“You just love bailing me out of jail,” he teased back, making her feel a bit better that he was taking some of this in stride.
“I paid those lawyers a fortune. They should at least earn it.”
Gabe leaned down and kissed her. “How about we just ignore whoever shows up at your place and finish what we came here to do.”
“I don’t really want to go home,” she admitted.
Gabe hugged her to his side.
“Sam, I want to know everything that you find at Rose’s place.”
“Agents are on their way over with a warrant now. We’ll know soon.”
Gabe touched her cheek. “Do you think that’s why he didn’t get rid of your mother’s things when he moved in?”
“He’s one sick son of a bitch,” she confirmed. “Lela and I stayed clear of his room, so I assumed the stuff was still in there. I never guessed he had a real-life Barbie to play my mother.”
After that bombshell, everyone in the car remained silent for the rest of the ride.
Sam scanned the crowd in front of her building and swore. “Gabe, you ready for this?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“You get out first, followed by Ella. I’ll come out behind her and follow you into the building. The other agent will make sure no one follows us in. Keep moving through the crowd to the door. Don’t stop.”
“Got it,” Gabe confirmed.
“Okay, here we go,” Sam said.
Ella was used to photogs taking pictures of her out with friends, but this was altogether different. They shouted questions and crushed in on them the moment they got out of the car. Gabe kept a firm grip on her hand and led her through the throng of people.
She stopped on the steps and tugged Gabe’s hand to make him stop with her. Sam slammed into her back. “Wait.”
“Ella, this is not a good idea. This is an ongoing investigation. You don’t want to say anything that might compromise the case,” Sam said.
“I won’t, but they need to get one thing straight.” She turned and faced the crowd. Gabe stood at her back, giving her all the support she needed to do this one small thing for her sister.
The shouting continued. One question after another, no one really understanding what was going on, but speculating about the stunning scene she’d made at the press conference. Gabe let out a screaming whistle behind her and everyone shut up, stunned to silence.
One reporter she recognized from a local TV station, who hadn’t quite made her mark and reported on some rather mundane fluff pieces. Ella focused on her.
“Is it true your uncle orchestrated your father’s plane crash and killed your sister?” the reporter boldly asked. At least she was up to speed on what happened at the press conference.
“Yes. My uncle murdered my sister, Lela. He, law enforcement, and other key people covered it up and tried to frame me for her murder.”
“Where have you been? Why are you just coming forward now?”
Ella ignored the question of where she’d been, well aware of the interest everyone showed in Gabe. Several people shouted questions, asking about him over the reporter she spoke directly to.
“I returned home today with the evidence I uncovered over the last weeks. More facts will come out tomorrow, but I want people to know my sister was a beautiful, kind, gentle woman who didn’t deserve what happened to her, or the brutal way my uncle killed her.” Choked up, she turned into Gabe’s chest. He immediately wrapped her in his arms.
“Sir, what is your relationship with Ms. Wolf?”
Gabe stiffened. She leaned back and looked over her shoulder at the reporter who’d been interested in the facts of her sister’s murder, but knew viewers would want the dirt on the gorgeous man with her. “He’s my . . .” “Boyfriend” didn’t encompass what Gabe meant to her. He was so much more than someone she dated. Which they hadn’t really done. He wasn’t just a lover either. “He’s mine,” she said, looking up at him. His dark eyes narrowed with an intensity that made her breath catch. His arms pulled her tight to his big body and she melted against him.
The throng of paparazzi exploded with another round of questions, but Gabe pulled her through the front door of her building and into the lobby. The doorman, Sam, and the other agent stood in front of the doors, blocking everyone else from following her inside. Gabe hit the button for the elevator and held her close. She wiped the tears from her eyes. Ever the gentleman, Gabe let her enter the elevator first. She hit the button for the top floor.
The second the doors closed, he pulled her into his arms. This wasn’t a kiss. It was a devouring. By the time the elevator doors opened they were completely lost in each other.
