Valley of Fire (Valley of the Moon Book 2)

by Bronwyn Archer

“I suggest we move on.” He took a thick folder off his stack, flicked it open with a pencil, and slowly shuffled through the papers. “Georgette specified Tanith Fremont’s daughter as her heir. Lana is obviously also entitled to her mother’s fortune, which she forfeited. Unfortunately, none of the information proffered so far answers the central question: Are you, Lana Goodwin, who you represent yourself to be?” He looked out at the group. “Is she the biological daughter of Tanith Ambrose Fremont?”

  Alexander spoke up. “Yes. We located Lana’s original birth certificate, but there was a delay getting a copy at the registrar’s office.”

  Ramona’s lawyer set his glossy black briefcase on the table and lifted the lid. He pulled a piece of paper out and waved it in the air. “Actually, I have a copy of Lana’s original birth certificate here.” He held it up and slid it across the table to Mr. Bannister.

  Alexander whispered, “How did he get that? It took us weeks to track that down.”

  He examined the paper. “The mother is listed as Annie Goodwin. How do we know this Annie Goodwin is Tanith Fremont?”

  Borquist pulled another document from his briefcase. “Because we also obtained copies of Tanith’s original name change petition, filed in the city of Sonoma, California in 1996, and both Social Security cards. The names are different, but the numbers match.”

  He handed everything to Bannister. Secret documents that would determine my fate were casually passed around a table.

  Ramona hid it from you. All of it.

  “And finally, Mr. Bannister, I have the adoption paperwork that proves Lana is legally Ramona Crawford’s daughter, and remains so to this day.” He pulled out a thick, worn-looking brown envelope and dropped it in the middle of the table. It landed with a thud, blowing other papers into the air.

  I realized with a chill that Ramona had gone to great lengths to prepare for this meeting. And not out of kindness.

  She had assumed I’d never get to New York.

  Bannister opened the thick brown envelope and pulled out a large photo. He looked at it and smiled.

  “You are her twin, Lana.” He held the photo up to the room. I stared in horror. It was one of the photos that had hung in frames down the central hallway of my little house. Me and both my parents, taken on the front steps.

  Bannister looked over at me. “I do believe you, Lana Goodwin, are the daughter of Tanith Ambrose Fremont. Does anyone else have anything to add?”

  “What about a DNA test?” Roy asked.

  “Will you agree to an exhumation of the body?”

  “What?” I practically shouted. “No!”

  Severine raised her hand. “Please, Bernard, read Georgette’s statement. The one she dictated to me before she died.”

  Bannister hesitated, then pulled a delicate airmail envelope from one of his files. He removed a small square of paper and squinted down at the page. “Ah, it’s in French.”

  Severine piped up. “I will read it.” He handed it down one side of the table.

  “Severine, why does Georgette speak French?” I asked.

  Severine smoothed the crinkly note on the table in front of her. “Her mother was French, and the sisters had a French governess. They spoke to each other only in French. After Claudette died, it was like she forgot English. Among other things.”

  She removed a pair of slim reading glasses from her black leather bag and set them on her nose. She picked up the note and translated it.

  “I, Georgette Livia Ambrose do swear that Lana Goodwin, daughter of Tanith, is my sole heir and heir to her mother’s property. She is the bearer of the Dove of Justice, which is how you will know her. Whoever bears the dove is my rightful heir.”

  I gasped. How could she have known I would find it?

  “La colombe, Lana!” Severine beamed at me. “Now at last you understand.” I felt the full weight of the pendant pulling on its chain under my tank top.

  “Can someone tell me what she’s talking about?” Gretchen asked.

  “La colombe. It means dove.”

  “Your mother had a pet bird?” Roy asked.

  Severine spoke up in a firm voice. “Claudette gave Bart’s wife a special necklace as a wedding gift. Tanith kept it hidden for Lana.”

  Violent chills swept through me. No one knew it had been hidden—no one but me and Georgette. She gave me a coy smile and said, “Show us the dove, Lana!”

  Everyone froze.

