the two people standing there made her give a moan of exasperation.
“Come in,” Forrest said, waving toward the cluster of furniture that made up the living room.
Ty and Norma Rose walked in, offering greetings as if they’d just encountered her and Forrest on a street corner. Twyla returned their hellos as she made her way to Forrest’s side. While Norma Rose and Ty proceeded all the way to the gold-colored velvet sofa in the center of the room, Twyla leaned over to complain, “Why’d you call them?”
“Who says I did?” Forrest asked.
“Norma Rose would never step foot in the Plantation and not even Ty could convince her to, unless it was to tell me it was time to go home.”
Forrest grinned. “Must be past your curfew.”
“I no longer have a curfew.”
“Says who?”
“Me,” she snapped, before smiling at her sister and Ty. “Forrest taught me how to bowl,” she said. “You should try it.”
Norma Rose frowned, but Ty grinned. “I haven’t bowled in a long time, but I got a glimpse of the lanes.They look good.”
“Where are your stockings?” Norma Rose asked, obviously more interested in the shoes in Twyla’s hand than the bowling lanes.
The glare in her sister’s eyes was colder than the water Twyla had used to rinse out her stockings. Evidently, her sister had forgotten the peace treaty they’d created back at the resort. Then again, Twyla wasn’t feeling overly warm and friendly herself. Forrest had to have called for someone to come and get her. She hadn’t told anyone where she was going. “In the bathroom,” she said, lifting her foot to show her bandage. “I ended up with a blister that popped and bled. I had to rinse out the blood before it stained.” She crossed the room and sat in an armchair situated diagonally from the sofa. Telling herself she’d get more bees with honey than vinegar, she added, “At least I didn’t drop a ball on my foot. They’re heavier than they look.”
“But she did throw a ball behind her and almost took out Scooter and his nephew,” Forrest said, stopping to stand behind her chair.
“He makes it sound much worse than it was,” Twyla said.
Norma Rose’s glare hadn’t diminished, and her frown increased as she looked around the room.
“There was a break-in,” Twyla said before her sister could comment. “Prior to Forrest’s arrival.”
“Did they steal anything?” Norma Rose asked, surveying the area again.
“I don’t know,” Forrest said, still standing behind her. “I hadn’t lived here for years. I had no idea what might have been missing or not. Jacob wasn’t sure, either, as he wasn’t on the upper levels very often.”
Ty was looking around, too, thoughtfully. “Looks to me like they were searching for something specific.”
Twyla glanced up at Forrest.
“Hard to say,” he said. “They could have just been vagrants.”
He’d laid a hand on her shoulder that, as wonderful as it felt, also made a tiny quiver tickle her spine. She didn’t need to love Forrest in order to help him. The creep from earlier, Nasty Nick Ludwig, knew Galen and could have been the one to break in. Thugs like him could never be trusted.
“I agree with Ty,” Twyla persisted. “I think they were looking for something specific.”
“Forrest, would you mind giving me a tour of the place?” Ty asked. “I used to bowl quite often back in New York and wouldn’t mind getting a closer look at all you’ve done here.”
Ty’s attempt to change the subject said he knew more than he was willing to share. What Ty knew, Norma Rose knew. That much, Twyla was certain of.
“Sure,” Forrest said.
As Norma Rose and Ty stood, Twyla glanced over her shoulder to ask Forrest, “Would you mind if I waited here? My heel still hurts and I don’t want to put my shoes on without stockings.”
“Your stockings won’t be dry for hours,” Norma Rose intoned.
“I know,” Twyla snapped back. Forrest’s hand was still on her shoulder and the pressure of his fingers increased, as if reminding her of what he’d said back in the coat closet at the resort. She didn’t need a reminder. Norma Rose did. “When it’s time to go home, I’ll put my shoes on without them, but until then, I don’t want to traipse up and down the stairs any more than I have to. Why don’t you wait here with me, Norma Rose?” she asked, widening her eyes. “Let the men go on the tour by themselves.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” Ty said, placing a peck on Norma Rose’s cheek. “We won’t be long.”
