Deadly Payoff

by Valerie Hansen

  But that wasn’t the worst of it. He’d alienated her the minute he’d attacked her beloved surfing career. No wonder she kept having doubts about him. Surfing was her life. Her passion. Riding the breakers gave her a sense of freedom that had been elusive until she’d accidentally found her calling in the warm ocean waves.

  Thank goodness she’d found out how negative Shaun felt about her surfing before she got romantically involved with him.

  Phooey, she thought, biting her lower lip. She might not be involved with Shaun the way she used to be but her heart was already long gone.

  Well, that couldn’t be helped. She’d get over him. She’d done it before and she’d do it again.

  “Oh, yeah?” she muttered, thoroughly disgusted with herself. “Yeah.”

  Shaun glanced at her. “What did you say?”

  Delia pulled a face. “Nothing. I was just talking to myself.”

  “And answering?”

  She nodded and grimaced. “Yes. And answering. I suppose that makes you think I’m as crazy as the rest of my family.”

  To her further consternation, Shaun enjoyed a subdued chuckle before he said, “No, honey. You have a long, long way to go before you’ll be that far gone.”

  ELEVEN

  Shaun could tell that the closer they got to Stoneley, the more tightly wound Delia became. She had chatted some their first day on the road home but by the second day she was either out of words or out of incentive to talk.

  He couldn’t blame her. If their roles had been reversed he doubted he’d have been very forthcoming, either. She had a lot on her plate right now.

  They broke into Maine on Highway 2 late in the afternoon. “It won’t be long now,” Shaun said.

  Delia sighed. “No. I suppose not.”

  “Want to stop for dinner or keep going?”

  “Keep going,” she answered soberly. “The sooner I get all this sorted out, the happier I’ll be.”

  “Have you decided what you’re going to do first?”

  “Kind of.” Delia shrugged and managed a smile as she glanced at him. “I’ve been going over and over everything in my mind. It’s still confusing, though.”

  “Maybe it would help to talk about it.” Waiting for her to speak, Shaun forced himself to remain quiet even though it seemed to be taking her forever to make up her mind.

  Finally, she nodded. “Okay. Maybe you’re right.” She pushed herself fully upright and rested her left knee on the seat so she could partially turn to talk to him. “We know that my mother is probably alive. At least she was a month or so ago when she phoned her parents.”

  “The Halls.”

  “Right. And then she disappeared before they could join her at their place in California.”

  “We can thank Erik Evans for that.”

  “Right again. Which is where Aunt Genie comes in. She had Mother kidnapped and then drugged her so she could take her somewhere else and hide her.”

  “Evans thought she was taking Trudy back to Westside Medical Retreat.” Shaun paused. “Are we sure she didn’t?”

  “We’re sure. If Dr. Brooks had been lying he’d have told his staff to keep some of the records from us and he didn’t do that. He told them to bring everything. Remember? We both heard him.”

  “And he was never out of our sight so he couldn’t have countermanded that order.”

  “That’s right. Plus, he was definitely surprised and upset that Genie was dead.”

  “No kidding,” Shaun agreed. “They must have had a long-standing relationship for him to have been involved with both Genie and your mother for so many years.”

  Delia nodded thoughtfully. “That’s true. My mother was his patient for nearly half her life. That is so sad. I can’t imagine how mixed-up she must be by now.”

  “She was well enough to make her way to California and look up Juliet’s father after she escaped from Westside,” Shaun reminded her. “Which means she wasn’t a total basket case—no offense intended.”

  “None taken. What has me stumped is where Mother is now. I mean, if Genie stashed her, why hasn’t she surfaced now that Genie is out of the picture?”

  “Beats me. Do you really think the Halls are involved?”

  “Because of Cymbeline? Maybe. I’m still not positive they set up the corporation just to fund my mother’s hospitalization but they’re certainly at the top of my suspect list.”