Gabe wrenched away and allowed her to pass him and step out of the elevator. Her breath came as short as his. She led the way to her door. He stopped her with his hand over hers on the knob.
“Did you mean what you said downstairs?”
She smiled and looked up at him, placing her hands on his chest. “With my whole heart.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself.
“Don’t worry, Gabe. It’s going to work out. I just need you to hold on longer.”
“Always,” he said, taking her hand.
Ella stepped into her home for the first time since she’d left. She stood in the marble entry with the bright crystal chandelier overhead and stared past the men sitting on the living room sofa drinking coffee, and Mary and Felicity, sitting in the two chairs adjacent to the closed library doors. She froze, the memories flooding her mind. She took a step back and slammed into Gabe’s chest. His strong hands clamped onto her shoulders and squeezed. His warm breath fluttered across her cheek and he whispered, “Breathe.”
She sucked in a ragged breath, and the overwhelming fear and anguish subsided.
“Your house is amazing, sweetheart. The view . . . there aren’t words.”
Ella stared across the room at the massive windows that overlooked Central Park. She stared at the stars and sucked in another breath, leaning back against Gabe, taking in the strength of him backing her up.
“Ella,” Mary said. “You’re home.”
Yes, where Lela died in that room. Gone. Forever. The tears came again.
Mary came forward with Felicity on her heels. They hugged her, despite the fact Gabe still held her hand. She took in their comfort, but couldn’t return it, completely lost in the misery of what happened.
Mary and Felicity stood back, staring at her. Gabe turned and stood in front of her, blocking her view of the room. His warm hands came up and cupped her face, making her look at him.
“You’re okay, sweetheart. Lela isn’t here. Your uncle is in jail. Breathe.”
She clamped her hands on his wrists and held tight. “I’m okay.”
“You sure?”
She gave him a quick nod. “Don’t let go.”
“Never.”
“Um, Ella, who’s your friend?” Felicity asked. The young woman had been on the household staff for several years. She kept the house clean and ran errands for her and Lela.
Ella never took her gaze from Gabe. “This is Gabe Bowden. I brought him back with me from Montana.”
Gabe smiled down at her. “Am I like a souvenir?”
“More like a dream come true.” Her words came out soft, just for him.
His gaze blazed down at her, and she felt the heat.
“Ms. Wolf. We’re with the FBI. Sam Turner asked us to meet him here with the warrant,” one of the men from the sofa stepped forward to address her.
“Ready?” Gabe asked, kissing her on the forehead.
Yeah, she was ready to keep going and get this done. She gave Gabe’s wrists another squeeze. He let her go, stepping back and allowing her to take the lead again.
“Felicity, our bags are down in the car. Please bring them up and put them in my room. Mary, Gabe and I haven’t eaten in some time. Please make him a snack and get him a beer.” She turned to the men waiting.
“May I please see the warrant.”
Felicity went out the door. Mary rushed back to the kitchen.
She read the warrant. Sam came in behind her with several other people with forensics patches on the back of their jackets.
“Ella, can you get us into the safe?”
She turned for the stairs. “You bet your ass I can.” She marched up the stairs and down the corridor, only hesitating a moment outside Lela’s open bedroom door.
“Your room?” Sam asked.
“No. Lela’s,” Gabe said, taking her hand and leading her on. “Which one, honey?”
“Past my room at the end.”
With everyone focused on her, she stood before the massive ornate wood doors and closed her eyes, thinking of her parents’ room, the way it looked before her uncle came here, and remembered how she and Lela would run down the hall, throw the doors open wide, and run in and jump on their parents’ bed to wake them up. Each of them would be pulled down between their parents, hugged, and tickled. They’d giggle and laugh. She’d felt so loved and safe.
“Ella?”
“I haven’t been in this room since my parents died.”
“You can wait out here if you’d like,” Sam suggested.
“You can do this, Ella,” Gabe encouraged.
