Hope's Discovery (THE MATCHMAKER TRILOGY)

by Marie, Bernadette

  He walked back to the door and found a frightened Hope. Without the case he’d never have found her. But if Donald Buchanan hadn’t walked into his office perhaps she’d be safe.

  He gritted his teeth and he felt the hard ball of anger form in his stomach. “They hit you. It’s torn apart.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Hope didn’t say a word as tears began to stream from beneath her sunglasses. What could be beyond the door? How much of her life was destroyed?

  Trevor wrapped his hands around her arms and gave them a gentle rub. “Why don’t we lock this up and call the police. I’ll take you to your sister’s house or your parents’.”

  She shook her head. “No. They may have scared Mandy away, but they aren’t going to scare me away.”

  “What do you mean they scared Mandy away?”

  Hope tucked her lips between her teeth, not yet ready to tell him what she’d learned of her birth mother. She pulled her sunglasses from her eyes, slid from Trevor’s grip, and stepped into her apartment to see firsthand what Trevor had found.

  “Oh no!” She covered her mouth with her hand. The pictures of her family had been torn from the walls. Books had been dumped onto the floor, and the cushions from the furniture discarded to the side of the room. She walked to her bedroom and stood at the doorway, afraid to walk in. The bed was turned over, the dresser drawers emptied, and the contents of her closet had been thrown throughout the room.

  “You feel violated, don’t you? Nothing like someone touching all your things.”

  She felt sick to her stomach. “Did they leave anything intact?”

  “No. I’ll call the police,” he offered and she nodded. “Look around. Do you see anything missing?”

  “How would I know?” she bit off quickly, then let out a heavy breath. “I’ll look.”

  Trevor opened his cell phone and called the police while Hope carefully walked through the rubble that was her life.

  She picked up a picture of her family taken at her high school graduation while Trevor explained to the police what had happened. She looked at the joy that beamed from her father’s eyes and at Sophia who looked at her with such love. What was she doing? These were her parents. Why did she think she needed to hurt them to find out who she was?

  Trevor closed his cell phone and walked over to her. He looked down at the picture in her hand and rested a hand on her shoulder. “They’re on their way. Did you find anything missing?”

  She shook her head. “No. They didn’t find what they were looking for.”

  “Hope, what are they looking for?”

  She didn’t have a chance to answer before there was a gasp at the door. They both turned to see Carissa standing in the doorway.

  “Oh, dear! What happened in here?” She looked around. “They hit you too?”

  “Looks that way.” Hope walked around the cushions and scattered books back toward the door.

  “Thank goodness you weren’t here.”

  “They would have waited. I don’t think they’re looking to hurt any of us. They’re looking for something.” Hope focused on Carissa, who she knew would understand the meaning behind it.

  Carissa nodded and turned to Trevor. “Hope said you brought something back with you.”

  “I did, but I think we should wait until the police leave to go through it.”

  She shifted her eyes back to Hope. “I think we should tell him.”

  Hope pursed her lips as she contemplated her sister’s words. She hadn’t wanted to tell him about the contents of the safety deposit box yet. She hadn’t completely been able to grasp the truth around the letters, stocks, and money. Before she could say a word, Trevor stepped up to her.

  “Tell me what?”

  Carissa straightened her shoulders. “While you were in New York, we located the safe-deposit box.”

  “You did?” Amazement and then anger flashed in his eyes. “That could have been dangerous. Why would you do that?” He rubbed his hand over his forehead and took a deep breath. “Where did you find it?” he asked in a calmer tone.

  “It was in a bank in Jefferson City,” Carissa said.

  Trevor narrowed his eyes. “How would you know to look that far away?”

  “That’s where I closed out the other accounts that she’d had twenty-three years ago. I didn’t close out the box because I didn’t know to ask about it.” Carissa opened her purse and pulled out the stock certificates. She handed them to Trevor. “This is what was in there.”

  “The stocks.” His eyes widened.

