Jayne Ann Krentz

by Eclipse Bay

  Walter pursed his lips. “Torrance and I always suspected that she got killed by some sex maniac from Seattle. Isn’t that right, Torrance?”

  Torrance bobbed his head several times. “Yup. That was how we figured it, all right. Not that Chief Yates paid any attention to us.”

  “Yates just wanted to close the case as fast as possible,” Walter said somberly. “He was getting ready to retire. Last thing he wanted to do was leave behind a nasty unsolved murder. Would have spoiled his record.”

  “Murder.” Hannah met Rafe’s eyes for a few seconds. He gave her an enigmatic look. She turned back to Walter. “Are you serious? Do you really think Kaitlin was murdered by a sex maniac?”

  Walter traded glances with Torrance. “Can’t blame us for wondering, given what we found the day we fixed her washer. Right, Torrance?”

  Torrance’s head went into nodding mode again. “Right. Gotta wonder.”

  Rafe looked at Walter “What exactly did you find the day you fixed her washer?”

  To Hannah’s astonishment, Walter blushed a bright shade of red.

  “Kinky stuff,” he muttered.

  “What kind of kinky stuff?” Rafe asked.

  Something in his voice made Hannah glance sharply at him. But she could read nothing in his expression.

  Torrance rolled his eyes. “You know. Frilly undies.”

  Hannah thought about the little demi-bra she had lost on the stairs last night. When her gaze collided with Rafe’s, she knew he was thinking about it too.

  “What’s so kinky about a woman wearing frilly underwear?” she demanded

  “Well, the stuff we found wasn’t exactly little,” Torrance said. “Big enough to fit a man.”

  “Definitely a heck of a lot bigger than Kaitlin,” Walter confided. “She was real petite, if you recall.”

  “There was also a sexy nightgown that was much too big for her,” Torrance continued. “And some really large sparkly high heels.”

  “Don’t forget those videotapes,” Walter added.

  Hannah stared at him. “You found all that stuff inside her washer?”

  “Not exactly inside the washer.” Torrance hesitated. “Well, see, once we got goin’ on the washer, we realized that her dryer exhaust hose probably hadn’t been cleaned in a long time.”

  “Dangerous things, exhaust hoses,” Walter put in seriously. “If they get clogged with lint, they can cause fires. Anyhow, we figured we’d do Kaitlin a favor, so after we finished with the washer, we pulled out the dryer to check the exhaust hose. That was when we found the large-sized undies and the videos and all.”

  “Behind the machine?” Rafe asked carefully.

  Torrance nodded violently. “Someone had cut out a big chunk of drywall and stuffed the videos and the ladies’ things into the space between a couple of studs.”

  “Knew right off the female stuff didn’t belong to you, Rafe,” Walter assured him hastily.

  “What was your big clue?” Rafe asked. “Wrong size?”

  Torrance guffawed with laughter. “Heck, everyone knew you’d been seein’ a lot of Kaitlin that summer. But me and Walter never figured you for one of them transistors.”

  “Transvestites,” Rafe corrected mildly.

  Torrance nodded. “Never figured you for one of them.”

  “You were right about my taste in underwear. I’m a pretty traditional kind of guy.”

  Torrance’s laughter faded. “Anyhow, after Kaitlin died, Walter and I remembered that stuff we found in the wall. That’s what made us think she’d been done in by some out-of-town sex maniac.”

  “From Seattle,” Walter concluded.

  “Why Seattle?” Hannah asked.

  Torrance snorted. “Not the sort of thing they do in Portland.”

  Hannah looked at Rafe.

  He shrugged. “The man has a point. You know what they say about those folks up in Seattle.”

  She turned back to Walter and Torrance. “You said you told Chief Yates about the videos and the lingerie?”

  “Yup, figured it was our civic duty,” Torrance said. “But he told us to keep our mouths shut. Said there was enough gossip goin’ around as it was. Town didn’t need any more.”

  “Besides, the stuff was gone when we took the chief to Kaitlin’s house to show it to him,” Walter added. “I don’t think he believed us.”

