VEILED MIRROR

by Frankie Robertson

  “Sonofabitch!”

  “Yeah. I’m none too happy about it either.”

  “Did they at least get him to turn over the money?”

  “No. I’m sorry Jase.” Renton did sound aggrieved. He’d worked almost as hard on this case as Jason had.

  Jason forced himself to breathe. What did I work all those months for? None of the victims would get their nest-eggs back, and Babinevich was free to live it up on their money in South America.

  “I’ve got to go.”

  “When are you coming back?”

  “I’ll let you know.” Jason hung up the phone. His shoulder twinged. Babinevich. Free. What the hell am I doing, working my ass off, and getting shot? The Texas Attorney General’s office had been feeling him out for a job with their fraud unit. He’d put them off. Maybe I should take it.

  It was too big a decision to think about now. His future could wait. Right now he had another call to make.

  Ell was right, not much would happen over the weekend. But at least he could call her doc for her and have them fax over the request for records form. Then all she’d have to do is fill it out and send it back on Monday. It wasn’t much, but it made him feel like he was doing something useful.

  BETH ROLLED OVER, TRYING to find a cool spot on the pillow. Ollie shifted to make room for her new position. She was getting soft, letting him up on the bed like this all the time.

  She hadn’t lied to Jason. She was tired. What sleep she got while chatting with Ellie was not restorative. It was just as well that Jason thought she was her widowed twin. Even without the bruises from the accident, she looked like hell. The circles under her eyes made her resemble a racoon.

  Thunder rumbled nearby. Another storm was rolling in.

  At least we found out something important today. Something they could take to the sheriff. Then she could come clean and go back to her own life. Jason would probably never speak to her again, but there was nothing she could do about that. She was keeping her promise to Ellie.

  And then what? It was easy to forget that Ell was dead when she visited at night. But once the killer was arrested, she’d probably go on to wherever Chris was. No more dream visits or chats in the mirror.

  I’ll be alone for real then. The thought opened like a dark pit beneath her feet.

  She wouldn’t think about that now. She couldn’t. I have to focus on finding the killer.

  She turned over again. Those stupid sheep kept jumping by the little window in the clock. Counting them didn’t help. It didn’t matter how tired she was; she couldn’t sleep.

  Unfortunately, getting a drink wasn’t an option.

  Thunder rumbled again, closer this time.

  She flopped over on her back and closed her eyes, trying to relax. Ollie jumped off the bed and went to lie on the tile.

  “Sorry, boy.”

  Why would Eduardo want to kill Ellie? Beth’s eyes popped open and she stared at the ceiling. Maybe because he was afraid that Chris had told her what he knew. But wouldn’t he be more likely to assume that Chris was as closed-mouthed as he is? Or that as a woman, Ellie would be intimidated by Chris’s death?

  But Chris’s death looks like an accident.

  Maybe he wanted her dead because Ellie insisted it was murder. Just like I’ve been doing. Making myself a target.

  Well, that was one way to catch a killer. Put out some bait. And Connie would probably tell Eduardo that they’d talked today.

  The notion of being a target was more frightening now that they had a suspect than it had been when Ell first mentioned it a couple of days ago.

  Maybe she should ask the sheriff for some kind of protection.

  She laughed out loud, and Ollie raised his head. Yeah. Like the sheriff would take me seriously. Besides, it was only four days until the inquest. The judge would make the sheriff take her seriously. Then she could be Beth again.

  Beth, who’d just turned the spotlight on a member of the Mexican cartels in a murder investigation.

  Shit. She was screwed. The nice little ordinary life she’d built was over.

  Even if she ran home now, Eduardo would find her. It wouldn’t be hard. The media would be on the story like a duck on a June bug. Twin Impersonates Dead Pontifore Sister To Find Killer. Film at eleven. Beth pressed her hands against her face.

  It was happening again. Her life, her world, was falling apart. She couldn’t go back to Cruces with the cartels and the media after her. Jason would never speak to her again, once he found out about her deception. And her sister, the only real constant in her life for years, was dead. Ell’s ghost was a comfort, but she’d be leaving soon. And then Beth really would be all alone, with nowhere to call home.