  Hope studied him as he looked at them. There was a glimmer in his eye that spoke of more than just curiosity. She hated that fear flickered in her; Carissa may be right and he shouldn’t be trusted. “The stocks? You sure say that like you knew something about them.”

  Trevor shifted his stance and thumbed through the papers in his hand. “I just found out about them. I didn’t know they were in Mandy’s possession.”

  Carissa narrowed her eyes on Trevor. “How exactly did you just find out about them?”

  “Ruth.” He fixed his eyes on hers.

  “Ruth? You talked to Ruth?” Carissa’s voice rose. “How did you get to her?”

  “Wait.” Hope walked closer to them, holding her hands with her palms out to stop them from continuing without her involved in the conversation. “Who is Ruth?”

  Carissa let out a forced laugh. “Do you not tell her anything about who you’re talking to?”

  “I haven’t had the chance yet,” he argued, but Hope could hear the control it was taking to keep his voice calm.

  “Hello? Who is Ruth?” Hope asked again, her patience draining.

  “The mother of the woman you think you need to find out about,” Carissa snapped and walked to the kitchen.

  Hope and Trevor followed her. She pulled a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. Hope noticed her hands shake as she held the glass.

  She picked up one of the kitchen chairs that lay on the floor, giving herself a moment to control the anger that was fighting its way to the surface. “Why do I feel completely left out of the loop? Why don’t I know about Ruth?”

  “Remember I told you she said never to contact her again?” Carissa reminded her.

  “You told Hope you called Ruth?” Trevor asked.

  Hope turned to Trevor and gritted her teeth. “You knew she’d talked to this woman?” Trevor nodded, and Hope wondered what else they had spoken about and neglected to tell her.

  Carissa leaned against the counter and sipped her water. “Why did you go? Why did you find her?”

  “I was close by. I figured it was worth a shot.”

  “And she didn’t shoot you at the door?”

  He smiled. “Oh, I think she might have wanted to, but I had information she didn’t.”

  “Oh yeah? What could you have told her she didn’t already know?” Carissa’s tone was crass and Hope didn’t like the way she was talking to him. She didn’t like the fact that he knew more than she did either. And she didn’t like that they had their own secret. She was growing very tired of all the secrets.

  Trevor took a defensive step toward Carissa. “I told her that her daughter was dead,” he said, and Carissa’s shoulders dropped from their defensive position.

  She rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “She didn’t even know her own daughter was dead?”

  “She said she remembered you calling. She knew she was nasty to you and she’d meant to be. She figured Mandy had put you up to calling and that she was after something. Then when Mandy died, she received a vague letter. It said she’d had another baby and died. Again, she figured someone was just trying to get money from her and that they’d been put up to it by Mandy.”

  Carissa shook her head. “It’s sad that she could be so cold.”

  “I hate to tell you. She’s really not that bad. She was a very warm woman.”

  It wouldn’t have been what Hope would have expected someone to say abou
t the woman who gave birth to Mandy Marlow. She had assumed Mandy’s callous ways came from the people who raised her.

  “She’s the one who sent me the box for you both,” Trevor offered.

  “Mandy’s mother?” Hope finally spoke. Trevor nodded. “Can we see it now?”

  “We should probably wait until the police get here.”

  Hope didn’t want to wait. She’d waited long enough, and the sincere pout on her face must have hit the right chord with Trevor. He picked up the box he’d brought with him from New York and set it on the kitchen table. Both Hope and Carissa picked up chairs, sat down at the table, and stared at the box.

  They exchanged uneasy glances before Carissa finally lifted the lid and looked inside.

  Her eyes were misty and open wide as she looked inside. “You must have done a lot of talking to her.”

  “I did. That’s why she gave you the box.” He leaned forward. “She didn’t want you to know only the woman you have in your mind. She wanted you to know the daughter she once had. The girl who sat on her daddy’s lap and swam in lakes. The girl who was an artist and won ribbons for her work.”