  Rafe frowned. “The lingerie and videos weren’t there when you went back?”

  “Nope.” Torrance sighed. “That’s the main reason Walter and me didn’t talk too much about what we’d found. Didn’t have any proof, and Chief Yates said we could get in a lotta trouble if we started spreadin’ false rumors. Right, Walter?”

  “Right,” Walter said crisply. “We’re not blabbermouths. But we always thought Kaitlin was murdered by that sex maniac she must have been seein’.” He looked at Rafe. “No offense, but everyone knew she was fooling around with other men.”

  “Yes.” Rafe did not look at Hannah. “Even I figured it out. Why do you think the guy who was into the lingerie murdered her?”

  “Who knows?” Torrance said.

  “Maybe he didn’t like the fact that she had those videos,” Walter said. “Could be they were films of him dressed in the lingerie.”

  Rafe’s gaze went to Hannah. She saw the glint of curiosity in his eyes. She didn’t blame him. She was reluctantly fascinated, herself.

  “You think this guy from Seattle went back to Kaitlin’s house after he murdered her and stole the lingerie and videos?” Rafe asked.

  “Makes sense, doesn’t it?” Walter asked. “He wouldn’t want to leave any evidence around that might point back to him.”

  “It’s certainly an interesting theory,” Hannah allowed cautiously.

  “That’s all it’ll ever be now,” Walter said. “Kaitlin’s been dead and buried for a long time. No one’s going to reopen that old case. Probably for the best.” He turned with military precision. “Well, you’ll have to excuse us, we’ve got work to do. Don’t we, Torrance?”

  “Yup.” Torrance’s head bobbed up and down half a dozen times with great enthusiasm. “Turnin’ this place into an inn with a restaurant attached is gonna be a big project. But you know, it makes a lotta sense. What with the institute and the college and the plans to renovate the old pier and put in more shops, Eclipse Bay is attractin’ a lotta visitors these days. Don’t have many nice places for ’em to stay. Just the motel out on the highway. Way it is now, folks have to drive on up the coast to find a classy place.”

  He swung around and lumbered off after his brother.

  Hannah waited until both Willises were out of sight. Then she looked at Rafe.

  “A sex maniac from Seattle?” she said softly.

  “I have a hunch that everyone in town has a personal theory of what happened that night.”

  “Frilly lingerie in sizes big enough to fit a man?”

  “Don’t look at me.” He held up both hands, palms out. “I never saw any of that stuff.”

  “What about the videos?”

  He shook his head. “Nope. No videos. Hannah, I only went out with Kaitlin a few times before it became real obvious that she was just amusing herself with me while she hunted for her real meal ticket. I never got to know her well enough to learn about her little quirks and eccentricities.”

  “Hmm. You do realize what this means, don’t you?”

  He leveled a finger at her. “Nothing. It means absolutely nothing. We only have the Willis brothers’ word on what they found in the wall behind her dryer. And no offense to either Torrance or Walter, but they’re not the most sophisticated guys to come down the pike. I doubt if they’ve been any farther than Portland in their entire lives. What looked like kinky clothing and dirty videos to them might be nothing more than a little late-night entertainment to other folks.”

  “Kaitlin wasn’t exactly shy about her own sexual activities. I can’t see her going out of her way to protect the reputations of the men she dated, eit
her. If she went to the trouble of hiding that lingerie and those videos to protect a boyfriend, she must have had big plans for the poor guy.”

  Rafe hesitated. “Kaitlin’s supreme goal in life was to marry someone with enough money to help her escape Eclipse Bay.”

  “So, maybe this particular boyfriend had money. Maybe she saw him as a hot prospect for marriage.”

  “Why hide the undies and the tapes?”

  “Who knows? Maybe he was already married. Maybe she wanted to protect him because she was hoping he’d get a divorce and marry her. Maybe—”

  “Whoa,” Rafe said. “Lots of maybes here.”

  She made a face and planted her hands on her hips. “You’re right. Got a little carried away there for a minute, didn’t I?”