  Maybe Ell had already left, now that they’d found out about Montenegro.

  Suddenly Beth felt desperate to sleep, to dream, to see if Ellie would come again. But sleep was nowhere near.

  Thunder boomed overhead. Ollie jumped back up onto the bed and tucked his nose under her arm. Beth lowered her hands and rested one on his back. “It’s okay, Ollie. It’s just a thunder-boomer.” She wished her own fears were so simple. She ruffled his black and white fur. “Do you want to live with me when this is over? I’m not sure where I’ll be going, but you’re welcome to come along. Or are you too much of a ranch dog?”

  Ollie rolled his eyes at her.

  “That’s okay. You don’t have to decide now.”

  She felt calmer, now that she knew she had nothing left. And now that they’d probably found the killer, there was no reason not to tell Jason the truth.

  Her soul balked at the thought. As soon as she told him, he’d leave. He’d hate her. She hated to admit it, but she needed him to stay, even if he thought she was Ell. She’d lost everything else. She could have that for just a few more days, couldn’t she? Just for the weekend. She could wait until the inquest.

  But that would do neither of them any good. It wasn’t real. She couldn’t keep lying to him. She sat up. Better to get it over with.

  THE STORM BROUGHT AN early twilight. Jason stopped his pacing long enough to look out at the low, dark clouds. Even confronted with the truth, he had a hard time accepting it.

  Ellie had lied.

  She hadn’t been to her doctor. She hadn’t done a pregnancy test. He would have bet a year’s pay that Ellie didn’t care about Chris’s money. That she’d loved only the man. But there was only one reason he could think of for her to lie about being pregnant. She wanted the Pontifore fortune.

  He heard Ollie’s nails clicking on the tile. A moment later Ellie and the dog entered the library. She looked tired and tense. Her nap hadn’t done her much good. Well, that’s too damn bad. Lying is hard work.

  She stiffened. She must have seen the anger on his face. He wasn’t trying to hide it.

  “When were you going to tell me?” he asked.

  Her eyes widened and her head lifted as if he’d slapped her, but she recovered quickly. “Now. Tonight. What finally tipped you off?”

  “I tried to do you a favor. I called your doctor. Her receptionist said she’s never done a pregnancy test on you, so she had no results to release.” No wonder Ellie “forgot” she was pregnant and was having a drink the other night. There was no baby to protect.

  Ellie relaxed. “I’m glad you know. I hated lying to you.”

  His fists clenched. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

  “What else do you want? It was all I could think to do!”

  For just a second Jason was speechless. He took a step forward. “All you could think … I thought you loved Chris for himself. I told him as much!” He’d never been so angry. All his years of self-discipline as an agent evaporated when he thought of how this woman had used and lied to his best friend. They’d both thought she was the real deal, and they’d both been so wrong. So much for his great instincts. “Was all that blather about not wanting to come between us as friends just to win me over? Were you planning this, that far back?”r />
  She stepped back. “What are you talking about?”

  “Okay, that doesn’t make any sense. Not unless you killed Chris, and even I don’t believe that.”

  “Well thanks so much!” Ollie moved between them.

  “Maybe you did love Chris. But I guess you couldn’t bear to lose all that money, so you lied about being pregnant. Was Beth in on it? Was she going to give you her baby to raise as Chris’s child? What are you going to do, now that she’s dead?”

  Ellie’s expression was … appalled? “No! You have it all wrong!” She stepped past the dog, but Ollie put himself between them again.

  Somehow he’d thought she’d come clean when confronted. Instead she was still making excuses. He shook his head. “Yeah, well listen, I don’t care. Just stop it. I won’t expose you for the sake of Chris’s memory, but you can’t go on with this. I won’t let you commit fraud. Tell everyone you had a miscarriage. No one will question that, given all that’s happened.”