Norma Rose was clearly not impressed, and Twyla thought that if her teeth were clamped as tightly as her lips she probably would have bitten off the end of her tongue. Nonetheless, Norma Rose sat back down and Twyla waited until the men had left and closed the door behind them, before asking, “Why’d Forrest call you?”
“You knew he called?”
“It didn’t take much to figure out,” she said. “Why? What did he say?”
Norma Rose sat back and crossed her legs. “I don’t know. He talked to Ty. Why’d you come here? I told you to wait until I learned more information.”
“Have you found out more information?”
“No, not really.”
Twyla wasn’t sure how long the men would be gone and didn’t have time to mess around. Crossing her arms, she gave her sister a glare that said she needed more of an answer.
“I haven’t had time,” Norma Rose pointed out. “Ty said Forrest didn’t want you driving home alone. That Nick Ludwig had been here and he was afraid the thug might follow you.”
“He was here, all right.”
“We should leave,” Norma Rose said. “Get your stockings.”
“No,” Twyla said, frustrated. “I know you claim to hate Forrest, but do you? Or are you still in love with him?”
Norma Rose pinched her lips together before she hissed, “Of course I’m not in love with him. I love Ty.”
When Twyla shook her head, Norma Rose sighed.
“I am in love with Ty,” she insisted.
Twyla did believe her, but still pointed out, “Not so long ago you loved Forrest. When he returned last fall you told us all to stay away from him. Why? Did you still love him then?”
Norma Rose remained quiet for a few long moments, and the solemn look that formed on her sister’s face left Twyla wondering if she wanted to hear what Norma Rose was about to say.
“The only person I’ve told is Ty.”
Twyla’s stomach gurgled.
“I may have thought I loved Forrest at one time, but he never loved me.” Uncrossing her legs, Norma Rose leaned forward. “Galen Reynolds didn’t catch us kissing that night. Forrest had told me he was going to Harvard and that he’d probably never be back. He said I should forget all about him and find someone else to marry.”
Twyla couldn’t come up with a response. All she’d truly heard was the fact that Forrest had planned on leaving and never coming back.
Her sister stood and crossed the room to stare out the window for a minute before turning around. “Galen said we were necking and I let everyone believe it, even Father, thinking maybe he might make Forrest return.”
“Why?”
“You remember what it was like back then,” Norma Rose said. “We were so poor we didn’t even have mice in our house because there wasn’t anything for them to eat. Father worked at the brewery, but the money didn’t go far when there were so many to feed and clothe. Besides all of us, Grandma and Grandpa lived there, and Uncle Dave until he went to the war. Mother depended upon the baskets of food Karen Reynolds used to bring over when she’d drop Forrest off. You
remember them, don’t you? They held things we never got otherwise. Bananas and oranges, candies and cookies and other store-bought treats.”
The baskets must not have meant as much to her as they had to Norma Rose because Twyla really couldn’t remember them. Everyone had been poor back then, except for Forrest. It hadn’t been until Forrest had left that she realized how poor they were. Perhaps because that was when the days started to drag on. One was just like the last, with nothing to look forward to. Or perhaps she’d realized because Galen, and Norma Rose, had shouted how poor they were from the rooftops and pointed it out daily.
Norma Rose sighed heavily. “I remember them as if it was yesterday, and I remember thinking that would be me someday, bringing baskets of food home so none of you would be hungry.” She glanced around the room. “I remember dreaming about living here, too, and wearing fashionable clothes and never, ever, worrying about money.” She shrugged. “When Forrest told me he was leaving and never coming back, he stole that dream. I had nowhere else to look for it. No hope.”
Twyla could relate to Forrest’s departure stealing dreams. He’d certainly left her without any. Or at least changed the ones she’d once had.