  Ramona’s eyes narrowed and the lines around her mouth deepened. She’d sent Victor and his thugs to look for it at my house. When they couldn’t find it, they’d torched the house. I slowly lifted the chain over my head and held the necklace up for everyone to see.

  Severine’s eyes shined. “Voila la colombe! Only the true daughter of Tanith Fremont would know where she hid the necklace! It is the only proof Georgette needed.”

  Bannister held his hand out. I passed the necklace to Alexander, who handed it to the lawyer. Bannister plucked the dove out of the air with two fingers and examined it carefully.

  “This is the Dove of Justice? Marie Antoinette supposedly owned it once.”

  Severine nodded. “It is indeed. And—it has a twin.” She opened her handbag and pulled out a long black velvet box. She gently placed the box on the table. Everyone watched in awe as her fingers poised above it. A collective gasp went up as she opened the box. Nestled in the black velvet was another dove—a perfect twin of my pendant. Severine lifted it up by its chain.

  “Claudette preferred earrings, so she had Cartier to make a replica. They were turned into pendants at some point.”

  Roy laughed. “Why have just one priceless diamond when you can have two, right?”

  Severine looked at me with a sly smile on her face. “Claudette gave Bart the original. She kept the copy for herself.”

  Ramona narrowed he eyes at me. “Lana, where did your mother keep the dove? I’m sure we’re all curious.”

  Severine gave me a strange look. Chills swept over my legs and arms. “Buried next to her parent’s grave. But she left me a map.”

  Someone passed me the box with the copied dove. Each bird’s body was crafted with a huge oval-shaped diamond, cut with a thousand bevels. The wings, tail, and head were inlaid with hundreds of tiny white diamonds. Each dove clutched a tiny golden twig in its silver talons with three teardrop-shaped jewels hanging off the end of it like leaves.

  But the original dove had an emerald for an eye. The copy had a bright red ruby eye.

  “They’re the same—except for the eyes,” I said.

  Severine nodded. “I believe they wanted a way to tell which was which. You can have them turned back into earrings if you like.” I stared at her. “Lana, don’t you understand? They’re both yours!”

  What was I going to do with all these priceless jewels? I didn’t even own a pair of shoes that fit.

  Bannister cleared his throat. “Miss Goodwin, perhaps you would like the firm to store it in our safe until you get settled?”

  I slid the velvet box to Mr. Bannister. “If you wouldn’t mind, please store this one for me. I’ll hang on to mine.” I slipped the chain with my emerald-eyed dove back over my head. I’d been through a lot with my little Dove of Justice—and I needed all the justice I could get.

  Alexander looked at Bannister. “Well? Do we all agree that this is the real Lana Goodwin?” No one spoke. Finally, Roy grinned.

  “She sure as hell looks like Tanith. I vote yes.”

  Gretchen rolled her eyes. “We don’t vote, Roy.”

  Bannister took off his reading glasses, pulled a red silk handkerchief out of his jacket, and started cleaning his glasses. “Based on today’s meeting, I think we can assume she is the provisional heir. Unless the family has any objections?”

  I looked around the room. Gretchen was frowning.

  “No objections, Mr. Bannister.” Alexander’s voice was like cold steel.

  “Very good,” Bannister continued. “I am releasing an initial fund to Miss G
oodwin to help her make arrangements as she sees fit. The full fortune will be approved for transfer in the coming weeks as long as all these documents are confirmed.”

  “Is it the number we discussed, Mr. Bannister?” Alexander asked.

  Bannister’s eyes twinkled. “I found your proposed number inadequate, Mr. Ambrose. So I raised it. Miss Goodwin will have five million dollars available for her use within 24 hours. Is that all right with you?” His eyes peered at me, his lips twitching like he was trying to hide a smile.

  Alexander elbowed me under the table. I nodded blankly. It felt like the building was swaying under my feet. Five million dollars. Five million dollars. Five million dollars.

  He continued. “Once the entire fund transfer is approved, we can discuss how you’d like it invested and what kind of monthly distributions you’ll require. It’s a rather large sum—“

  “I’ll say,” Roy said, chuckling.

