Holly sighed. “Yes, they do.”
She reached into her bag and removed all the photos she’d taken. Holly explained their position in the crevasse, how far down they were, and how far they’d walked from the plane wreck. “It was a miracle they survived the crash.”
“It must’ve been awful.”
“They tried to walk out, but their shoes would’ve made it impossible…see?” Holly pointed to the close-up of Angel’s feet.
“My Frederick was a real gentleman; he probably carried her.”
Holly could see him doing that. Dorothy ran her finger over the photo of Angel’s hand with the locket draped through her fingers and Holly removed the locket from her purse. “I think they would’ve wanted you to have this.”
She placed the locket into the soft skin of Dorothy’s palm, and when she opened the pendant a tear spilled from her pale blue eyes. “This’s beautiful.”
Holly carried on with her story, explaining why it’d taken her so long to tell anyone about Fred and Angel, why no one believed her, and how she’d seen the news report with the plane wreck that Carter Logan had found. She told Dorothy about seeing her on the news and how devastated she’d been that nobody had believed her story either.
“Nobody did. I knew Frederick would never hurt anyone.” Her eyes grew wide. “Oh my. All this time, I’ve blamed David, but it wasn’t him.” Her hand went to her mouth, and it was obvious that her false accusations hurt.
That’s when Holly removed the small leather-bound pocket book they’d found in the suitcase. “Fred wrote a note. I guess he hoped they’d one day be found.”
Dorothy frowned, but then a smile crept across her lips. “He always kept a little notebook in his top pocket. All day long he’d be jotting things down in that silly book. That’s why he was a good detective, you know. Frederick never missed anything.”
Again her hands trembled when Holly handed the notebook over. When she flipped up the cover, Holly reached for her cup of tea and sat back. Fred had meticulously detailed everything in the book. It read like a police report, and Holly had been surprised at how many of her assumptions were true. David had been an abusive husband to Angelique. Frederick had been the police officer who’d tried to convince her to lodge a complaint against David. But it was the ransom money that she’d completely misjudged. It wasn’t ransom money at all.
The whole idea had been David’s.
The conniving ratbag had given Fred the money. The sum was barely one-tenth of their combined wealth, of which Angel had earned the majority. In exchange for the money, Angel and Frederick were to run away, disappear, which suited them both just fine. But what they hadn’t planned on was David accusing Fred of kidnapping Angel and stealing the ransom.
Once they were settled in Canada, they’d planned to expose David as the lying abusive husband he was and then invite Dorothy and her husband to come and live with them.
Holly waited for Dorothy to reach that detail in Frederick’s notes. When she did, a sob released from her lips. “I knew he wouldn’t have abandoned me.”
“He didn’t. He loved you.”
“He loved me.” The words whispered off her lips, convincing Holly that she’d finally brought justice to Angel and Fred, and brought closure to Dorothy.
When Dorothy reached the end of the book, she folded the cover closed, placed it in her lap, and curled her fingers over it. “Thank you.”
Holly leaned forward and placed her hands over Dorothy’s. “Let me know if you want to take this farther, and I’ll help you all the way.”
Dorothy frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, David has been living this lie for forty years. Maybe it’s time for the world to know exactly what he did.”
Dorothy blinked and blinked some more. Then her lips curled into a smile.
Holly reached into her purse. “Here’s my phone number. Think about it, and let me know what you decide. Oh, and one more thing. We found the so-called ransom money with Fred and Angel in that suitcase that was at their feet. So, now that we know David gave the money to Fred, I guess the money is yours.” Holly handed over a bank check for half a million dollars. Dorothy didn’t need to know what really happened with the cash.
A twinkle danced in Dorothy’s eyes when she saw the figure. “Oh my.” When her fingers twirled the pearl necklace at her throat, the tremble she’d displayed several times was no longer there. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Holly stood. “It was lovely to meet you. Please don’t stand up, I can show myself out.”
But Dorothy pushed forward on her chair and used her cane to stand. Once upright, she held her arms open. Holly stepped into the woman’s embrace and they hugged each other for a very long time.
It was three in the afternoon when Holly returned to the city and crossed the lobby of the Columbia Center skyscraper in downtown Seattle. She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the sixty-second floor. Where she’d been apprehensive about meeting with Dorothy, this next meeting was one she was truly looking forward to.
Holly applied a touch of lipstick in the mirror, and rather than hide the scar on her face, she hooked her hair behind her ear. Her stomach did a little flip at her arrival at the floor, and she stepped onto the plush carpet. At the end of the hall was Princeton and Howard Law Firm, and although this was the first time she’d been there, it wasn’t the first time she’d dealt with them.
Holly stepped through the smoky glass doors, and a stunning woman with a perfectly styled blond updo looked up from a dark mahogany desk and smiled. “Good afternoon, Miss Parmenter. We’ve been expecting you.”
The woman stood and indicated they should walk together. “May I offer you something to drink? Tea, coffee, juice?”
“Some orange juice would be lovely.”
The receptionist knocked once on a large wooden door and then pushed to enter. “Miss Parmenter has arrived.”