  “Is that where you plan to start? Questioning them, I mean?”

  Delia pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head. “I’m not sure. I think the first thing I’m going to do is try a computer search for Cymbeline on Google.”

  “You’ll probably turn up Shakespeare’s plays, instead.”

  “Probably. But I found the address to Genie’s New York condo on the Internet. It’s amazing what you can learn if you stick with it.”

  “What about the rest of your family? Are you going to involve them?”

  “I’d rather not,” Delia said, “although I know my sisters will want to help.” She paused and gazed meaningfully at Shaun before she added, “I’d appreciate it if you’d come with me when I confront my grandparents.”

  “Why me?”

  “Because you can be more objective. I’m afraid, if they do confess, I’ll be so upset I won’t be rational.”

  Shaun tried to lift her mood. “You want me to use my martial arts moves on them if they don’t talk?”

  To his relief, Delia grinned. “Knock it off, Murphy. I’m trying to be serious here.”

  “Maybe a bit too serious,” he countered. “It sounds to me like you’re borrowing trouble.”

  That brought a cynical chuckle. “Hah! In my family we don’t have to borrow trouble, it shows up on its own.” She sobered. “You know, I can’t help wondering if all this grief can’t be laid at Grandfather Howard’s doorstep. He has a legacy of backstabbing and double-dealing that goes all the way back to his youth. Look at what happened to Aunt Winnie.”

  Puzzled, Shaun frowned. “Your Aunt Winnie? What’s wrong with her?”

  “Nothing, now. But Howard ruined her chances for happiness with Tate Connelly when she was much younger. They were head over heels in love many years ago, but my grandfather used his power and influence to rip them apart. Thanks to Tate’s nephew Brandon and my sister Juliet, Winnie and Tate have finally started seeing each other again.”

  Shaun shook his head and blew out a noisy breath. “There you go again. You’ve lost me. Maybe I will need that program of characters and their histories that you promised, after all.”

  “Naw, you’ll get used to it. Hang around Blanchard manor long enough and it will all start to make sense.”

  He concentrated on his driving instead of offering a reply. He didn’t see any reason to be blunt with Delia and tell her he hoped to never again set foot in that miserable house she used to call home. The door repair was finished…and he was finished with the Blanchards.

  Except for one, he added, gritting his teeth. Delia had asked for his help once more and he’d given it. But after he’d accompanied her to confront the Halls, he was done.

  Might as well count on that, he told himself. After all, when Delia was through needing him she probably wouldn’t give him a second thought. She’d escape to Hawaii the way she always did and leave Maine and its problems far behind. That had been her pattern for years and he couldn’t imagine she’d change it.

  In a way, he envied her ability to walk away from conflict. The part that hurt was the ease with which she’d walked away from him and their marriage.

  Letting her mind wander as she took her turn behind the wheel of the SUV, Delia wondered what else Shaun would have to say if she told him about the close scrapes her sisters had endured lately. Of course, in a tight-knit community like Stoneley some of those facts were already common knowledge but since Shaun hadn’t been back in town very long, he probably didn’t know the half of it. And when he did find out all that had been happening to the Blanchar
ds he’d most likely be more than thankful to no longer be related, even by marriage.

  She viewed herself as the most normal of her siblings but that wasn’t saying much. Miranda, the oldest of her sisters, was agoraphobic and prone to panic attacks. Bianca was painfully shy in spite of her successful legal career. Rissa was clinically depressed and, after coming face-to-face with the masked murderer who’d killed her aunt in cold blood, had erroneously believed that she was losing her mind. In the traumatic aftermath of the murder she had barely escaped being the victim of violent crime. Portia had almost lost her life in a botched kidnapping and Juliet had been poisoned. What a family!

