“How did you know?” Elizabeth asked, laughing. “Word really does spread fast around here.”
“Veronica called me digging for information about you. She figured I would know something since she made the connection between you and your parents.”
“I didn’t even tell her about my parents. Actually, I didn’t stay long, it smelled terrible in city hall so I escaped as soon as I got the invitation.”
“Well, you were there long enough to get her interested. What are you going to wear?”
“I have no idea. Fancy parties aren’t usually my thing, not much call for cocktail gowns in the Amazon.”
“I’ll bet Sabrina has something you can barrow. We’re all going together, you should come up here and we’ll all go together. That should get Veronica’s curiosity up to a red level immediately and make her mad as well. My guess is that you’re supposed to be the main attraction at the party tonight. She’s going to try to show you off as her big discovery, she’s always trying to be the center of attention.”
“Uh, I’m not sure I’m up to all this.”
“Don’t worry it’ll be fine, come up here and go with us. We usually leave early, you’ll have plenty of time to meet people then you can escape with us.”
“Okay, sounds good. I’ll see you later this afternoon then.” Elizabeth said, hanging up the phone. It was probably not wise to spend time with Donovan’s family, it might be awkward later on, but it had been so long since she’d had a friend it was too hard to resist.
When she got to the ranch, she found all the women waiting for her in the kitchen. “Good now that you’re here we can all go to Sabrina’s cabin, we’re taking it over, all our things are there. Elizabeth didn’t know any of the other women well, but their excitement was contagious.
“Lead the way, I’m ready for some glamour.” Elizabeth said.
“Sometimes I think getting ready is half the fun. Most of the time these parties are really boring, but when you live up here you take what you can get.” Daphne said. “Besides it gives us a break from the kids if nothing else.”
There was lots of nodding in agreement, except Leslie who just shrugged her shoulders, then said. “Sebastian and I don’t have any kids yet, we just got married.”
“Congratulations. How did you meet?” Elizabeth was curious about how Leslie had become a part of this family.
“Oh, it’s a really long story, but basically Sebastian and his family saved me from a mob hit.” She said, as if something like that happened every day.
“Wow, I don’t know what to say.”
“In case you’re wondering, Sabrina was Garrett’s son’s teacher, they got trapped in the high county last fall and she’s never left.”
Elizabeth just looked at her not sure what to say to that. Finally she said, “That’s interesting too.”
“I know a lot of drama, but you’re getting your own dose of the Terrell magic yourself. Although I suppose that you’re used to all this intrigue.”
“No, actually most of my cases are pretty cut and dry. This is a new experience for me.”
“Well, have fun and don’t worry, the Terrell’s seem to have a way of coming out of situations like this without a scrape.”
They’d arrived at Sabrina’s cabin ending any further conversation, even though Elizabeth still have plenty of questions. As soon as they were inside, Sabrina grabbed her and they went to find a dress that Elizabeth could wear.
“Garrett has been filling my closet with clothes I only get to wear once, but now I’m glad he did. We’re probably about the same size, let’s see what we can find.”
“I really appreciate it, I didn’t have a thing that would have worked.” Elizabeth said, shocked when she saw the dresses lined up in the closet.
By the time they were ready to leave for the party, Elizabeth looked as good as she ever though she could look. Sabrina had found the perfect dress, it fit perfectly and showed off her figure perfectly. Elizabeth could have sworn that her breasts were bigger, but since they were also a little tender she just assumed that it was hormones.
She felt a little out of place with all the couples as they got into the cars, but everyone was so welcoming she soon forgot her discomfort. They arrived fashionably late to the party and made a big entrance, everyone greeted them as they came through the door and it took what felt like hours for Elizabeth to meet everyone.
The queasy feeling in her stomach had grown, but she chalked it up to nerves and smiled at each new person she met. By the time dinner was served, she’d met just about everyone the mayor and his wife considered the top of society in Pleasant Valley. She’d disliked the mayor the minute she’d met him, his eyes had roamed over her, causing her to cringe inside. Then he’d put his arm around her and began to maneuver her around the room, making introductions as they went.
She wanted to shrug his arm off, and walk away, but she knew she couldn’t. Instead she tried to be polite, smiling and laughing at his jokes between introductions. Finally, Garrett saved her, pulling her out of the mayor’s grasp to introduce her to some of the people from the resort.
Among the group was the head of research and development, he seemed fine until Garrett had mentioned what she had done for a living the last few years. She could have sworn that he got visibly paler as Garrett talked, the more he described her as the savior of the environment the more uncomfortable the man seemed to get. He finally excused himself and went straight to the mayor.
Elizabeth watched as they exchanged a few harsh words, then the mayor patted the man on the back and sent him on his way. Garrett had seen the exchange as well and nodded his head slightly to Elizabeth as if to say, I saw it too. They couldn’t discuss it now, but she had a gut feeling that they’d just found their polluters. The problem was proving it, the mayor’s house was nice, but nothing that fancy so the money wasn’t in the property, it had to be somewhere else.