“Thank you, Madonna.” Madonna retreated and a man stepped forward to offer his hand. “Good afternoon, Miss Parmenter. My name is Evert Howard.”
She shook his firm grip. “Please, call me Holly.”
“As you wish. Please take a seat. I’ve prepared all the necessary documents. Your guest is waiting in the other room.”
Holly smiled. “Excellent.”
As Evert summarized what he’d prepared, Madonna returned with Holly’s juice. “Mrs. Ashcroft has arrived. Would you like me to show her in?”
He turned to Holly. “Are you ready?”
She sat back, straightened her shoulders, and nodded. “I’ve never been more ready in my life.”
He turned back to Madonna. “Please, show her in.”
When the door reopened, Victoria Ashcroft stepped into the room. The smile she’d had plastered on her face vanished in a second. “What is this?”
Evert stood with his hand forward. “Hello, Mrs. Ashcroft. My name is Evert Howard, I represent Ms. Parmenter. Please take a seat.”
Victoria glared at Holly, and for a few thumping heartbeats Holly feared she’d step back out the door. But she didn’t. She squared her jaw, flicked her hair over her shoulders, and sat into the chair Evert was holding out for her.
“I assume you’ve been following the recent events in the news.” Holly wasted no time getting to the point.
Victoria fiddled with the engagement ring on her finger as she nodded. The three-carat diamond had been from Milton, and Holly had always been surprised that Victoria continued to wear it.
“Then you’re aware that I attempted to retrieve Milton’s body from the crevasse.”
“I heard you failed.” Her lips formed a thin smile.
“Not entirely.”
“What does that mean?”
“Did you know Milton had an affair with Fiona Tate for over twenty years?”
Her eyes flared. “Rubbish!”
Holly ignored her outburst. “They had a son. Reginald Tate.”
“Kane was Milton’s only son. But you killed him.”
“Milton had at least one other son, I can assure you.”
“You need to prove it.”
“We have every intention of proving it. But we have a proposition for you first.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Because you’ve been fighting over Milton’s will for four years, the fact that it’s still not settled means Regi is now able to make a claim to the estate. It’s come to my attention that in addition to Milton’s long-running affair with Regi’s mother, he also had sex with numerous women while you two were married and while he was engaged to me. Milton was the epitome of a lying cheating bastard. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
Victoria made a short gasp and her eyes darted from Evert to Holly.
“There’s a chance there are more children, just like Reginald. So the sooner you settle the estate, the better.”
“I’m not letting this…liar get one cent.”
“I thought you’d say that.” Holly turned to Evert. He nodded and pressed a button on a panel on the table. Moments later Regi walked into the room. Holly had purchased the clothes for him to wear and had instructed him to get a haircut. Even still, she wasn’t prepared for his transformation. The purple business shirt was exactly the same shade as the one Milton had worn regularly. Yet, even with the slight bruising still around his eye, his resemblance to her late fiancé was spooky.
Victoria covered her mouth and her eyes bulged.
“Good afternoon.” Regi stepped forward and offered to shake hands with Victoria. “You must be Victoria. You may not remember me, but we spoke on the phone a while ago.”
Holly had to choke back the chuckle in her throat. It was obvious Regi had studied video footage of Milton too, because he perfectly replicated Milton’s voice and mannerisms.
Regi tugged a chair from the table, and when he placed a suave leather briefcase onto the polished wood, Holly wondered whether Evert had provided it.
“During our phone call,” Regi continued, “you said, and I quote”—he paused for effect—“‘unless she comes up with something solid like DNA, she’s got nothing.’” Regi flipped up the lid of the briefcase and extracted Milton’s Seahawks beanie and a Ziplock bag with a lock of dark wavy hair. He slid the items across the table and Victoria jumped back as if they were spiders.
“Ask and you shall receive.”
Holly couldn’t resist chuckling at Regi’s impersonation of one of Milton’s favorite sayings.
Victoria spun to her. “You think this’s funny?”
“Come on,” Regi said. “It’s a little bit funny. I bet you never thought we’d find my father’s—Milton’s DNA.”
Victoria’s eyes were wild. She folded her arms across her chest. Her nostrils flared and her lips pursed as she stared at the ziplock bag. She did a little shake of her head, as if shaking some horrible image free. “What’s this proposal?”
“I’m glad you asked,” Evert said. “Holly and Reginald have come up with what we believe is a fair and equitable distribution of Mr. Milton Ashcroft’s estate.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, I bet they have.”
“As per Mr. Milton Ashcroft’s request, Holly Parmenter will receive four billion dollars.”
Victoria huffed and gave Holly dagger eyes.
“Mr. Ashcroft then requested the bulk of his estate to go to his son, and the small change to be distributed amongst Mr. Ashcroft’s chosen charities. Nothing was to be allocated to you.” He paused to let that sink in. “We propose Regi receives Kane’s intended inheritance of six billion dollars.”
“Six billion!” she blurted.
Evert ignored her outburst. “That leaves two billion that we’re prepared to give to you, Mrs. Ashcroft.”
She slapped the table, jumped to her feet, and backed away from the chair. “No fucking way.”