  “Jason—”

  He held up his hand, stopping her. “I’m leaving. I won’t be back for the service.” He turned his back on her. He hadn’t taken two steps before she grabbed his arm. Ollie barked.

  “Quiet!” she said, giving him a hand signal to sit. “You’re real good at leaving, aren’t you? You think you have it all figured out. Well not this time! I was too stunned to say anything last March. But now you’re going to hear me out.”

  Two bright pink spots burned on her cheeks and her posture was rigid with anger. He wasn’t interested in getting into a shouting match with her. He peeled her fingers from his arm. “Ellie, don’t—”

  She grabbed him with her other hand. “I’m not Ellie! I’m Beth!” Ollie barked again and tried to push between them. “And how dare you think she married Chris for his money! Ell loved him more than anything. Any moron could see that!”

  He felt like he’d been hit in the head. “Beth?”

  “The sheriff wouldn’t listen to her, Chris’s wife! Why would he listen to me? I didn’t know what else to do. And Ellie made me promise! She’s been after me day and night. And now that we’ve found Montenegro, I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again.”

  Tears spilled out of her eyes and she dashed them away.

  She waited, glaring as if she’d explained everything.

  Beth was alive. Alive, and standing right in front of him.

  All the little oddities he’d put down to grief started settling into place. The hand signals to Ollie. Polly shying away. The forgotten conversation. The drink. With sudden clarity he remembered what she’d actually said the other day, Now you’re all curious about who I—she slept with? No wonder she’d been so angry.

  All the things he’d wished he’d could say to her over the last few days threatened to choke him. And all the time he’d been grieving for her, she’d been lying to his face.

  He clenched his teeth on the fury and betrayal that threatened to pour out of him. Finally he grated out, “That was why you wanted to hire me as your attorney? So you could tell me this?”

  “Yes! I—”

  “It wouldn’t have mattered. I thought you would have known that much about me, for God’s sake! I couldn’t allow you to commit perjury, even if I were your attorney.”

  “Perjury! What—”

  “And I can’t believe you’d try to steal Chris’s money this way. I guess I didn’t know you any better than you knew me.”

  Beth stared. “Are you insane? I told you why I did it! Ellie made me promise to find their killer! She wouldn’t shut up about it. She’s been nagging me constantly. And now we have.”

  He stared, trying to sort out her explanation. “You pretended to be Ellie so you could find Chris’s murderer?”

  “That’s what I said. No one would listen to Beth Hart. They barely listened to Ellie. I had to have some pull, and I figured pretending to be Ell was the only way to get it. But I didn’t want to commit fraud. That’s why I wouldn’t sign the insurance papers. I don’t want the money.”

  “Okay, so you’re telling me this was all Ellie’s idea? It was her dying wish for you to impersonate her?”

  Beth shook her head. “No. That was my idea, and when she found out about it, she was pissed. She didn’t want me making myself a target.”

  “What do you mean? You came up with this idea before the accident?” He stopped, appalled by the thought that had occurred to him. “You didn’t let her commit suicide did you?”

  “Of course not! She’d never do that! I only came up with the plan after she died.”

  Jason shook his head, thoroughly confused. “Then how could she be pissed?”

  Beth suddenly seemed to run out of steam. She let her hands drop, bit her lip, and looked away.

  “Beth?”

  She brought her eyes back to his. Her gaze was steady. “She talks to me in my dreams. Once in the mirror.”

  He didn’t know how to respond to that. She was seeing ghosts? He knew grief could do weird things to people, but this?

  “I know. It sounds crazy, but it’s true. She really does come to me. She wants to find out who killed her and Chris.”

  “Dios mio! She speaks to you?” Maria stood in the doorway.

  Beth nodded.

  Jason turned to Maria. “You believe this crap?”

  Maria crossed herself. “You must help her find her peace, so she can go on.”

  “I’m trying.”

  Jason could hardly believe what he was hearing. He turned to a more practical point. “You knew about this charade?”

  “Sí. But I did not know that the Señora had appeared to Señorita Beth.”