  What a family to become a part of, Delia added sadly as they drove into Stoneley. No wonder Shaun was trying so hard to keep his distance. He must count their dissolved marriage among his biggest blessings. Not only was her family background filled with turbulence and misfortune, she’d chosen a career that put her in danger over and over, as he’d so cavalierly reminded her. Where she saw freedom and excitement, Shaun saw unnecessary hazards.

  If they had still been married he would undoubtedly have tried to stop her from following her dream of surfing competitively and perhaps their marriage would have failed, anyway. It wasn’t a pleasant thought but it did help her cope with the feelings of deep loss that kept darkening her normally optimistic outlook.

  “A penny for your thoughts?” he said, rousing her from her reverie.

  Delia shook her head and managed a slight smile. “Not for a million dollars.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  “No. Just private.” She changed the subject. “We’re almost there. I’ll drop you at your dad’s.”

  “Want me to get the truck and follow you home? Make sure you get there all right?”

  “Of course not.”

  “You don’t have to snap at me.”

  “I didn’t snap. I just don’t see why you keep inferring that I can’t take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for years.”

  “Except for the times when I rescued you.”

  “That was different. Erik Evans isn’t going to bother me again.”

  “No, but you are going back to that big old house where strange things keep happening.”

  Delia huffed. “No stranger than usual. I grew up there, remember? Besides, I’m not staying long.”

  “What about your mother? Aren’t you going to hang around Stoneley long enough to figure out what happened to her?”

  “I’d like to but I really can’t. I only have one regular employee at my surf shop and I’m the resident expert. If I’m not there to teach, I may as well close the doors.” She pulled a face. “Besides, Mother has been gone for most of my life. I can’t afford to spend another twenty-plus years searching for her with no guarantee I’ll ever find her.”

  “I suppose that is logical.”

  “Unfortunately.”

  “So, you’ll be leaving soon?”

  “As soon as we visit the Halls and make sure we’re not missing something there.”

  She could tell by Shaun’s strained expression that he was sorry he’d promised to go with her.

  He scrubbed his hands over his face and raked his fingers through his thick, dark hair before heaving a sigh. “Okay. Say when and I’ll come pick you up.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Delia replied. “I’ll let you know when and where the meeting will be after I get it all arranged. You can meet me there.”

  “Are you afraid of me, Dee?” he asked, his voice so full of unspoken emotion that it made every one of her nerve endings tingle.

  Her head snapped around. “Don’t be silly.”

  Shaun was the only person she had ever permitted to shorten her name and hearing him do it for the first time in years sent an additional shiver up her spine. This whole mess was getting way out of hand. She might not be able to control her family or anyone else but she could control herself. And by doing that, she could limit her exposure to Shaun. It didn’t help that she craved his companionship to a depth she couldn’t begin to understand. All she had to go on was her gut-level certainty that she had to get away from him and stay away, at all costs.

  So why had she asked him to accompany her to confront her grandparents? Because there was no one else whose good sense and honesty she trusted more in that particular situation. Besides, she wasn’t about to involve her sisters or Aunt Winnie and place them in a difficult social position. They would most likely have to interact with the Halls on a regular basis, while she’d be safely out of reach on Oahu. If her probing of her grandparents’ finances didn’t go well, Delia didn’t want the others to suffer for her lack of discretion.

  She chanced a sidelong glance at Shaun as she approached his father’s shop. Although he wasn’t looking at her there was still a powerful aura about him that shook her to the core. He’d faced front, folded his arms across his broad chest and was pretending to pay no attention to her.

  How did she know he wasn’t really ignoring her? The same way she knew when there was a shark in the area where she was paddling her board. She felt the undercurrent of risk, the sense of heightened awareness. Call it a sixth sense, or even divine intervention, but Delia knew better than to ignore niggling warnings like that.

  It wasn’t a question of believing that Shaun presented the same kind of danger a hungry shark might. Sharks were a passing hazard at best. Shaun was an ever-present challenge to both her heart and mind. She wanted…she needed to be near him.

