Bram looked startled. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Come on, Hayley,” he said more loudly. “I want to get out of here before that rain comes in. It’s already starting to get dark out, so it must be on the way.”
Gavin touched her shoulder as they watched Bram and Hayley leave. “Was that announcement your way of giving me an answer?”
Leigh met his gaze. “No. It was expedient.”
“Expedient. Interesting word choice. So, your answer is no?”
She gave her head a shake. “I thought lawyers were supposed to understand fine distinctions.”
“Sorry, I’m feeling dense right now.”
“You told me to think about it. Us. So, I’m thinking about it.”
For what felt like an eternity, he didn’t respond. “Fair enough.”
There was a tentative knock on the kitchen door before it swung open and Wyatt stepped back inside.
“I thought you left,” Gavin said.
“No, I’ll be here most of the night. We’re trying to get the scene under cover before it starts to rain. I saw Hayley and Bram leave and was wondering about you.”
“All right if we hang around for a while? Leigh needs to collect some papers and files—things we need to go over. We can run them past you first if you want.”
Wyatt gave him a steady look. Leigh kept her features as inscrutable as possible.
“I can’t let you take anything that might pertain to the case, Gavin.”
“I want my mother’s murder solved more than you do,” Leigh said forcefully. “The last thing I’m going to do is conceal potential evidence. We only want to look at some of my grandfather’s papers. Since he died before my mother even disappeared, I hardly think they’re relevant to your investigation, but if it turns out they are, you’ll be the first to know.”
Wyatt searched her face as if he knew she was hiding something. His nod was slow in coming. “All right, Leigh. Let one of the officers know when you’re ready to leave.”
THE FOOLS HAD BEEN caught.
Nolan cursed through his panic as he sped away from his vantage point overlooking Pepperton Farms. They would talk, of course, they were bound to. He was glad now that he’d hired them over the telephone. It had cost him a precious ten thousand dollars for nothing, but at least they couldn’t identify him.
There was bound to be an investigation into the horse now. Nolan felt everything closing in on him. He should have approached someone else, only there hadn’t been time to search for anyone else. The two men had worked there. They knew horses and they both had a grudge against Pepperton Farms and Martin in particular. The little guy was a friend of the groom’s, an ex-jockey running to fat. Nolan had been lucky to find them in the first place. There was no way he could have known they’d be so incompetent. If he could have done the job himself, he would have, but horses were big and they had teeth for biting and hooves for stomping.
He’d never forget the sound of that horse’s hooves hitting Martin’s flesh as he’d left the barn that morning. The memory made him shudder every time he thought about it. He never wanted to get that close to a horse again.
Nolan thought of a few more choice words and used them.
He was scared. The acrid taste of fear was bitter in his mouth. He wanted to howl in rage and frustration. He couldn’t eat and he couldn’t sleep. Leigh Thomas was a threat to his very existence. The only way to deal with a threat was to eliminate it. He should have done that from the start.
Nolan rubbed tiredly at his eyes and thought about Martin’s gun. If he shot Leigh and put the gun in Jarret’s car, the cops might buy a lover’s quarrel. Even if they didn’t, there would be no way to tie her murder to him. It was the only thing left to do.
Except, the whole idea made him sweat. Ironic, really. He was already responsible for three other deaths, yet he was afraid to kill one small woman.
Because the other deaths had all been accidents. Killing Leigh would be a deliberate act.
He had no choice! It was her or him. His family’s wealth and connections wouldn’t be enough to keep him out of jail this time. Not if the cops realized he’d shot Martin or caused that gas leak. Leigh had to die.
He turned his car in the direction of Heartskeep. There was supposed to be a back road to the estate somewhere off one of the side roads between Heartskeep and the Walken place. It wasn’t marked and he wasn’t sure exactly where the road was, but he wouldn’t be seen if he could find the entrance.
Of course, the road was probably an overgrown mess. He’d just had his car cleaned and waxed. The low-slung sports car wouldn’t be able to handle anything too challenging. He should drive to the car dealership he’d just purchased and borrow another truck or SUV, but now that he’d made up his mind to do this, he didn’t want to wait. Every second he delayed brought him that much closer to total ruin.
If the road looked bad, he’d leave the car and walk in. That was a better plan anyhow. No point taking the risk of getting stuck. He’d park where the car couldn’t be seen and walk to the estate. If Leigh wasn’t there, he’d wait. Sooner or later she’d show up. She always did.
If only the rain would hold off just a little bit longer.
Chapter Thirteen
“That was good thinking, telling Wyatt the files belonged to your grandfather,” Gavin praised.
“It’s the truth. At least, I think it is.”
“We’ll need a flashlight.”
“There should be one in that kitchen drawer,” Leigh told him. Only there wasn’t. “Well, I have one in my bedroom.”
“All right.” Gavin started for the back stairs and stopped, obviously remembering her dislike of them.
“It’s okay,” she told him. “I’ll never be comfortable on them, but I can handle it.” Especially if Gavin was with her.
