Regardless of Robert’s questionable motivations, Maggie’s goal was to find Cassandra and make sure her grandfather’s money stayed in the family. It didn’t matter to her who got it—her or her brother—so long as the case was finally solved.
For the first time, the full impact of the situation hit her. She was competing against her own flesh and blood—for money, of all things. Her stomach turned.
Luckily her mother didn’t seem to notice Maggie’s inner turmoil. “No, but he did leave me a message saying he wanted to talk to me. That’s probably what it was about.” She sighed again. “So, I’m guessing your brother doesn’t want to work with you.”
“I reached out to him again, but he’s determined to work alone,” Maggie said, working hard to keep her voice even. “But maybe he’ll change his mind in the future.” Not gonna happen, but she didn’t want her mom worrying about discord between her kids on top of everything else.
They said good-bye, and Maggie ripped out the grocery list, stuffing it in her pocket. A good excuse to leave the house and get that fresh air she wanted. And maybe give her time to roll everything around in her head.
It was sad to admit it, but she didn’t fully trust her brother. Not that he’d done anything specifically to her to warrant that distrust. Just that he wasn’t the most reliable person ever. And he was self-focused. Self-destructive. Maybe she was better off not having to work with him.
And on the other side of the coin was Andrew’s offer to pair up with her. Should she do it? Could she trust him? What was his motivation?
Her skin itched with discomfort the longer she thought about the situation, so she shoved that thought aside and packed away her computer and all the notes in her computer bag. She slid them under her bed and then headed outside, locking the side door behind her.
Russet-colored leaves wafted and floated through the air, drifting down to skitter along the driveway. The air was chilly, but it felt good, and the bright blue sky was perfectly clear, the sun piercing through the breeze. In spite of her dampened mood, she couldn’t help but cast an appreciative glance around.
Ohio was still in her blood, no matter how far away she moved. It might be hard to leave this behind again once the case was solved. Florida wasn’t anywhere near the same as her Midwestern home.
Maggie popped in her car and pulled onto the main road, leaving the windows up. Too chilly to let in the fresh air. The grocery store was only a few minutes away—she made it there in record time and got the lasagna supplies, ringing out and tucking them away in her trunk.
On her way back home, she took a sudden impulsive turn north and made her way toward Lake Erie. She navigated her way down Lake Road as if on autopilot, finally coming to the entrance of Huntington Beach. There were only a couple of cars in the parking lot.
She pulled in and turned the car off, staring over the cliff’s edge toward the choppy gray waters. Her dream about Cassandra came roaring to the front of her mind. Was it just a random dream? A latent part of her brain flagging information that she needed to pay attention to?
Maggie got out of the car and locked it, making her way down the lengthy wooden staircase to the beach. Just for a minute. She’d stand on the sand and soak in the memories of her sister briefly, then turn around and head home. But she needed to feel Cassandra, and her soul was leading her here.
At the bottom of the steps she slipped out of her sandals and padded through the chilled sand toward the water, stopping before the sand became water packed and too cold. She had the beach to herself—no one was around on either side as far as she could see.
Her throat closed up and she gave in to the sob that burst forth. Hot tears burned her eyes. On those rocks where the seagulls waddled, Andrew had asked her to be his girlfriend. Over to her left in a little alcove, they’d held their bonfire and danced to someone’s stereo. Memories swarmed, batted at her mind.
“I’ll find you,” she whispered to Cassandra. A vow she intended to keep, no matter what. Her sister deserved that.
The water continued to rock and wave, lapping the sand in front of her toes.
The tightness in her chest eased. She made her way back to the stairs, cleaning off her feet and slipping back into her sandals. Small clumps of sand still stuck to her toes but she ignored it as she climbed, then crossed the parking lot to her car.
After dusting her feet off once more, she headed back home, filled with renewed purpose. Once she pulled her car in the driveway, she grabbed the groceries from the trunk and headed to the side door.
Then stopped.
The door was cracked open, the doorjamb damaged at the latch.
Her heart roared in her ears. Neither of her parents’ cars was in the driveway. And she’d locked that door before leaving—she would swear on it. But she hadn’t set the home alarm or locked the deadbolt. After all, she hadn’t planned on being gone long.
Her hand shook as she dropped the grocery bags on the driveway and darted back into her car, locking the doors. It took several tries for her fingers to stop shaking as she dialed.
“Officer Burke,” a deep voice rumbled.
“David, it’s Maggie Willings.”
Something in her voice must have alarmed him, because he said, “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I think someone broke into my parents’ house,” she spilled out, pressing a hand to her mouth. “I’m not sure if the person is still in there or not, and I’m afraid to go inside. I’m in my car right now.”
“You did the right thing to call me,” he said, his voice filled with authority. “Remind me of your address and I’ll be over in a few minutes. In the meantime, I want you to stay in your car and leave it running, okay? I’m on my way.”
Maggie swallowed and turned on the car. The minutes crawled by as she waited for David to show up. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the side door, still creaked open. No one came in or out. Nothing stirred around the grounds. Should she call her mom and dad? She debated, then decided to wait, just in case she’d been wrong about the break-in. Fat chance of that, though—the doorjamb didn’t break itself.
Finally, finally a squad car pulled up behind her. David hopped out and went up to her side of the car, peering down at her with concern. “Stay here,” he ordered through the window.
She nodded. Her lungs squeezed tight as he proceeded to the door and called out, hand firmly on the gun in his belt. Then he slipped inside.
After several painstakingly long minutes, David came back outside and waved at her. She jumped out of the car.
“The door shows definite signs of a break-in. But the house is empty, and I don’t see any obvious signs of destruction or evidence left behind. No one’s inside,” he said. His radio squawked as an operator spoke, but he ignored it.
She heaved a huge sigh of relief.
“However, I’m guessing you’re in the upstairs room, first on the left, yes?”
“Why, what happened?” She drew her lip between her teeth.
His eyes looked wary. “I think you should come and see.”
Maggie’s heart slammed against her rib cage. She steered up all her courage and followed him through the kitchen, up the stairs and toward her room. Despite knowing the house was empty, that he was with her, she couldn’t stop the faint shudders that danced across her skin.
Someone had been in here. She knew it, could feel it.
When she got to her room, the breath whooshed out of her lungs. It was trashed—the bedspread ripped off and the bed in complete disarray, the dresser drawers left hanging open with clothes flung everywhere, random papers scattered on the floor.
And her computer bag, right in the middle of the room. Emptied. Her computer was flung aside in the opened closet and looked like it had been smashed repeatedly with a hammer.
“Oh my God,” she cried out, running to the computer to open it. D
estroyed. Everything crushed. “I don’t understand . . .”
David stepped over the clutter to make it to her side. “Someone targeted your room, Maggie. Do you know why?”
She put the computer down and went to the bag, hoping against hope that the notes would still be inside. They weren’t. The intruder had stolen all of her case information. And was making sure she'd have a helluva time scavenging her hard drive.
Someone was sabotaging her.
Read more of THE INHERITANCE in Part II
THE WITNESS
Available from InterMix October 22, 2013
Olivia Mayfield has been an unabashed fan of romance since she was a teen, secretly devouring her mom’s Harlequins. She has a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing, as well as a Master’s degree in English, and lives with her family in Ohio. In her free time she loves reading, shopping, wearing absurdly high-heeled boots, cheesecake, karaoke, and harassing her friends. Visit her online at oliviamayfield.com.
The Inheritance Part I Page 6
