Worth the Trip

by Penny McCall

  Lucius sat back, and although Norah had decided to stay neutral, it killed her to see the pain on her father’s face.

  “I’ll go upstairs and rest, shall I?” he said. “Before you have my old carcass hauled back to prison. You’ll call me for supper, will you, darlin’?” he said to Norah.

  “Of course, Dad.” She helped him to his feet, but he waved her off at the foot of the stairs, stopping for a moment before he started up.

  “The master bedroom is still the same?”

  “Yes, but it’s my room now.” And she wasn’t about to be chased out of her own bed again, not even by familial duty. “You can use the spare room, Lucius. First on the right.”

  He put his hand on the newel post and his foot on the first riser, then turned back to give her a slight, wistful smile. “Seeing your mother’s things . . . I miss her.”

  “She didn’t change anything after—after the divorce. And I haven’t changed anything since she died, except the bed because, well, you can imagine why.”

  “Maybe I could take a look later on.”

  “Of course,” Norah said, watching him climb the stairs slowly. Once he’d safely navigated the turn into the spare room she returned to the parlor and dropped into a chair, shaking her head.

  “Trying to take it all in?” Trip asked her.

  “It’s been a hell of a day.”

  “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

  She looked over at him, lounging against the mantelpiece.

  “It won’t be long until Hollie finds out Lucius is here and broadcasts it to the world.”

  “Great, we’ll be right back where we started.”

  “Not if we can get Lucius to tell us where the loot is first.”

  And he was looking at her like she could pull off that miracle. “What makes you think he’ll tell me the truth?”

  “You’re his daughter. If anyone can con him you can.”

  chapter 20

  “WILL THIS DAY NEVER END?” NORAH SAID, peering through the leaded glass window in her front door.

  Trip looked over her shoulder, then stepped around her and opened the door. “Come on in,” he said to Raymond Kline and Myra Newcastle. “The more the merrier.”

  Norah ignored Raymond as he passed her by, then she bumped cheeks with Myra when the taller woman bent to greet her.

  “Raymond said he was coming by,” Myra said, “so I decided to tag along with him. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “It’s nice to see you,” Norah said pointedly.

  Raymond refused to get the message. “Hello, Norah,” he said, stepping forward to kiss her cheek like Myra had done.

  Norah ducked away. “What are you doing here, Raymond?” she said, then had a brain wave and pulled open the front door again. Sure enough, Hollie’s BMW was parked at the curb across the street.

  Norah went to the top of the porch steps, out of the shadow of the house where Hollie would be able to see her, and beckoned. Nothing happened for a second or two, then the driver’s door opened and Hollie stepped out. She stood there a moment, long enough for Norah to imagine her heaving a sigh, then she started across the street.

  “Lurch is going to sit in the car?” Norah asked when Hollie was at the foot of the steps.

  “Lurch is no longer in my employ.”

  “Good for you. Isn’t it a relief to stop pretending?”

  Hollie followed Norah inside and traded a look with Raymond Kline. “Can I get back to you on that?” she said when he looked away, clearly not happy to see her.

  Norah hooked her by the arm and towed her into the parlor, where Trip, Myra, and Lucius, apparently having come back downstairs when he heard the ruckus, were all arrayed. Raymond and his skunky expression trailed along behind them. “Now, where should we start?” Norah said, beginning to enjoy herself.

  Raymond dropped into an armchair. “This isn’t one of your group sessions,” he snarled at her.

  Norah looked around the room, crowded with an aging con man, a college dean with fidelity issues, a vindictive ex-morning show hostess, a college administrator turned literary agent, and a G-man with ulterior motives. “If there was ever a group that needed psychoanalysis, this is it.”

  “ ‘It takes one to know one,’ ” Trip said, and although his smile meant that he was kidding, Norah said, “I’m as screwed up as the next person.”

  Trip was lounging against the mantel, and he looked really good, which Raymond hadn’t missed, especially when Norah went to stand beside him.

  “So Raymond,” she said, making no effort to placate his temper, “what brings you to this neighborhood?” He tried to answer, but she cut him off. “I mean, it’s not prestigious, it’s not up-and-coming, it’s just a middle-class Irish neighborhood where families have owned their homes for generations and everyone is living their quiet lives, raising little nuns and altar boys, and aspiration is a four-letter word.”

  “Now, Norah, I never—”

  “I’m sorry, isn’t that what you said when you were trying to convince me I needed to sell this house and move to a better address?”

  “Blackguard,” Lucius spat, sitting forward so fast Raymond pressed back in his seat.

  “You stay out of this,” Norah said to her father.

  “But it’s our family home, darlin’—”

  “Zip it,” Norah said, pointing a finger at him. “Unless you’re ready to explain a few things.”

  Lucius zipped it.

  His interjection, however, had given Raymond time to regain his composure. “I may have said those things, but I’m certain my sentiments didn’t carry the negative spin you placed on them.”

  “So you were just kidding?”

  “Of course.”

  “Bullshit.”

  Raymond got to his feet.

  Norah stepped forward. “I’m not going to smile and keep the peace while you rewrite history. And speaking of history, let’s talk about your relationship with Hollie.”

  “What? How—Who—” Raymond sputtered, his eyes shifting between her and Hollie, who was also on her feet, looking every bit as rattled. “It was meaningless,” he said, the fallback position of cheaters everywhere. Except they didn’t usually say it in front of the “other woman.”

  “Bastard,” Hollie snapped at him.

  “What the hell is this, Norah?” Trip said, shoving away from the mantel.

  “Getting the truth.”

  “Really? It sounds like you’re still angry over this jackass breaking up with you.”

  “Which means I still have feelings for him? I never loved him, but I am stinging over the affair. No one likes to be made a fool of.”