She put her hands on the knobs, turned, and pushed the doors wide. “Oh. My. God.”
“What?” Gabe asked.
“Nothing has changed. This is exactly what the room looked like when my parents lived here. Well, almost.”
Ella stared at the lavender walls, deep purple cover on the four-poster bed, the antique dressers, and her mother’s collection of antique mirrors. Several ornate silver hand mirrors lay on the dresser along with her mother’s crystal perfume bottles. No fewer than ten pictures of her mother were scattered about the walls and tabletops.
“Honey, I know you said your dad adored your mother, but seriously, this is a bit much,” Gabe said, staring around the room.
“Uncle Phillip’s obsessed with her.” She could not believe her eyes. “Jeez. This is just bizarre.” She turned her focus back to the daunting task ahead. “Sam, there are several missing watercolors worth a fortune.”
“I’ll need the paperwork.”
“It’s with the insurance stuff. Let’s check the safe.” She walked to the closet door and hesitated, turning to glance at Gabe. “I’m afraid what I’ll find in here.”
“More creepy,” he suggested. “It can’t get worse than him killing your sister, dating a woman who he dressed up as your mother, and sleeping in a room where no matter where you look your mother is staring back at you. Didn’t Felicity or Mary say anything to you about this?”
“No. They weren’t allowed in here. Lee worked exclusively for my uncle. He preferred it that way.”
“To keep his secretes. Where is Lee?”
She turned to Sam. “You might want to find him.”
“On it,” one of the other agents said, leaving the room.
Ella sucked in a deep breath and opened the double doors to the walk-in closet. The air whooshed out of her with relief. Nothing strange awaited her. Her mother’s cheval mirror stood in the corner. An ornate decorative wood carving stood atop a chest of drawers. Her uncle’s suits and clothes hung around the room, his shoes lined up on the shelves. Her mother’s things were in fact missing.
“Where’s the safe?” Sam asked.
She walked to the six-foot-tall painting on the wall.
“At least your uncle kept one of the paintings,” Gabe commented.
“He couldn’t get rid of this one. It’s bolted to the wall.” She opened the drawer next to the painting and rubbed her finger along the upper edge of the frame, feeling for the button. She pressed it and the lever behind the painting clicked and the painting popped from the wall on the left side. She swung the frame wide, revealing the huge safe behind it.
Sam opened a folder behind her and stepped forward, pointing to the combination noted in the papers from her lawyer about her parents’ original will. He spun the dial and stopped at each of the three numbers, turned the handle, and opened the heavy door, revealing the contents inside. Stacks of cash, files, her father’s watches, cuff links, and tie tacks and clips. Sam pulled out the trays to reveal her mother’s jewelry, but most of it was missing. She remembered the trays full of sparkling gems in a rainbow of colors.
“Lela and I used to love to play dress-up in our mother’s clothes and jewels. Now, some bitch is doing it and acting a part for that bastard.” She turned to Sam. “I want it all back.”
“You’ll get it,” he assured her.
“I don’t see the locket he took from my sister’s body. It’s got to be here.” She left the small room to the FBI agents and stood in the middle of her parents’ old bedroom.
She stared around the room at all the photos of her mother, which led her to the ornate carved box on the table by the window. She opened the lid and discovered her mother’s collection of drawings and paintings she and Lela had done as children. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she sorted through the pages. “She kept them. It makes me sad and happy at the same time to know she kept these.”
“She loved you and Lela. I’m pretty sure my mom has a bunch of my school stuff too.” Gabe hugged her from behind and glanced at the pictures with her. “I don’t think any of mine are of flowers.”
“No, cowboy, they’re probably all of horses.”
“Like yours,” he pointed to the picture she’d drawn in probably second grade, of her atop a brown horse. She’d drawn a tiara on her head.
“Most girls dream of a knight in shining armor atop a horse come to save them. Not you, honey, you’re already a princess, ready to ride off all by yourself. You don’t need no stinkin’ knight.”