Evert removed a stack of papers from the folder in front of him. “If you don’t agree, we intend to use Milton’s DNA to prove that Reginald is entitled to the full eight billion dollars. But that’ll mean years of litigation, and in the end Reginald will get what he’s entitled to and you will receive nothing.” Evert flashed his pearly white teeth. “As per your late ex-husband’s request.”
She alternated her bulging eyes from Holly to the ziplock bag to the men in the room. “I need to call my lawyer.”
“Call your lawyer,” Holly said. “But if you don’t sign the documents before five o’clock today, Madonna has been instructed to email the report I’ve written to Komo News.”
“What report?”
“Oh, it’s a fascinating story about Milton’s secret two-decade affair, and how Reginald now has a legitimate claim to the estate.”
“See, at the moment, nobody knows about me,” Regi piped in, “and I’m happy to keep it that way. Provided you sign the documents.” Regi ran his hand through his hair, just like Milton used to do. “Now,” he added.
“So what’s it going to be? Two billion dollars, or not one dime?” Holly asked.
Evert slid the paperwork across the table.
“This’s blackmail.”
“Yes. I believe you know exactly how that works.” Holly kept her cool.
“Bitch.” Victoria’s eyes raged with fury.
“Take the two billion, Victoria, while you can.” Holly glanced at the clock on the wall over her shoulder. “Three minutes before my report goes to Komo News.”
Regi reached for Milton’s beanie and tugged it onto his head.
Victoria stormed over and snatched it from his head. “Give me that. Okay, yes, I accept the fucking offer.”
“So, to clarify,” Evert said, “you’re agreeing to two billion dollars.”
“Yes. Two billion,” she snapped.
“That’s a very wise decision.” Evert pressed the call button. “Madonna, please hold that email for now.”
“Yes, Mr. Howard.”
Evert passed the paperwork forward with a gold pen. “Read through, take your time, and sign where indicated on each page.”
She huffed as she plonked back into the chair, and as she flicked the pen on her chin, she read down the page. “What’s this?” She pointed halfway down the page.
Holly had been expecting this question. “That’s the small change Milton left for the charities.”
“Small change! What the hell?”
“Oh, let’s just say the estate has invested wisely while you’ve tied this up in the courts for all these years.”
“Three point seven billion.” She spun to Holly. “You lying fucking—”
Holly stood and slapped her palm on the table simultaneously. “No. You’re the fucking liar. You’ve been blaming me for Milton’s death since the crash. Not once did you stop to think of what I’d been through. You’re the liar. You don’t deserve one cent. Milton hated you. I know it and you know it.” Holly jabbed a finger at her. “I’m sick of your conniving deceitful crap. Sign the fucking papers and get out of my goddamned face.”
A blaze of red flushed Victoria’s cheeks and she looked set to explode. She grabbed the pen and scribbled her signature on the first page. Evert guided her through the remaining pages, then she stood and snatched her fancy purse off the table.
Evert stopped her. “Just one more thing.”
“What!”
“You’ve just signed a suppression order. Utter one word of this to anyone, and we’ll sue you for your inheritance plus double that amount in damages.”
“Fuck you.” She pointed at Holly. “Fuck you, and fuck you too.” She glared at Regi, and his grin was a perfect replica of how Milton used to smile.
Victoria stormed from the room so fast the woo
den door banged back against the wall.
They didn’t wait for her to be out of earshot before both Regi and Holly jumped up and cheered. Just like he’d done on the mountain, Regi wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t know how I can ever thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me,” she said. “You were entitled to that money.”
He tilted his head. “Well, I’d never have been able to prove it without you.” He reached for the beanie and pulled it on again.
“You look exactly like him with that on.”
“I must. She freaked out.” He flopped into the chair. “So, what do we do now?”
Evert pushed the paperwork toward Regi. “You need to sign these.”
Regi took the pen and signed where indicated, and Holly did the same.
Evert rechecked that all the paperwork was in order, slipped them into the folder, and then turned to Regi. “So, I believe we have another matter to look after?”
“Yes, we do.” Regi rubbed his hands together.
“Have you decided on your new name?” Holly raised her eyebrows.
“Yep. What do you think of Levi Mason?” His eyes beamed
Holly was swept up in his excitement. “It’s perfect.”
“There’s something else I need you to do for me, Evert,” Regi said.
“Yes of course. What do you need?”
Regi extracted his iPhone from his pocket and pressed the play button.
“Ah, there he is, the man of the hour.” The voice was loud and clear, and Regi seemed happy with the sound because he clicked it off.
“Have you ever heard of Jeremiah Carson?”
“Of course. We’re both members of the Broadmoor Golf Club.” Evert grinned.
“Interesting. Well, you may enjoy listening to our last meeting together.”
Chapter 29
Five months later.
Holly rubbed her eyes awake, rolled out of bed, and reached for her silk robe. She adjusted the knot at her waist, stepped over the glass floor that revealed the ocean below, and opened the plantation shutters. Squinting against the glare, she stepped from the bungalow onto their private balcony and strolled to the railing.
Out of Mind Page 27
