The Heiress’s 2-Week Affair

by Marie Ferrarella

  Her suspicions were aroused. Natalie studied his face closely as she asked, “Do you know something I don’t?”

  Actually, there was one piece of information he did have that she didn’t, but he wanted to look into it a little more before sharing, so when he answered her, it was in the negative.

  “No,” he confessed. “I’m just spinning theories and trying to take everything under consideration.”

  She was quiet for a moment as she digested what he was saying. Something didn’t quite fit.

  “Not that I don’t appreciate the help. After all, I was the one who initially dragged you into this.” As with a suspect she was questioning, Natalie moved in for the so-called kill. In this case, it was his motives she was after. “But when did you suddenly become so dedicated to finding Candace’s killer?”

  “The first time I made love with you.” He saw her brow furrow in confusion and realized his mistake. “The second first time,” he corrected. “Meaning this time around, not eight years ago.”

  “I know what that means,” she interrupted, then asked, “And that’s the only reason?”

  “Yeah.” Taking a right turn, he glanced at his watch. It was getting late. “Mind if I drop you off at your place? I only took a few hours off, and Luke’s expecting me at the casino for a meeting at one.” It was close to that now.

  “I don’t mind you dropping me off,” she told him agreeably, then added, “but make it The Janus instead of my place.”

  Matt was immediately suspicious. She’d already put in a great deal of time there. “Why?”

  “Why don’t you leave that up to me?” Because if I tell you, you’ll give me an argument, and I don’t feel up to arguing.

  He looked at her incredulously just as he squeaked through a yellow light that was about to turn red. “You still don’t trust me? What is it that Conner said to you?” It couldn’t have been just an ambiguous warning. There had to be something more to it, he reasoned.

  But Natalie waved her hand at his question. “Conner doesn’t matter. I’m never sure about anything he says,” she admitted. Her cousin was very capable of lying to put her on the wrong trail for his own reasons. She didn’t have time or the inclination to try to unravel why he was warning her about Matt. “We weren’t exactly encouraged to have a close, honest relationship as kids. We were always being pitted against one another, and he liked winning far too much for my taste. As a matter of fact, he still does.”

  “You still haven’t answered my first question,” Matt persisted. This time, when the light flashed yellow, he stepped on the brake so he could look at her. People had trouble lying if they were looked at head-on. Decent people, at any rate. “You don’t trust me?”

  “It’s not a matter of trust,” she insisted. He wasn’t going to give up, she could see that. Natalie decided to give him just a little and hoped that would satisfy him. “If I told you why, then I’d be involving you and you might have to pick sides. I don’t want to put you in that position.”

  When had this happened? “It didn’t seem to matter to you a week ago.”

  “That was a week ago.” Why couldn’t he just let things be? She waved her hand at the road before them. “Stop acting like some two-bit private investigator and just drive, okay?”

  “Okay. I’ll take you to The Janus,” he conceded. “And I won’t ask any questions.” For now, he added silently. Sparing her a glance, he told her, “You’re going to look out of place in that outfit.”

  Unlike Candace, who had always been very particular about her clothes, insisting on only the latest fashions and the most expensive designers, Natalie could care less about her so-called image. She merely shrugged at his observation.

  “Won’t be the first time. Won’t be the last.”

  “Suit yourself,” he told her. But if she thought that he wasn’t going to try to find out what she was up to, she really didn’t know him anymore.

  Her answer was self-assured. “Thanks, but I usually do.”

  He smiled to himself as he pressed his foot down on the accelerator. That she didn’t have to tell him. “Yeah, I remember.”

  Chapter 13

  With the gala tapes she’d viewed all but burned into her brain, Natalie’s main reason for returning to The Janus was to retrace her sister’s steps that night as closely as possible. By trying to see things from Candace’s line of vision, she was really hoping that something might strike her that hadn’t previously.

  Nothing did.

  The case was getting colder, and though some crimes were solved months, even years after they’d taken place—often by accident after an incredible amount of man-hours had been put into the endeavor—most cases were either solved in the first seventy-two hours or forever remained open.

  Natalie was aware that it had already been longer than that, but she absolutely refused to have her sister’s murder fall into that black hole known as cold cases. If she had to take a leave of absence, she would, but she planned to devote herself to solving this crime if it was the last thing she did.

  Matt hadn’t lied to her when he told Natalie that he needed to get back to The Janus for a meeting, one that hinged not only on his attendance but on his delivering a report to his employer. It concerned the overall present state of security not just in the casino itself but in the hotel and the surrounding grounds as well. However, the moment his meeting with Montgomery was over, Matt quickly returned to his office.

  He not only closed the door but he locked it and shut the blinds as well. He didn’t want to take a chance on anyone walking in on him while he was on his private line.

  Something regarding the missing ring had come to his attention late last night, and he wanted to verify the information before mentioning it to Natalie. The fastest way he knew how to get started was calling in one of the many favors that he was owed. Even so, part of him loathed doing it.

  Because even if it was calling in a favor that was owed him, it theoretically placed him in debt to the person who was reciprocating the favor. And that person belonged to the Schaffer family network.