Unable to help herself, she laughed. “Doesn’t mean I don’t want a cowboy all my own.” She turned and kissed his cheek, but caught the worry in his eyes that despite all they shared, they still wouldn’t be together.
She put the pictures back in the box and closed the lid. She turned and stared at the room again and tried to think like her uncle. By all outward appearances, everything looked in its place. Like him. Perfectly crisp suit and shirt with ties that gave him just enough flair. Cuff links and tie tacks to showcase his wealth, but not too much to put people off. The outside hid what was within.
Drawn to the French wardrobe, she pulled the double doors open. Here was the man within. Several candle holders surrounded a picture of her naked mother, standing by a bank of windows, the light highlighting her body. She had her arms raised to her hair, a clip in her fingers.
“Wow! How do you think he got that shot?” Gabe asked.
Ella pushed the framed photo over, hiding the picture. “I don’t want to know. If memory serves, that is the master bedroom in the Paris apartment. It looks like she was putting her hair up to take a bath.”
“Peeping through the door and taking pictures of her.”
Outraged, she clenched her fingers into tight fists at her sides. “There’s got to be a special place in hell for someone like him. Jail is too good for that asshole. How dare he do that.”
The photo might have caught her attention, but the wood box with the solid gold wolf on the lid held it. “Sam, check this out.”
Sam stepped around her and pulled the box out with his gloved hands. He set it on the table next to the bed and a vase of her mother’s favorite white lilies. He tried to open the lid, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Puzzle box?” Gabe asked.
“I think so,” she said. “It probably belonged to my father, though I don’t remember it.”
“You guys have a screwdriver or something we can use to pry this box open, Sam?”
“No! I’m not ruining this box. Give me a second to figure it out.”
“Ella, it’s just a box.”
“It was my dad’s.”
Sam handed her a pair of latex gloves. “Put these on. Anything you find
in there is evidence. I don’t want you to compromise it.”
Ella put on the gloves and studied the box. In the end, she found the box gave up its contents easily by pushing the wolf’s tail down. A latch clicked open and the top popped. “No wonder Uncle Phillip used this one. It’s probably the simplest puzzle box my father owned.”
Ella lifted the lid, knowing what she’d find, but feeling the punch to the gut all the same. She pulled out her sister’s bloodstained locket.
Gabe wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
Ella placed the locket in the evidence bag Sam held out to her. She reached in and pulled out the silver and black Beretta twenty-two pistol, removed the magazine, pulled the slide, and checked the chamber. She counted three bullets in the magazine.
“Sam, how many times was Mr. Reiser shot in the mugging?” she asked.
“Four, why?”
“Plus one used to shoot the airplane mechanic’s wife in the head. Three bullets left in the magazine that holds seven.” Ella sighed.
“Plus one in the chamber,” Gabe added. “There’s your five shots. That’s the murder weapon.”
“I’ll have the team run ballistics to verify the bullets from those two murders match the gun,” Sam said.
Ella put it in the evidence box Sam handed her from one of the evidence techs.
The purple leather-bound book drew her attention. She pulled it out and opened the cover, her mother’s pretty script scrawled across the pages.
“Your mother’s diary?” Gabe asked.
“Yes.” Ella flipped through the pages to the end. She turned the book toward Gabe.
“What’s with all the gibberish?”
“Code.”
“Another puzzle?”
“My parents had a secret code to write love letters, so no one but the two of them knew what they said.”
“Can you decipher it?” Gabe asked.
Sam handed her his small notebook and a pen. It took her several tries to remember the key to the code, but once she got it started, the rest came easily.
“Phillip wants to own me as he wants to own all Stuart built. He killed my husband. He’ll kill me, too, to get what he really wants. But it will never be his. I will lure him to the estate, and I will finish him to save my girls. I love you Ella and Lela with my whole heart.”
At Wolf Ranch Page 26