“I was furious with Forrest,” Norma Rose said, “but eventually, I transferred that energy into thinking of ways I could make money instead of marry it. Father had started his business and I suggested we could offer the men he was dealing with places to stay at the cabins. It worked.”
It had worked. That was also when Norma Rose had become a slave driver. Twyla had been the one who’d had to clean the cabins, make the beds and wash the sheets every day before and after school. That was when she’d formed new dreams. Dreams of money, enough to hire people to make beds and wash sheets. Even when their father’s business had started to make money, her dreams had continued. The money he made all went back into the resort. The parties had started at the pavilion, too, but Norma Rose had been the only sister allowed to attend.
“You see now?” Norma Rose asked. “I never was in love with Forrest. Just his money.” She sat back down on the sofa. “And now I—we—have our own money, which is a lot more than Forrest has. He’s broke.”
“What?” Twyla asked, questioning her hearing, before her mind reacted. “Forrest isn’t broke. He has the Plantation and his airplane, and all the money his grandfather left him.”
Norma Rose shook her head. “Galen spent it all.”
“That can’t be,” Twyla insisted. “Galen went to jail for money laundering.”
“Exactly,” Norma Rose said. “Laundering counterfeit money. After he spent everything else, he got involved in making it, but no one knows exactly how or where the counterfeit money came from.”
A strange sensation made the hair on Twyla’s arms stand on end. She glanced around the room before saying, “Someone else is looking for where it came from, too.”
Chapter Ten
Forrest couldn’t believe Twyla hadn’t put up more of a fight. As meek and polite as any schoolgirl, she’d thanked him for the bowling game and readily climbed into the backseat of Norma Rose’s Cadillac.
And that had him worried. She was a fighter, but also a conniver. He had to wonder what was going on inside her pretty little head, and he was worried it involved him and his situation. Ty had confirmed Ludwig had been recently paroled, and said he’d look into the thug’s connections. As much as Forrest didn’t want the Nightingales involved, he was grateful for their affiliations. Being a former federal agent, Ty had acquaintances across the nation who had information they’d only share with other agents.
The front door opened behind Forrest and Jacob stepped out. The man said one word as his gaze wandered toward the car pulling out of the parking lot. “Telephone.”
Forrest pulled his gaze away from Norma Rose’s Cadillac and asked, “Mother?”
Jacob shook his head. “Your aunt Shirley.”
Instantly concerned, Forrest pulled open the door and went directly to his office. Shirley rarely called. He picked up the receiver lying on his desk. “This is Forrest. Aunt Shirley, are you there?”
“Yes, Forrest,” she said, quiet as a whisper even through the phone lines. “It’s good to hear your voice.”
“Yours, too,” he replied, sitting down. “Is something wrong? Is Uncle Silas all right?”
“He’s fine, we both are. Looking forward to a visit from you when you have time.”
“I’ll make it down there before long,” he said. “I promise.”
“I’m sure you will, but I didn’t call to press you into a visit,” she said softly. “I’m calling because your mother asked me to.”
“My mother?” Forrest stopped at that revelation. His mother and aunt hadn’t spoken in years.
“I was as surprised as you by the call,” Shirley said. “She’s tried to call you, but you’re never home.”
“I’ve been busy,” he responded, “and have tried calling her back.”
“I’m sure you have, darling. I thought about not calling, but felt I had to. She wants you to come and get her. In your plane.”
Forrest had no intention of leaving, but if push came to shove, he would make the flight to California. “I’ll give her a call, and I’ll be down to see you soon. Tell Uncle Silas hello from me.”
The silence on the other end of the phone said his aunt wasn’t ready to end the conversation, but he was. If his mother called her sister, things were happening in California. Things he needed to know about.
“You two take care,” he said into the receiver.
“We will,” his aunt said. “And you be careful, Forrest. You know how we felt about you coming home.”