  Bannister stared at him disapprovingly. “Moving forward, all matters will be discussed with the beneficiary in private. Thank you all for coming. Oh, and Mrs. Crawford, thank you for all these documents. You have been instrumental today.”

  Ramona’s red lips curled up in a cold smile. “I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure my daughter receives exactly what’s coming to her. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to catch a flight. Your sisters send you their love, darling.” She blew me a kiss as she and her lawyer swept out of the room.

  My blood froze in my veins.

  What was coming to me?

  Chapter 18

  Lacus Doloris ~ Lake of Sorrow

  IT WAS OVER. The elevator swooshed down and I held onto the rail for support. Gretchen and Roy chatted with Alexander and I had an opportunity to observe her more closely. Her legs were at least twice as long as mine. I knew she was in her early thirties, but she looked younger. Maybe it was the unnaturally full lips.

  She shook her long caramel waves and smiled at me. “If you need anything while you’re in town, let me know.” I tucked non-existent hair behind my ears.

  “Will do.”

  “What are you going to do with all that money, kid?” Roy asked.

  “I honestly don’t even know what to say. This all feels like a dream.”

  Gretchen looked at Alexander. “Dinner tomorrow?” She eyed him up and down. “If you can find a change of clothes, that is. Are you guys staying with us at the townhouse?”

  Alexander shook his head. “I wanted to give you lovebirds your space. We’re at the Pierre.”

  Gretchen laughed. “Slumming, I see.”

  Roy grinned. “Don’t spend that money all in one place.”

  When we got outside, I blinked in the bright sunshine. Hordes of people streamed up the sidewalk. Sirens blared from somewhere and a jackhammer drilled asphalt across the street. My stomach growled and my toes throbbed.

  Gretchen and Roy headed towards the town car and Alexander called out, “Wait—Gretchen, I have one favor, actually. Lana’s going to need some clothes.” I groaned. Not again. “So if you’re free tomorrow during the day . . . ”

  She grinned at me. “Meet me in front of Bergdorfs at noon.” She got into her town car and it pulled out into traffic.

  Alexander put his hand under my chin and tilted my head up to his. “You okay?”

  “Not really.”

  I felt a gentle tap on my elbow. Severine materialized at my side. “Lana, may you come with me?”

  “Where?” I asked.

  “Home. I want to show you where your mother grew up.”

  #

  “This was her room. Georgette kept it just the way she left it.” We’d finished a lunch of baguette, paté, cheese and salad and Severine was giving me a tour of the apartment. It took up two floors of a spectacular stone building on Fifth Avenue. The rooms were dimly lit and the furniture was sparse and dated, but the main living room was as big as a ballroom.

  My mother’s childhood bedroom had a white canopied bed and polished wood floors. An ornate mirror hanging over the dresser had hooks all around its frame. A pair of worn pink satin ballet shoes hung from each hook. “She loved to dance. Until the baby, that is.” I walked over to the dresser and picked up a framed photo of my mother holding a baby. He had blonde hair in soft curls, pink cheeks, and a big dimpled grin.

  “My brother Liam?” I asked. Severine nodded. In the photo, she looked happier than I’d ever remembered seeing her. “Who was his father?”

  Severine smoothed down the front of her gray woolen dress. “She was engaged to a man she met on a trip to France. A race car driver. He died in a crash right before the baby was born.”

  My mother apparently had a type. I set the photo down and started to cry.

  “It’s so sad.” She’d experienced so much loss. It was almost more than I could bear.

  Severine was rifling through my mother’s closet. “Claudette hired me as a nanny when Liam was born. They wanted someone French.” She emerged from the closet clutching a bundle wrapped in a white tissue paper. “I was in France that terrible Christmas, visiting my sick father. Georgette was already suffering with dementia. She ran a bath and left the room and forgot. Claudette was supposed to be watching Liam, but she fell asleep—she liked to drink a bit at her age.” She perched on the bed and covered her eyes with her hands. “Tanith was only gone an hour. He slipped in silently. No one heard a sound. Your sweet mother loved that boy so much.” She dabbed her eyes with her sleeve and patted the parcel in her lap. “This is for you.” I took the package and unwrapped it. Inside was a set of white baby clothes. “He was baptized in it. It’s the only thing of his she kept. Please, will you take it? I could never bear to part with it.”