She picked at her dinner, her stomach still not cooperating, it was so unlike her to let a case get to her this much. But really it was the only explanation, once this was over she probably should schedule a checkup. It had been a while since she’d seen a doctor and she wasn’t as young as she used to be.
After dinner, they all returned to the living room for coffee and desert, but one whiff of the coffee had Elizabeth headed for the bathroom afraid that she was going to embarrass herself if she didn’t get there fast. After she’d thrown up what little she’d eaten, she felt better, but still not ready to face the smell of coffee.
She was just trying to figure out how she was going to get out of the house without throwing up again when there was a knock on the door. Opening it a crack she saw that it was Daphne and let her in.
“Are you okay? You didn’t look very good out there.”
“I must be coming down with something, the smell of that coffee just turned my stomach. I’ve been feeling yucky for a few days, I think it’s just caught up with me.” Elizabeth said, realizing that she’d been feeling like this for more than a few days.
“I’ve heard there’s a flu going around, but I haven’t heard of it lasting that long. Sit down again you still look a little pale.” Daphne said, pushing her down onto the little chair that was in one corner of the bathroom.
“I think I feel better...” Elizabeth didn’t finish her sentence because another wave of nausea over took her and she had to make it to the toilet.
When she’d finished, Daphne handed her a wet towel to wipe her mouth on. Once she’d gotten herself composed again, Daphne said. “It’s none of my business, but when I’m pregnant the smell of coffee will drive me right out of the house. Is there any chance you’re pregnant?”
Elizabeth let that thought sink in for a minute. She’d been on birth control for so long she hadn’t even considered the possibility. Then the room began to spin just a little as she realized that she’d run out of pills last month and missed a few days before the prescription had been filled.
“Oh, my goodne
ss, but I can’t be, that’s not possible. I mean....” She didn’t finish as another round of nausea over took her.
“I think we better get you home and tomorrow you better make a doctor’s appointment.”
“I didn’t notice that my period was late, there’s been so much going on.” Elizabeth said, tears coming to her eyes. “What am I going to do?”
“Let’s not worry about that now, come on we’ll get you home. Wait here and I’ll gather everyone up and make your apologies. It won’t take long.”
“Daphne, please don’t tell anyone.”
“Don’t worry your secret is safe with me.” Daphne said, opening the door.
As Elizabeth waited for Daphne to come back she realized that her stomach was starting to settle. The nausea was all but gone, relieved that she wouldn’t have to dash though the house with her hand over her mouth, she stood up and began to repair her makeup. As she looked in the mirror she noticed a wonderful painting on the wall behind her. She hadn’t noticed it before, but then again she’d been a little busy.
The painting wasn’t very big, but it was a masterpiece of bright colors, reminiscent of the Impressionist era. She looked at it closer, admiring the brush strokes and the way the colors had been layered to create depth. Elizabeth had long been a fan of the Impressionist paintings and had plenty of opportunities to see the real thing in galleries and museums, not to mention the private collections owners were always so excited to show off.
She looked for a signature but couldn’t find one, pulling the painting from the wall, she looked at the back, then the front. It was clear that when they’d framed the picture, several inches had been covered up, exactly as if someone was trying to cover up a signature. Putting the painting back on the wall, she thought about all the other art she’d seen in the house.
Even if only this one painting was real, the mayor was far wealthier than she’d thought. Quickly fixing her hair and makeup, she opened the bathroom door and tiptoed down the hall. There right where she’d remembered, was another painting she’d assumed was an excellent copy, but upon further inspection was again framed a little strange.
As she was moving down the hall to the next picture, Daphne came around the corner. “What are you doing? Do you feel better?”
Elizabeth was so intent on what she was doing, she only waved a hand at Daphne then pulled another painting down off the wall. She could hear Daphne moving closer to her. She put her hand on Elizabeth’s arm, and started to say something but Elizabeth interrupted her.
“How many other paintings like these are there in the house?” Elizabeth asked, hanging the painting back on the wall.
“I don’t know quite a few. It’s a bit of a joke that the mayor and the head of solar research are competing to see who can collect the most fake art. They have been competing with each other for a couple of years now.”
“Daphne, I’m not an art expert but I do know quite a bit about paintings. These aren’t fakes, these are real. Let’s take a picture of them, I bet if we look online we’ll find out that these are all original works.”
“But then these paintings would be worth millions.” Daphne said, her eyes getting big as she realized what Elizabeth was getting at.
They quickly snapped some pictures of the paintings then slipped out the side door. Garrett was waiting for them in the car, they would take Elizabeth home, then join the party again. As soon as they were in the car with the doors closed Daphne and Elizabeth both started talking at once.
“Wait, wait. I can’t understand you when you both talk at once. I got something about painting, but nothing after that.” Garrett said, starting the car.
“All those paintings in that house are real.” Elizabeth said. “I’d bet you anything.”
As they drove, Elizabeth explained what she’d discovered, making no mention of why she’d been in the bathroom for so long, which Garrett thankfully ignored as well. By the time they reached her house, they had almost convinced Garrett of what they believed.