“I know,” he said. “But it’s something I had to do.”
He said goodbye and hung up before the conversation went any further. He had no idea if his mother had told Shirley about Galen’s pending release, but he hoped not. His aunt and uncle didn’t need more worries on their plate. They’d questioned his mother’s choices for years and had tried several times to make her leave Galen.
Sitting back, Forrest glanced around the room. When he’d arrived, it had been completely torn apart. He’d assumed, since it had been Galen’s office, that people had been looking for anything of value, or opium. Now he knew it had to do with those counterfeit California banknotes. While showing Ty the bowling alley, they’d discussed how Galen had been forced out of the opium business long ago. His arrest records documented human trafficking in connection with money laundering, but trafficking didn’t hold much weight. An act had been put in place last year by the League of Nations. Ty claimed the government was only upholding the trafficking law in order to combat the influx of immigrants. Therefore, he felt the counterfeiting was the direction they had to stay focused on. Ty also said there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Galen with counterfeiting, which was why he was petitioning for release and might get it.
Slapping a hand down on his desk, Forrest fought the guilt surging inside him. If he had paid more attention when he was a kid, he’d know more now. The main thing he remembered was how the Plantation had always been full of young women. They’d filled the third floor and he’d heard them crying through the ceiling in his bedroom. He spun around in his chair, to the wall of shelves filled with various books. He’d never given the books much thought before, but now he scanned the titles. A lower shelf contained a volume that leaped out at him. The History of Money.
Forrest grabbed the book and contemplated calling his mother. He’d come to understand she was his greatest weakness, and he also knew she wouldn’t give him any answers. He knew his second greatest weakness, too. She’d just climbed into her sister’s Cadillac. Twyla hadn’t even questioned where her car had gone. Perhaps Norma Rose had told her they’d given Bronco a ride into town and he’d taken it back to the resort.
Still, Twyla—the Tw
yla he knew—would have questioned that.
“Blast it,” he growled. She was trying to throw the wool over his eyes. Grabbing the phone, he concluded he was blind enough.
When a voice on the other end answered, knowing the drill, Forrest said, “Roger Nightingale, please. It’s Forrest Reynolds, I’ll hold.”
Roger wasted no time on greetings. “Bronco just delivered Twyla’s car.”
“Was he followed?” Forrest wanted to know.
“No.”
“Twyla, Ty and Norma Rose should be there shortly.” Drawing in a breath, Forrest said, “I need a favor, Roger.”
“You name it.”
“I need a couple of men. Maybe Bronco and someone else. I’ll pay you for their time.”
“Like hell you will,” Roger said. “We’re in this together. Bronco and Tuck will be there in ten minutes. What did you discover?”
“Nothing, really,” Forrest admitted. “But Nick Ludwig was out at your place last night and he was here today. He’d been in jail with Galen.”
“Ty told me that before he and Norma Rose left,” Roger said. “I can’t say I know Ludwig, but if he was here last night, Palooka George knows him. Ninety percent of what happens around here goes through Chicago.”
“Maybe,” Forrest said, “but Galen alienated himself from that stream long ago, which is why he had to go through California.”
“That’s true,” Roger said, “but someone knows something.”
“Ludwig knows something,” Forrest said. “I need Bronco and Tuck to help search for him.”
“They’ll find him,” Roger said. “I’ll talk to George right now. I’ll let you know if I find out anything.”
“Thanks, Roger,” Forrest said.
“I know it hasn’t been easy for you, Forrest, and calling me for help wasn’t easy, either. But I’m glad you did. We’re in this together, son, and this time, I have your back. You can be sure of that.”
Roger was right. It hadn’t been easy to ask for help. If not for Twyla, and fearing what she might do, he might not have called Roger. Disconnecting that call, Forrest dialed another number and flipped open the book while waiting. After three rings a voice answered.
The Rebel Daughter (Daughters Of The Roaring Twenties Book 2) Page 16