  Jason looked from one to the other, and back again, feeling like he was in the Twilight Zone. Beth was alive and keeping secrets, and Ellie was dead—and talking in Beth’s dreams. And Maria, sensible Maria, was down with all of it? He tried to make sense of it, but it wasn’t tracking.

  There are no such things as ghosts.

  He had to clear his head. “I need some air.”

  Maria stepped back as he passed her on the way to the foyer. “But Señor, it is raining, and dinner is ready.”

  Jason just shook his head as he opened the front door. “I’m sorry.”

  BETH LISTENED AS THE door clicked shut with a sound of finality. Son of a bitch! He’d bailed on her again. He’d come back eventually to get his things, but he might as well be gone for good. She felt tears welling. He didn’t believe her, about Ellie, about any of it.

  She could barely hear his car start over the sound of the rain. She couldn’t blame him too much. If someone had told her two weeks ago that he was talking to dead people, she’d have told him to get his own TV show. But he could have trusted me enough not to think I was trying to rip off the estate!

  “Señorita?” Maria put a hand on her shoulder. Her expression was the most sympathetic it had been since she’d started pretending to be Ellie. “You must eat. I have chicken molé and asparagus and fresh tortillas.”

  She wasn’t hungry. But Maria had lost Chris and Ellie, too, and she was still cooking and cleaning. The least Beth could do was try to honor her efforts. She nodded and followed Maria into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

  So what, if Jason bailed on her? She could do this without him. She had information to give to the judge now, information that would force the sheriff to get off his ass and do something.

  So why did it feel like she had a rock in her stomach?

  Maria put a plate down in front of her. The aroma was wonderful, and her mouth began to water. “This smells terrific, Maria. Won’t you join me?”

  “No. My sister is visiting and she has not been well. I must go before the storm worsens.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I hope she feels better soon.”

  Just a few minutes later, Beth was alone. Rain drummed on the roof. She ate a few bites, because she’d promised Maria she would, but as good as it tasted, she just couldn’t eat. She was packing up the rest to put in
the fridge when the phone rang.

  “This is Deputy Morris. May I speak with Mrs. Pontifore?”

  Beth hesitated, then said, “Yes?” She didn’t want to get into the tangle of explaining her deception over the phone to one of Connor’s men. She’d do that directly to the sheriff at the inquest, or maybe on Monday.

  “We’ve found something about your husband’s murder. We’d like you to take a look at it.”

  Murder. He’d called it a murder. Maybe Sheriff Connor was finally taking her seriously. “What is it?”

  “Well, ma’am, I’d rather not discuss it over the phone. We need your unbiased opinion. Could you meet us over where we found your husband?”

  Beth looked out the window at the pouring rain. It was almost completely dark. “Now?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry to ask you out in such weather, but we’re afraid the rain will wash away the evidence.”

  “Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  For a brief second she wished Jason were here, but he wasn’t, and there was nothing she could do about it now. And the jerk had never given her his cell phone number, so she couldn’t call him. She dashed off a quick note. “Sheriff called. New evidence. Be back soon. B.”

  She threw on a light jacket and grabbed her keys. She was just about to run out the door when she paused in front of the hall mirror. Only her own image reflected back at her. “I don’t know if you can hear me, Ellie. I hope so. The sheriff has found something out where Chris died. We’re making progress! We have a suspect. Don’t lose hope!” Then she dashed through the rain to her Civic.

  She was nearly soaked by the time she got inside. With the windshield wipers whisking rapidly back and forth, she sped down the long driveway and out onto the muddy dirt road.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Jason slowed the Taurus as the rain came down even harder.

  Beth is alive! It was Ellie who’d been pregnant. Ellie who had bled to death.He didn’t want her to be dead, but he couldn’t help being glad it wasn’t Beth.

  All the grief for Beth that he’d stuffed away in the back closet of his soul exploded in relief. All the opportunities that he’d thought were gone forever, weren’t. He could tell her how much he’d missed her. How the thought of her had kept him going through the difficult weeks of rehab. But now that he had a second chance, he wasn’t sure he wanted it. She’d lied to him. For days.