  Hope smiled. She felt as though a piece of her that had been missing was replaced.

  “Does she want to meet us?” she asked.

  Trevor shook his head. “No.”

  “Oh,” Hope said and her shoulders dropped. “I thought…”

  “Things might change,” he added. “For now she’s afraid that Mandy caused you enough harm that knowing her would only be a bad thing. She knows you grew up in a loving home, and for that she’s happy. She’s not willing to step on the toes of your family.”

  “Well it seems she’s not the witch I thought she was,” Carissa said, lifting out the ribbon that lay in the box. “I guess you know where you got your art talent from.” She handed the ribbon to Hope.

  “First place.” She turned the ribbon over. “Presented to Mandy Marlow for her portrait of a hummingbird.” She swallowed hard and looked up at Trevor. “Thank you for this.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  The girls continued through the box and Trevor made a pot of coffee, careful not to disturb the mess around them or any evidence the intruder might have left behind. As it brewed, the doorbell rang. He hurried to the door assuming the police had finally arrived, but he was surprised to find David there, his brow furrowed.

  “I want to talk to you,” he said, passing by him, Trevor felt a knot in his stomach. He was already battling with the guilt of hiding information from Hope and sharing too much information with Carissa. Now David Kendal wanted to talk to him, and he wasn’t feeling good about it.

  David walked toward the kitchen and saw his daughters poring over the box of memorabilia. He looked around the room. “What happened?”

  Hope stood from the table. “Dad, someone broke in. No one is hurt. Nothing is missing. We’re waiting for the police.”

  “Waiting for the police? You shouldn’t be in here!” His temple twitched and Trevor wished Hope would let him take her away before the police arrived. David turned to face him and Trevor straightened his shoulders. “You let her stay here? What are you thinking?”

  “She wanted to stay.”

  “She’s not thinking clearly, obviously.”

  “Dad.” Hope stepped between her father and Trevor. “He offered. I wanted to stay.”

  David let out a long breath and then nodded toward the table. “What is that?”

  Carissa sat up taller and focused her eyes on her father’s. “It’s a box of pictures and items from Mandy’s childhood.”

  David turned his disapproving glare back toward Trevor, and the knot in his stomach tightened, almost forcing him to take a seat, but he stood where he was and tried to keep his eyes steady.

  “Hope said your hotel room was broken into.”

  “It was.”

  “And your home and your office?”

  Trevor swallowed hard. “Yes.”

  “And now this.” He let his eyes settle on the mess surrounding them. “Do you have any idea who’s behind this?”

  “I have some ideas, but no. I don’t know who exactly.”

  Carissa laid down the pictures, opening her mouth, but David turned his stare toward Hope. “Who is the woman who came into your store today? She came looking for you. Red lipstick, black purse, and mean looking.”

  “I don’t know.” Hope walked to stand by Trevor. He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze, hoping to ease the pain he could see in her eyes, brought on by his angering her father. “She came in a few days ago and looked around. She said she was going to come back. She gave me the creeps.”

  “Well she knew me. As she put it, I was the ‘first one Mandy Marlow sunk her claws into.’”

  The knot in Trevor’s stomach moved into his chest. His breath caught in his lungs and his mouth went dry.

  “Delores Buchanan.” He let out a loud breath, and all eyes turned toward him. He hadn’t realized he’d spoken aloud until Hope’s hand touched his arm and David’s eyes grew narrow.

  “Run that by me one more time,” David said, his words slow and drawn out. Trevor suddenly feared the man he knew to be so calm.

  “Delores Buchanan,” Trevor repeated slowly.

  “Donald Buchanan’s wife?”

  Trevor nodded.

  “Why is Donald Buchanan’s wife looking for my daughter?” David asked, but Trevor didn’t have to answer. David’s narrow stare changed, and his eyes opened wide as he backed himself to the chair behind him. He mashed his fist against his mouth and stared at Hope.