Inside, Elizabeth got her laptop and downloaded the picture, it was only seconds before it was identified as being by Picasso, one of his lost works last seen before the German’s invaded Poland. There was silence in the room as they all read the accompanying story, then looked at each other.
Garrett was the first to speak. “How did the mayor get that painting? Besides the fact that he’d have to have connections, it would have cost a fortune.”
“That’s what we thought. Where could he have gotten that kind of money?” Daphne said.
“From dumping toxic waste and collecting money from the town’s people.” Elizabeth was the first to voice her suspicions.
“I hate to admit it, but I think we’ve found our polluter.” Garrett said, clenching his jaw, “but how are we going to prove it?”
“First we have to figure out who he’s working with, he’s got to have someone on the inside and I think I know exactly who it is. Bruce Harper.” Daphne said.
Garrett considered it for a second, then said. “You might be right. I was just at his house last week and he had a new painting hanging in his entry way. I remember asking him about it, he said it was a good fake, then changed the subject.”
“We have to get Elizabeth into his house so she can look at his paintings, then we have to find some way to tie them to the pollution. I’m not sure how, but Bruce might be the weak link, he’s never been the kind to stand up to anyone. It might just be a matter of confronting him.” Daphne said.
“I think that’s a little bit risky, we don’t know how they might react, don’t do anything rash, Daphne.” Garrett said, giving her a look.
“All I’m going to do right now is get Elizabeth invited into the house. I promise not to say anything.”
“Good. Now we need to call Donovan and share what we’ve learned.” Garrett said, turning to Elizabeth. “I assume you’ve spoken with him recently, I haven’t heard from him for a few days.”
“I haven’t either, I just assumed he was keeping in touch with you.”
“That’s strange, the last time I talked to him he said that Charles had uncovered some new information that might just prove the mayor was behind this.”
Elizabeth’s stomach, which had been fine suddenly fell, now no one had heard from Donovan for days. It was looking more and more like he was involved in this, after all the mayor and Bruce would have needed someone else to pull it off. Suddenly she knew she was going to be sick again.
Running from the room, she barely made it to the bathroom in time. Not only had she trusted a man who shouldn’t have been trusted, now she was pregnant with his child. She’d done the math on the way home and was convinced that she didn’t have the flu, but was probably pregnant. Her life had suddenly gone out of control and she had no idea how to get it back.
Stumbling into her bedroom, she changed into the robe and sat down on the bed. She knew Daphne would come looking for her eventually so she just waited. She’d been right, after only a few minutes Daphne knocked on the door, and came in. Sitting down on the bed next to her, she put her arm around Elizabeth and gave her a hug.
“It’s Donovan’s.” She finally said.
“I thought so. But, it’s not the end of the world. He’s a good man, and I saw you two together, he was already half in love with you then.” Daphne said, tipping Elizabeth’s head up. “You’ll see, it will all work out. Do you want me to stay with you?”
“No, I think I need some time on my own. Call me tomorrow and let me know how we’re getting into Bruce’s house. We still have to finish this no matter what else is going on.”
“Okay, call me if you need anything.”
When Elizabeth dragged herself out of bed the next morning, she found a blanket of snow on the ground and skies that promised to add more. Her mind wanted coffee, but her stomach said differently, in fact she was dreading even seeing the coffee pot. But when she walked into the kitchen the coffee pot was gone and in its place she found a tea pot and
a box of tea bags.
Next to the tea pot was a note from Daphne explaining that the tea would help calm her stomach. Feeling tears threatening, she made a cup of tea and took it to the living room. After building the fire up, she called Daphne to thank her.
“Thanks for the tea, it’s helping already.” Elizabeth said, when she picked up.
“No problem, it saved my life when I had my oldest daughter.”
“Looks like we’re in for some more snow, I’ve barely recovered from the last storm.” Elizabeth said, looking out her front window.
“The forecast is calling for another foot by tomorrow and a possible additional foot the day after that. Welcome to Colorado, we warned you.” Daphne said, laughing. Then turned serious. “Have you heard from Donovan? We haven’t heard a peep and I’m worried we’re going to lose cell reception. I’m worried about him, he’s never out of touch this long.”
“Daphne, I know he’s your cousin and everything, but this is beginning to make me suspicious.” Elizabeth felt better voicing her worst fear, it had been eating at her since last night.
“I can understand your worry, but let me assure you Donovan would never do anything like this, you’re just going to have to trust me on this one. I’ve known him my entire life and polluting our land is the last thing he’d do.”
Just hearing Daphne say the words made her feel better. “Well, then what’s our next step?”
“We need to get inside Bruce’s house and get a look at some of his art, but other than just showing up on his doorstep I don’t have a clue how to do it.”
“Then I guess we’re going to show up on his door step. It’s Sunday, do you think he’ll be home today?” Elizabeth asked, searching her mind for a reason to invade the man’s home.
“Yeah, he’ll go to church with the family and then go home to watch football. We’ve been to his house for a few football games, he’s a fanatic, watches as many games as he can. I’ll pick you up right after lunch and we’ll go over there. Maybe we can get a hold of Donovan before then, you keep trying and so will I.”
Make Me Whole (Brothers From Money #3) Page 12