  “Imagination is a wonderful thing. But in this case it’s wasted. It’s been eight years. We’ll never know for sure what happened to Kaitlin that night. Like Walter said, that’s probably just as well.”

  Reluctantly she pulled her thoughts back to the matter at hand. The instant she refocused on her chief problem, her irritation returned.

  “Let’s get something clear here,” she said. “You’re not going to do anything to Dreamscape until you and I have come to some agreement about how to handle the legal aspects of Isabel’s inheritance.”

  Rafe pondered the view of the hall. “I could open the restaurant in my half of the house.”

  “That’s crazy. There’s no way you can turn half of this place into a restaurant. How would we divide the kitchen? What about all the people who would use my half of this hall to get to your restaurant? And who gets the solarium?”

  “I thought it would make a nice dining room. In the summer I’ll set up tables outside on the veranda, too.”

  “Not without my permission, you won’t. Rafe, you just can’t run roughshod over the legal technicalities of this inheritance. We’re talking several hundred thousand dollars worth of mansion here. We have to settle things first. You know that as well as I do.”

  “Well,” Rafe said a little too casually, “speaking of settling the minor details, I’ve got a suggestion.”

  Sensing danger, she went very still. “What is it?”

  “How about a partnership?”

  She stared at him, momentarily speechless.

  “You?” she managed at last. “Me? Partners in Dreamscape?”

  “You don’t think it would work?”

  “What about last night? Are you just going to pretend it never happened?”

  “What’s last night got to do with it?”

  Suddenly she could no longer breathe. “Everything. How can you talk about a business partnership after—” She waved a hand, unable to finish the sentence.

  “Ah.” Understanding lit his eyes. “You’re worried about us mixing business with pleasure?”

  There was a distant ringing in her ears now. Was that all it had been to him? A pleasant interlude? She struggled to regain her composure.

  “Aren’t you?” she asked in as cold a voice as she could manage.

  “Well, sure,” he said far too readily. “Naturally I’ll have a problem with it because I’m a Madison. Madisons always have problems when they get their financial affairs mixed up with their sexual affairs. But it shouldn’t be a stretch for you. You’re a Harte. You can compartmentalize.”

  He was goading her, she thought. She had to get out of here before she lost it. Hartes did not do that kind of thing. Not in public, at any rate.

  “You’re right,” she said. “I could probably handle it. But as you just pointed out, you’re a Madison. You’d screw it up for sure.”

  She spun on her heel and walked swiftly outside. Winston, ever faithful, trotted out of the kitchen to follow her. Together they went down the front steps without a backward glance.

  She yanked open the car door. Winston bounded inside and took up his post on the passenger seat. She got in behind the wheel and slammed the door shut.

  The last thing she saw in her rearview mirror was Rafe lounging against the porch railing watching her roar out of the driveway. He had enjoyed seeing her come so close to the edge, she realized. He had deliberately pushed her, just to see what would happen.

  A wave of uncertainty swept through her. All of her grandfather’s warnings about Madisons flashed through her mind. What kind of game was Rafe playing?

  chapter 14

  Rafe brought the Porsche to a halt in the drive, switched off the engine, and sat for a while, staring at the front door of Mitchell’s house.

  Asking his grandfather to come to dinner was a crazy idea. If he had any sense he would fire up the engine and drive straight back to Dreamscape. But then he would have to explain to Hannah why he had chickened out.

  The thought of going through another scene with her after the one that had taken place this morning when she had arrived to find the Willis brothers hard at work was not appealing. He had taken a chance, pushed his luck, and, predictably enough, things had exploded in his face. He would be more cautious next time. Who said a Madison couldn’t learn from his mistakes?

  He climbed out from behind the wheel and walked toward the porch steps.

  The front door opened just as he raised his hand to knock. A cadaverously thin figure with a buzz cut and a face that looked as if it had been hewn out of the side of a mountain stared at him.

  Bryce had worked for Mitchell for nearly ten years. No one knew where he had come from. He had started out as a part-time handyman and had gradually carved out a position as full-time majordomo. If Bryce had a last name, it had been lost in the mists of time. As far as Rafe knew, he had no close relatives. Bryce had brought order to the chaos of Mitchell’s household. He was unswervingly loyal to his employer. Beyond that, he was a mystery.