  Now that she’d had a taste of what it was like to enjoy his companionship again, she knew it would be much more difficult to go back to her old life, her solitary ways. The men she had dated since moving to Oahu had seemed so inconsequential and lacking that she’d never wanted to take those other relationships past the casual acquaintance stage. Now, she knew why.

  Delia blinked rapidly, hoping to clear her head and banish the enlightenment she’d just experienced. Clearly, no other man had captured her heart because no other man had even begun to measure up to Shaun Murphy.

  Such a simple truth. And yet such a sad one.

  Delia wasn’t looking forward to the inquisition she knew she’d face the moment she entered Blanchard manor. To her relief, only Winnie noted her late arrival.

  They shared a brief hug, then Delia asked, “Is Father home?”

  “No. He’s gone to the hospital.”

  “Is Grandfather worse?”

  “No, no. Come up to my suite. We’ll have tea and I’ll tell you all about it while you fill me in on your trip.” Winnie patted Delia’s hand and led the way up the stairs to her private, second-floor apartment.

  That suggestion suited Delia. She’d always preferred the atmosphere of love and peace in Aunt Winnie’s private wing of the enormous house. Winnie’s sitting room was elegant but not ostentatious and the ocean view from her sunporch was stunning, even in bad weather.

  Moreover, there was a sense of sanctuary in those rooms. There always had been. When the sisters returned to Stoneley, for whatever reasons, they seemed to congregate there more than anywhere else. When they had been children and frightening storms had reminded them of the night their mother had disappeared, they had fled to Winnie for refuge, knowing she would take them in and comfort them with soft words, warm hugs and heartfelt prayers.

  In a way, we’re still doing that, Delia reasoned. It was good to have a safe port in a storm even if that storm had nothing to do with the weather outside.

  As Delia made herself comfortable on the settee she heard Winnie speaking into the intercom. “We’ll take tea for two in my sitting room, Sonya. Have Andre make some finger sandwiches and bring us a nice dessert, too.”

  Delia smiled. Good thing Shaun wasn’t here to object to her diet. She focused her smile on her beloved aunt as the older woman joined her. “Thank you. I could eat a little. Sorry I got here too late for supper.”

  “We haven’t kept to much of a schedule since Father’s hospitalization,” Winnie said, referr
ing to Howard. “He was very sick. We almost lost him.”

  “Miranda told me he was stable and improving every time I phoned.”

  “By that time, I imagine he was.” Winnie folded her hands gracefully in her lap. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this but I think it’s only fair that all you girls know. The police suspect that your grandfather’s overdose was not unintentional after all. They’re pretty sure he was deliberately poisoned.”

  “What?” Delia leaned closer and laid her hand over Winnie’s clasped fingers. They were icy cold. “What makes them think that?”

  “A combination of things. There weren’t many potassium pills gone when they checked his prescription bottles so they doubt he mistakenly made himself ill the way they’d initially thought. Their conclusion is that his overdose had to have occurred on purpose.”

  “But who would do such a thing?”

  “A better question is, who had access?” Winnie said.

  “Besides the family, you mean?”

  Winnie sighed and shrugged. “As much as it pains me to say it, I think the police are including the family.”

  “They wouldn’t! Not with Portia and Rissa both planning to marry members of the department.”

  “You can’t blame Mick or Drew,” Winnie cautioned. “We certainly wouldn’t expect them to try to protect anyone who was guilty.”

  “Of course not. But there must be another explanation. Who else had access to Grandfather Howard’s room the day he got so sick?”

  “Ah, there’s where it gets interesting,” Winnie said. “Your father and I were having lunch in the dining room with his executive assistant, Barbara Sanchez, when Alannah Stafford barged in and started screaming at him. She said some really dreadful things. The noise brought Sonya and Andre out of the kitchen. Peg, too.”

  Delia’s brow knit, remembering. “That’s right. Miranda told me Peg wasn’t with Grandfather when he was taken ill.”