  To say he disliked dealing with any of them was an understatement—he spent most of his time trying to disentangle himself from their vast tentacles. But in this case, it was the only way to proceed.

  Besides, he told himself, he was doing this for Natalie.

  And maybe, he thought as he listened to the phone on the other end ring, he was also doing it for Candace. He and Natalie’s twin had never gotten intimate the way Natalie had suggested, but, if he was being honest, he felt sorry for the dead woman. In a lot of ways, Candace had reminded him of a female version of his brother: a perpetual screwup unconsciously hunting for approval. And always hunting in all the wrong places.

  Was that what had happened the last night of her life? Was the person Candace had hoped would light up her world responsible for bringing an end to it instead?

  The ringing stopped. A husky voice, laced with the ragged remnants of sleep, came on the other end of the line. Matt glanced at his watch. It was close to two o’clock. But then, his cousin Vinnie was a player, and players in Vegas rarely ever got up until the sun went down.

  “Whoever this is, you’d better have a damn good reason for waking me up,” Vinnie growled, a snarling bear prematurely dragged out of hibernation.

  “Vinnie, it’s Matt,” he began, then paused to let the name sink in.

  True to form, his cousin wasn’t processing information yet. “Matt?”

  “Matt Schaffer. Your cousin. Scott’s brother.” Pausing between each sentence, Matt went down the line of several more filial connections they shared before finally saying, “The guy who saved your butt when the police were ready to haul you off to jail for that burglary they thought you’d committed.”

  The incident had turned out to be a case of mistaken identity and, at his aunt’s tearful behest, he’d flown into Vegas to see what he could do to help her son. He’d stayed in Vegas less than three days that time. But even s
o, he’d been ever aware of the possibility that his path would cross Natalie’s. That time, it hadn’t.

  He remembered smothering a kernel of disappointment as he flew back to L.A.

  “Oh, Matt,” Vinnie cried as if his brain had suddenly kicked in. “How the hell are you? Still in L.A.?”

  Matt leaned back in his chair. This might be slow going. “No, I’m here in Vegas.”

  “Vegas? Hell, you gotta let me have a chance to pay you back for what you did for me, man. Where’re you staying?” Matt heard rustling on the other end, as if his cousin was hunting for his clothes. “I can swing by and pick—”

  He stopped him before Vinnie could work up a full head of steam. “That’s not necessary, Vinnie. But if you really want to pay me back, I do need a little information.”

  “Hey, you got it. My brain’s your brain. Ask me,” Vinnie invited, sounding eager to get out from under the weight of owing a debt.

  Matt decided that he was going to have to give Vinnie a little background. Otherwise there were going to be endless questions.

  “You know about that Rothchild woman who was found dead in her condo the other week?” With Vinnie, he took nothing for granted. Vinnie was generally oblivious to the outside world. He’d once gone an entire year before realizing that the price of postage had gone up.

  This time, however, Vinnie was on top of things. “Yeah. Candace. A real party girl. We’re really going to miss her around here.” He almost sounded sad. “Damn waste if you ask me.”

  Matt paused, wanting to phrase his question just right. He didn’t want his cousin thinking that what he was asking would get back to the police. Any hint of the police would have Vinnie clamming up as if he’d swallowed a mouthful of crazy glue.

  “According to the paper, they think she was wearing that big diamond ring.” He played dumb. “Tears of the Quetzal I think the thing is called.”

  He heard his cousin’s high-pitched laugh and remembered how grating a sound that could be. “Hell of a name, isn’t it? I can’t even pronounce it. Neither could Aunt Lydia.”

  Aunt Lydia. If he remembered his family dynamics, Aunt Lydia belonged to his mother’s side of the family, once removed.

  Matt smiled to himself. Maybe this was going to be easier than he’d initially thought. Just before he’d gotten together with Natalie last night, he’d become aware there was a rumor that had once made the rounds that the ring in question had fallen into the hands of his family for a while. If that was the case, then maybe someone in the family thought it should be returned. The members of his far-flung clan and their associates were capable of anything.

  “Why would Aunt Lydia need to pronounce it?” Matt asked his cousin, trying to come across as only mildly curious.

  Fully awake now, Vinnie cackled. “’Cause the crazy old lady claimed that the ring was hers. Said she ‘found’ it next to her dinner plate one evening when she was on this cruise down to Mexico. The same so-called cruise that Harold Rothchild supposedly whisked her off to when he was in-between wives,” Vinnie added for good measure. It was obvious that he believed none of what Aunt Lydia had said.

  This probably wasn’t going to lead to anything, but since he had Vinnie on the phone, he wanted to hear whatever details his cousin had.

  “Which wives?”

  He’d obviously amused Vinnie. This time when his cousin laughed, Matt held the phone away from his ear until the noise stopped.

  “Good question. Some guys never learn, do they?” Vinnie marveled, going off on a tangent. “His first wife croaks, and instead of being glad he was free, the damn fool starts looking around for another wife.” Matt cleared his throat, and Vinnie got back on track. “But to answer your question, it was after his first one died and before he married the second one. Anna something-or-other I think. Anyway, that’s the story Aunt Lydia tells.”