  “Hello, Bryce.”

  “Good afternoon.”

  “I’m looking for Mitchell.”

  “Your grandfather is out in the garden.”

  “Thanks.”

  Rafe nodded in a friendly manner and walked off down the porch. No point exchanging further pleasantries. Bryce was not one for extended conversations.

  Rafe opened the gate and entered the lush wonderland. When he didn’t see Mitchell, he took the narrow gravel path that led toward the greenhouse at the far end of the garden.

  He found his grandfather inside the opaque structure, tending to a tray of plants. Mitchell had a long-spouted watering can in one hand and a small spade in the other.

  Rafe took a breath and stepped into the humid atmosphere of the greenhouse. He recalled Hannah’s comment. Your interest in cooking parallels his in gardening. Creative outlets that you both approach with passion.

  The idea of having something in common with Mitchell was a hard concept to digest.

  “Lookin’ good in here,” he said. He told himself Hannah would have been proud of him for trying to start things off on a civil note. Then again, maybe not. She was pretty pissed at him right now. “You ever think about opening a commercial nursery?”

  “Hell, no. Last thing I want to do is turn a good hobby into a business. Ruin all the fun.” Mitchell set down the watering can with a thunk and scowled ferociously. “Speaking of business, what’s this I hear about you opening an inn and a little restaurant out there at Dreamscape?”

  “Word gets around fast.”

  “If you wanted to keep it a secret, you shouldn’t have called the Willis brothers out to give you an opinion on the condition of the plumbing and wiring in that old place.”

  “You’re right.” Rafe examined a row of tiny pots containing small green plants with glossy leaves. “On the other hand, not much point trying to keep the plan a big dark secret here in Eclipse Bay.”

  Mitchell gave him a sharp glance from beneath bushy brows. “You’re serious about opening an inn?”

  “Yeah.” Rafe moved on to a tray of feathery ferns. “Been thinking about it for a year now.”

  Mitchell whistled softly. “Well, shoot and damn. Why th
e hell didn’t you ever say anything?”

  “Got to work things out with Hannah first.”

  “Huh. That’s a fact.”

  Rafe looked up from the ferns. “Aren’t you going to tell me that turning Dreamscape into an inn and restaurant is just about the dumbest idea any Madison has ever had?”

  “Dumb is beside the point. Madisons don’t concern themselves with dumb. They concentrate on what they want.” Mitchell’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he squinted at Rafe. “You really want this?”

  “Yes.”

  Mitchell studied him for a long moment. Then he nodded once and stripped off a garden glove. “Go for it.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “You heard me. If you want it that bad, there’s no point in me trying to talk you out of it. You’re a Madison. Nothing’s going to get in your way. Hell, you’ve got a better chance of pulling off an inn out there at Dreamscape than most folks.”

  Rafe was thunderstruck. He stared at Mitchell until he finally got his jaw back in place.

  “Are you telling me you think opening an inn and a restaurant is a good idea?” he finally managed.

  “Didn’t say that.” Mitchell tossed the glove down on the workbench. “Don’t know if it’s a good idea or not, to tell you the truth. Just said I could see that nothing was going to stop you. You’ve got a good head for business when you choose to use it. You could make this inn-restaurant thing work.”

  Rafe lounged back against a waist-high potting bench, slightly shaken. This was the first time that Mitchell had ever given even halfhearted approval for any idea that did not involve going to work for Madison Commercial.

  “Where does Hannah Harte fit into this big plan of yours?” Mitchell asked.

  Rafe did not move. He did not even blink. “What do you mean?”

  “Last I heard, she still owned half of that old house. Has she agreed to let you buy her out?”

  “No.”

  “Then what the hell are you going to do with her?”

  Rafe examined the hibiscus next to him. “I’ve suggested to her that we form a partnership to operate the inn and restaurant.”

  “A partnership?” Mitchell’s face worked in astonishment. “With Hannah Harte? Have you lost every damned marble you’ve got?”