  I tucked the parcel under my arm. “Did my mother like the sisters?”

  “They spoiled her as child. Everything changed after the baby died.”

  She stood up and led me out of my mother’s room, down a long hallway, to another door. As she pushed it open, a whoosh of air escaped and I felt a chill. A candle burned on a table by the window and the flickering light cast eerie shadows on the walls. A massive bed with a lace canopy stood in the middle of the room, neatly made and empty.

  At least a hundred staring dolls lined the dark gray walls, each in its own tiny chair. They all seemed to be watching me. “How many are there?” I asked.

  Severine laughed. “Georgette started buying them for Tanith, but became quite a collector herself. She spent a fortune.” She walked over to a doll sitting in a pink tufted club chair dressed in a white frilly dress. “Here’s the one she had custom-made. It’s you, Lana.” The doll stared back at me with eyes the same shade of pale brown as me. The hair color was an exact match. I shivered.

  Severine peered up at me, her bright eyes shining. “I keep a candle in her room always. It seems to comfort her.” Comfort her? The chill turned to ice and a feeling of dread overcame me. Severine took my hands in hers. “Lana, after Georgette passed, did anything happen you could not explain?”

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. “What do you mean?”

  Severine pressed her hand on my arm. “Did things . . . move? Appear in a different place? Did you hear a voice? Perhaps in French?”

  A thousand tiny prickles of ice pressed into my skin.

  My throat went dry. “Yes,” I whispered.

  Her lined face went a little paler and she nodded. “Also for me! I would find this doll in different rooms, where I was. Like a reminder to find you! And then always the voice. Cherche la fille. Well, finally I did. I found her! Georgette, elle est ici! I found her!”

  She put the doll back on its tiny chair, muttering to herself. “So many ghosts. Too many ghosts.” She stood and clapped her hands together. The instant she did, the candle went out. I stifled a scream and jumped. “Come, Darcie has tea for us in the living room.”

  She led me down a hallway hung with oil paintings and into the ballroom-sized living room. The huge windows that overlooked Central
Park were framed by thick, gray velvet curtains. A tea service was set up on a little table. Severine perched on a worn purple velvet settee and beckoned me to sit across from her. Directly above Severine hung a portrait that made me stop short. The subject was a serious, dark-haired young woman in a tiara, wearing a draped, empire-waist black gown. She wore her hair in a long braid that wrapped around her head.

  Large diamond earrings dangled from her ears. I looked closer. Were those the doves?

  “Sargent painted Georgette’s portrait right before he died. Very famous.” I’d studied art history at Briar. I nodded wordlessly. “It is my theory that once she died, as a spirit she regained her full faculties and set out to make amends.” Severine sipped her tea like everything was fine, that she didn’t live with a ghost.

  “Make amends?”

  She nodded and a wide smile split her lined face. Strands of gray hair wafted around her face. “I believe she is trying to fix what was broken. What she broke. Your mother—and you. She is desperate for forgiveness, I think.” I looked around the hushed apartment. I heard the maid vacuuming in a distant room. Severine peered at me with bright eyes. “This is your apartment now, Lana. Do you think you will live here when you move to New York?”

  I almost spat out my tea.

  “I don’t think so, Severine. It’s . . . ” A little too haunted for my taste! I was all stocked up on ghostly visits back home in California. “It’s too big for me.”

  She looked at me carefully and set her delicate china cup down. “I can move out at any time you wish.”

  “No, stay as long as you want. Did Georgette make arrangements for you?”

  She nodded. “She had Mr. Bannister arrange an account for me.”

  She clapped a hand to her cheek. “I almost forgot. There is something else of your mother’s here—Georgette begged me to give it to you. Let me find it.”

  She skittered away and I waited while I heard rustling and then the dragging of something heavy. Was she giving me an armoire? A moment later, Severine hurried towards me holding not an enormous piece of furniture, but a tiny book.