  Well, at least it was a starting point, Matt thought. Better than nothing. Everyone knew that Lydia Silecchia was several sandwiches short of a picnic basket. Maybe she had seen Candace flashing her ring on TV on one of those entertainment programs that made a point of recording every breath a celebrity took and decided to confront Natalie’s sister.

  Matt frowned. He knew this was a damn long shot, but right now, it was the only lead he had to go on so he might as well pursue it. With luck, it might actually lead him to something that made more sense.

  Since there didn’t seem to be any more information forthcoming, Matt decided to end the conversation before Vinnie got off track again. “Thanks, Vinnie, you’ve been a big help.”

  “Hey, what about us two studs getting together and having our way with the Vegas female population? You can be my wingman.”

  Aunt Lydia wasn’t the only one who was delusional, Matt thought. “I’ll get back to you on that,” he promised, breaking the connection before Vinnie could say anything else. He replaced the receiver just as he heard a knock on his door. Now what? He was hoping to be able to go find Natalie, but that obviously was going to have to wait.

  “Come in,” he called out. When whoever was on the other side rattled the doorknob, Matt remembered that he’d locked the door. Not something he normally did. “Be right there.”

  Flipping the lock, he opened the door and found himself looking down at a very frustrated-looking Natalie. Her afternoon hadn’t gone very well, he surmised.

  “I just wanted to let you know I was leaving,” she told him.

  “I take it that whatever you were trying to do didn’t pan out?”

  She didn’t feel like going into detail. “Something like that.”

  Matt glanced back at his desk. There was nothing going on that needed his immediate attention. He made a quick decision. “Want to go for a ride?”

  There were times when she actually enjoyed cruising the more colorful streets of the strip, but she really wasn’t in the mood this afternoon.

  She shook her head. “Maybe some other—” And then Natalie stopped. The look on Matt’s face told her that this was more than just a careless invitation to go for a drive. Did he find something out? She didn’t bother containing the surge of excitement that entered her voice. “What’s up?”

  He didn’t want her getting her hopes up too much. “Maybe nothing,” he cautioned.

  She knew Matt. He wouldn’t have mentioned anything unless he was at least partially sure there was something to it. “And maybe something?” she countered.

  He allowed a smile to curve the corners of his mouth. “Maybe.”

  She realized that they were walking out of his office and he had taken her arm. “Damn it, Matt, tell me. Why am I going on a ride with you?”

  “Because you’ll enjoy it?” He couldn’t resist teasing.

  That would have worked eight years ago. A lot of things would have worked eight years ago. But she’d done a lot of growing in that time. And a lot of hardening as well.

  “What I don’t enjoy is being in the dark.”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” His warm smile wove its way into her gut despite her efforts to block it. “Being in the dark has its advantages. As long as it’s with the right person.”

  She studied his face. He wasn’t just teasing her. There was something to all this. “You’re on to something, aren’t you?”

  He looked at her for a long moment, his mind going places it had no business going. Because nothing had changed from last night, or the nights that had come before that. Nights they had spent making love and keeping the world at bay. He was still a different man than he had been when he had originally left Vegas—and her. A different man who, for better or worse, was set in his ways.

  And she still deserved better.

  “Yeah, I might be,” he admitted, then cautioned, “But this still might be nothing.”

  She had never liked riddles, never enjoyed searching for puzzle pieces. She always wanted all the pieces out in the open, where she could see them.

  “I swear, if you don’t start giving me some tangible details I’
m not going to be responsible for what I do to you, Matt.”

  “I heard that that ring of yours—”

  She immediately interrupted him. He needed to get this straight. She had absolutely no interest in finding the ring. Her only interest in it was how it figured into her sister’s death.

  “My father’s ring,” Natalie corrected with feeling. “It’s not my ring. It’s my father’s. And I don’t care what he does with it.”

  And if Candace had felt the same way, she would probably still be alive, Natalie thought sadly.

  “Sorry, your father’s ring. Anyway, I came across a rumor that my family might have had possession of it for a while. If so, knowing my family, maybe someone decided that they should get it back.”

  They were crossing the casino floor, approaching the slot machines by the entrance, and Natalie stopped walking. “Your family?” she echoed, stunned. “That’s a new one on me.” She laughed dryly, shaking her head. It amazed her how much she still didn’t know about what went on in her family. “But then, my father has never been exactly forthcoming about the diamond.” Or anything else, she added silently.

  “I’m not even sure just how he got hold of it. Supposedly my grandfather found it in his mines in Mexico, but that’s never been verified. For all I know, Grandpa might have stolen it from someone.” Even as she said it out loud, it made sense to her. “Joseph Rothchild wasn’t exactly a man whose background could stand close investigation.”

  She resumed walking. The electronic doors opened wide for them. “So where is it exactly that we’re going?” she wanted to know.

  He nodded toward the closest valet. No words needed to be exchanged. The young man immediately went to retrieve Matt’s sports car. “To see my Aunt Lydia.”

  More surprises, she thought, turning to look at Matt. “You have an Aunt Lydia?” He nodded in response. “You never mentioned her,” she pointed out.