  “What’s going on? What am I missing?” Hope looked at her father and then at Trevor. “Who are Delores and Donald Buchanan?”

  Trevor was unsure if he should speak. He could see David processing the information and scanning his eyes over Hope. David looked at him, and Trevor knew what he was silently asking. Trevor nodded, and David blew out a breath.

  “I’m guessing that Donald Buchanan is your birth father,” David answered.

  “You know who my biological father is?” Her eyes were bright and hopeful, but he was sure that was going to change rather quickly.

  “He had to be a good twenty years older than she was,” David said. “Why would she have…” He stopped and looked up at Trevor. “Her father’s company. She was after the money from her father’s company.”

  “What does this Buchanan have to do with Mandy?” Carissa finally asked her father.

  “Donald Buchanan was the partner of Curtis Marlow. They owned a medical supply company. They used the charter airline company that I worked for when I first started flying. We did flights for them six and seven times a week.”

  “If they were flying chartered jets they had to be making some pretty good money,” Carissa added.

  “They were. As far as I knew. I didn’t work for the company very long, but long enough to know who the Marlows and Buchanans were.”

  “So what happened to Curtis Marlow?”

  “He died twenty-four years ago,” Trevor said. “Ruth said that Donald was at his funeral, but Delores didn’t attend. She did mention that she thought, after finding out he was your father, that maybe Mandy had sought out Donald to get Curtis’s share of the company.”

  “What about the stocks?” Carissa asked.

  “What stocks?” David turned to his older daughter. A crease formed between his brows.

  Carissa shot glances at Hope and then to Trevor before standing and looking at her father. “Mandy had a safe-deposit box key on her key chain. Hope and I went to the bank in Jefferson City to see if she had a box there and she did.”

  “I thought you closed out everything when you turned eighteen.” Anger filled his voice and Trevor’s instinct was to pull Hope behind him to protect her, but he knew better.

  Carissa shook her head. “I thought I did. I didn’t know about the box. Hope found the key when she pulled out the box of things she had that belonged to Mandy.”

 
David nodded. “What are the stocks?”

  “They were in the box.” Carissa shrugged.

  Figuring most of the information had already been presented, Trevor added what he knew. “Ruth Marlow said that after her husband died, Donald Buchanan bought her shares of the company from her. It was the last she’d thought about it, but about a month ago, Delores Buchanan approached her about them.”

  Carissa shook her head. “Wait. Twenty-four years after Curtis Marlow dies and Donald Buchanan buys his partner’s widow’s shares of the company, the wife comes looking for them?”

  Trevor nodded.

  “So where is Buchanan through all of this?” Carissa asked.

  Trevor couldn’t help his instinct to look at Hope when he said, “He’s recovering from a massive heart attack and bypass surgery.”

  Her reaction was what he’d feared. She bit her lip when it started to quiver and her eyes welled up with tears. She turned her head so that David didn’t see, but Trevor saw.

  “What doesn’t make sense to me is if he’s lying in a hospital recovering from massive surgery, what is she doing here looking for Hope?”

  Carissa sighed. “There was a letter.”

  “A letter? What letter?” David watched as Hope opened her purse and pulled out the letter they had found in the box. She handed it to David and watched him scan the envelope before pulling out the contents.

  David read over it, took a deep breath, and handed it to Trevor. “Did you know about this?” he asked him and Trevor shook his head. “So Mandy has an affair with Donald Buchanan. He gives her her father’s part of the company in stocks. She doesn’t tell him she’s pregnant, and the wife pays her off to disappear.”

  Carissa nodded. “Sounds like it.”

  “Where’s the money?”

  Carissa closed her eyes and winced. “It was there.” She stood to face her father. “When you gave me power of attorney I closed out the account. Dad, she had over a hundred grand in there.”

  “Excuse me?” His eyebrows rose and his mouth hung open.

  Carissa nodded. “I took it. I was mad. I figured she owed it to me.”