“I don’t think there are too many things you can’t handle,” he told her.
Warmth suffused her.
“Leigh, do you trust me?”
“Yes. Why?”
He smiled. “I trust you, too. Let’s go before Wyatt comes back.”
Wondering what that was all about, she followed him up the dark, narrow stairs. At the landing, he paused.
“Hold up a minute.”
She watched him run his hands along the dark wood.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for a second entrance onto the balconies. And I’m guessing… Yep. There it is.”
Leigh peered up and down the hall nervously as a section of wall swung inward beneath his hand.
“We’ve lived here all our lives and we never knew this was here. How lame is that?”
“You weren’t supposed to know.”
“I still feel stupid.”
Reluctant, yet also curious, she followed him onto the balcony and caught her breath. The dining room stretched below, lit only by the fading light from the skylights overhead.
“It’s so strange.” She whispered, even though there was no need to whisper. Heights had never bothered her before, but this felt disorienting, even eerie. A cold chill settled in the pit of her stomach.
“Be careful,” Gavin cautioned. “There’s a step down to the railing.”
He showed her, walking over to peer over the side. Leigh drew blood, digging her nails into her palms to keep from ordering him back. Above them, the scudding clouds continued to turn the day to early twilight.
“We should have left lights on down there.”
Leigh had never been any good at hiding her emotions. She knew her desire to leave was written all over her. Gavin frowned.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“We should get the flashlight.” The open space around them was growing darker by the second. The clouds were changing from gray to black, filling the skylight above their heads.
“All right. Just let me show you how to open this door.”
Leigh bit her lip to keep from telling him she didn’t care. A sense of impending danger filled her. She tol
d herself she was simply reacting to the sudden barometric drop in pressure. She always had reacted strongly to storms even as a child.
Anxious, almost desperate to be away from there, she let him show her the all but invisible depression that triggered the door. She opened it, then closed it again quickly to show him she understood how the mechanism worked.
“What do you want to bet that was modeled after the original design?”
Leigh didn’t care. She wanted to go. She wanted light. She wanted away from here. But Gavin was studying the wall next to the staircase. He ran his fingers over the paneling on one side and then the other.
“What are you doing?” She could no longer contain her agitation.
“The wall’s too thick.”
“What?”
“Unless the fireplace has a double flue—one on either side of this landing—then the wall is too thick over here.”
He tapped both sides, listening hard. Finally, he returned to the side next to the stairs. “The chimney flue is opposite the stairs. So what do we have next to the staircase?”
“Gavin, it’s getting really dark.”
He ran his fingers carefully over the paneling. “I thought as much. Got it.”
Leigh didn’t have to ask what “it” was. The wall beside the staircase opened without a sound to reveal a second, much narrower set of stairs. She didn’t know why Gavin couldn’t hear the pounding of her heart from where he was standing. Only, he wasn’t simply standing. With a smile of satisfaction, he stepped inside.
“What are you doing? You aren’t going down there!”
“Don’t you want to see where the stairs lead?”
Absolutely not! Every fiber of her body was screaming at her to get away from here.
“Aha!”
A single, weak lightbulb perched above a minuscule landing part of the way down these much narrower, much steeper stairs.
“I figured if the room R.J. found had electricity, this would too.”
“It’s a staircase for skinny midgets.”
Gavin grinned up at her. “I believe the politically correct terminology is ‘little people’.”
“Okay, fine. You found a staircase for slender little people. Can we go now?”
Like the hidden room, the walls were unfinished, which didn’t make them the least bit inviting.
“We’ll have to go single file, obviously. Want to bet these were originally part of the back staircase?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him she didn’t care. She wasn’t about to go down those steps, but Gavin was already heading for the landing. He was like a kid at Christmas. Couldn’t he sense the wrongness here?
“Now, that’s interesting,” he said, pausing on the landing.
Leigh fought her common sense and stepped inside. The strain of the past few days was getting to her. Gavin would think she was an idiot if she told him she couldn’t do this. She started down. The door closed at her back.
“Gavin! The door closed!”
“No problem. There’s another one here at the bottom. Hey, are you okay?”
She shook her head mutely. Panic held her motionless. Her heart was thudding so fast it felt as if it might explode.
“Leigh? Are you claustrophobic?”
She couldn’t answer. She couldn’t breathe. He swore softly and started back up to her.
“Take my hand.”
“I can’t.”
He stared at her.
“Look at me.”
His eyes were all she could see.
“You said you trusted me.”
“Oh, God.” Somehow, she found the ability to hold out her hand.
“That’s right. Keep looking at me. You’re okay.”
“I can’t…breathe.”
“Sure you can. You’re breathing just fine. Come on. We’re going to be careful because the stairs after the landing are pitched even more. Whoever designed this didn’t have a lot of room to work in. I wonder what it was originally used for.”
Leigh didn’t care. If he hadn’t taken her hand, she doubted she would have made it down the stairs. It was all she could do not to hyperventilate. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was claustrophobic. She never had liked small places.
At the bottom, he pulled her into his arms. She laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes, breathing deeply of his scent.
“I’m sorry,” Gavin said contritely against her hair. “I didn’t realize.”
She lifted her head and offered him a tremulous smile. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”
“You’re a lot better than okay, Leigh. There’s a door right here, see? It must exit next to the dining-room fireplace.”
She focused on his words, glad that he didn’t release her completely when he turned to show her the door.
“There’re built-in shelves there,” she managed to say.
“I remember. Bookcases always hid the secret entrances in old horror movies.”
“And the hero and heroine usually discover the secret passage right before the bad guy shows up.”
Gavin tilted up her chin and kissed her lightly.
“This isn’t a movie. But you’re the bravest person I know.”
“Just goes to prove you need to get out more,” she replied and was rewarded by the flash of his grin.
“Do you want to see where this passage leads, or go out into the dining room?”
He released her to look along the wall until he found another wall switch. Another weak light flickered to life at the end of the narrow passage.
“There’s another room!”
Gavin nodded. “Right above us is the upstairs landing.”
“But why is this here?” She followed him in the space. “I mean, why would someone hide a room here? What could it have been used for?”
“Beats me. Your ancestors weren’t into smuggling, were they?”
“Not that I know about.” Her heart was still racing, but the dreadful sense of panic was fading away.
“There’s stuff on those shelves under the stairs. Look. Even a wine rack.” He lifted a dusty bottle and blew on the label.
“That’s the dinner wine my grandfather used to like.”
The shelves held much of the family silver, she realized. Most was carefully wrapped and labeled. The large chafing dish and a pair of silver candelabra sat unwrapped, dark with tarnish. Leigh moved closer. The large silver chest that held the silverware sat on the floor next to the wine.
“At least we know Eden didn’t steal the family silver.”
“Not yet,” he agreed. “Or at least, not all of it. But someone’s been in here recently.”
He pointed down. Leigh saw a path had been worn in the dust. She followed the trail to the corner and the outline of another door.
“Must lead to the kitchen,” Gavin said.
“Not just the kitchen, the pantry. Remember when Mrs. Norwhich thought she saw someone close the pantry door?”
“You’re right.”
While Gavin examined the exit, Leigh’s gaze was caught and held by something that gleamed brightly on one of the shelves. She uttered a soft cry and reached for the small gold treasure chest.
“What’s that?”
He’d opened the door, Leigh saw. On the other side it was actually a shelving unit in the kitchen’s walk-in pantry. She held out the small chest so Gavin could see it.
“I told you about this. Grandpa used to keep candy in this for us.”
Lovingly, she brushed her fingertips over the surface before lifting the lid. The scent of chocolate still clung to the velvet lining, but the contents weren’t candy.
Gavin lifted out a cardboard box that had been jammed inside the chest. The box had been mailed to her grandfather three weeks after his death. Leigh recognized the return address immediately.
“McGarvey’s is a jewelry store in New York. Ian McGarvey made all Mom’s custom jewelry. Grandpa must have ordered this for her before he died. I wonder why Mom didn’t s
ay anything.”
“Maybe she never got the package,” he said quietly.
Fury sent her fingers to the cardboard. “Someone opened the box.”
That Marcus might have kept something like this from her mother was unthinkable. Four velvet jewelry boxes sat inside. A small slip of paper was taped to the outside of each box.
“This one says Amy,” she told him.
Leigh set down the chest. She could barely swallow as she opened the box. Gavin gave a soft, tuneless whistle. Even in the dim light, the necklace and matching earrings were exquisite. Heavy, for such delicate pieces, they had to be twenty-four-carat gold. The design was softly elegant, yet richly detailed. Three large, square-cut emeralds had been woven into the design. Smaller versions of the gems had been worked into the matching dangling earrings.
“Wow. If those stones are real—”
“Mr. McGarvey doesn’t work with imitations.”
Leigh closed the jewelry box and lifted the next one. Her name was taped to the top. “Oh!” Her necklace replicated exactly one-third of the design of her mother’s necklace. There was only one emerald in the necklace and each earring.
Grief blurred her vision. Only Gavin’s voice kept her from surrendering to the awful pain that threatened to swamp her.
“Why are there four boxes?”
She blinked back her tears, closed the box and reached for the next one. Hayley’s name. Inside, was an exact replica of hers. The last box said Alexis.
“Who’s Alexis?”
Leigh shook her head. The contents of the final box were identical to hers and Hayley’s. She stared at Gavin, bewildered, and suddenly very, very frightened.
“Do you have another sister?”
“Of course not.”
“Did your mother have a sister?”
“She was an only child.”
“Then who’s Alexis?”
“I don’t know!”
There was a crash of thunder so loud the house seemed to reverberate with the sound. The lights winked out with terrifying abruptness.
“I think the storm arrived,” Gavin told her dryly. “Can you put the jewelry back in the box?”
“I…think so.” She was shaking badly. There wasn’t the faintest hint of light anywhere. “We can’t leave them here.”
The Second Sister Page 21