  “Ditto,” Hollie said.

  “I’m sorry,” Norah said immediately. “I’m not trying to hurt you, Hollie—”

  “But you wanted me to see what a heel he is.”

  “Something like that,” Norah said.

  “And you’re not the one who hurt me.”

  “No, you did that to yourself.”

  “Hey. And ouch. And why?”

  “You can be a doormat or a force to be reckoned with. You chose to sneak around and be the other woman instead of insisting he treat you like you were important to him.”

  “I was on TV,” Hollie said, completely missing the point. “I was important.”

  “Not where it really mattered. If more women demanded their men be honorable, men would have no choice.”

  “What are you looking at me for?” Trip wanted to know.

  “We’re talking about me here,” Hollie said, saving Norah the task of coming up with an answer, which was good since her mind had gone blank. There were a lot of things she needed to say to Trip, but this wasn’t the time or place.

  “The point is, Hollie, he didn’t want to be with me, so here’s the real question, Raymond. Why did you string me along for so long? I tried to break up with you several times but you wouldn’t let me, and you clearly weren’t interested in having a real relationship with
me since we haven’t had sex in . . . a really long time,” she finished, shooting Trip a look, “so there was another reason you clung to me like poison ivy. Especially since you clearly preferred Hollie. Although, I have to wonder why you took up with her since you didn’t go public with the relationship even after we were through.”

  Raymond collapsed back into the armchair, scowling over at Myra. “Anything you want to call me?”

  “Let’s see, blackguard, bastard, jackass,” she ticked off on her fingers. “Norah didn’t actually call you anything derogatory, but the tone of her voice pretty much said it all, so I’m good.”

  “But I’m still waiting for an explanation,” Norah said. “And if your answer is anything but you were after the loot, don’t bother opening your mouth.”

  “I never made any secret of wanting the loot,” Raymond said. “For the college, of course.”

  “And you were willing to use me to get it.”

  Raymond dusted a speck of imaginary lint from his sleeve. “I suppose that’s one way to look at it.”

  “What other way is there? I was up front about my father before you hired me. And you wormed your way into my life, kept me close, hoping to get your hands on the loot.”

  “There’s a wealth of information in there to be studied,” Raymond said, and for the first time since she’d met him, she saw a fire in his eyes. It wasn’t all about the money, either, which made the route he’d taken even sadder.

  “You should have told me the truth.”

  “I tried to broach the subject several times, and you shot me down.”

  “So when you couldn’t get what you wanted from me, you went to Hollie. What did you think my being interviewed on her show was going to get you?”

  “I believed reminding the public your father was due to be released from prison would bring outside pressure to bear.”

  “And I’d have no one else to turn to but you.”

  Raymond lifted his chin. “You’re not exactly the belle of the ball, Norah.”

  Norah didn’t feel as much as a twinge over that observation. It was true, after all; she didn’t have many friends. But only because she preferred to keep to herself.

  “I tried to stay in your life.”

  “How selfless of you, Raymond, seeing as I’m so unpleasant to be around.”

  “Now, Norah, I didn’t mean you’re unpleasant. Just . . .”

  “Cold? Closed off?”

  “You have trust issues.”

  “I wonder why that is?” she said, meeting his eyes long enough to get her message across before she turned to her father, the other inspiration for that particular facet of her damaged psyche. She might have added Trip to her list, but he’d only lied to her in the beginning. Since Hollie’s stage he’d been careful to be truthful. As much as he could be, considering his employers.

  “I’m sorry you got dragged into this, Hollie,” Norah finally said.

  “I didn’t exactly get dragged.”

  All eyes shifted to Hollie.

  Hollie turned red. “I . . .” She lifted her chin. “I was curious. And jealous, I admit it. Raymond had explained to me why he was so interested in you, and he told me you changed the subject every time he tried to bring it up.”

  “And you wanted to give me what Norah wouldn’t,” Raymond said, not unkindly. His ego was definitely getting a boost, especially when Hollie nodded miserably.

  “But you didn’t want me to turn to Raymond,” Norah said.

  “I knew you wouldn’t”—Hollie gestured to Trip—“not after he showed up.”

  “So why did you go on the biggest cable news program in the country and make sure everyone knew about my connection to the robbery?”

  She shrugged, as if it went without saying. “My producers refused to allow me to talk about it. They would have cut me off if I’d asked you about the robbery. But Raymond wanted the loot, so I took the story elsewhere.”

  “Hell of a way of getting your boyfriend what he wanted,” Trip put in, “letting every kook and treasure hunter in the country know about the loot.”

  “I thought having other pursuers would hide me. I knew it was a risk making it into a race, but I was determined to win it. I guess I didn’t think that through very well.”

  “You weren’t thinking at all,” Norah said, “you were feeling. And being manipulated.”

  “It’s your fault, Norah,” Raymond snapped at her. “You could have been reasonable.”

  “You could have been a human being, Raymond.”

  Lucius made a particularly derogatory noise.

  Raymond stood, straightening his impeccable suit jacket and squaring his jaw, all wounded dignity. “I would have expected you to keep the school at the forefront of your thoughts, Norah. I see now I was mistaken.” He headed for the door. “You might want to consider the ramifications of your present course. If the board got wind of this—”

  “If the board gets wind of this, they’re going to hear both sides of the story. I wonder which one of us has more to lose?”

  Raymond shook his head sadly. “You’ve turned out to be quite a disappointment, Norah.”

  “Happy to be of service.”

  He stood there for a few seconds, waiting, Norah assumed, for her to come to her senses.

  “You can see yourself out,” she said.

  Hollie scuttled after him, shooting them an apologetic look before she hit the door on Raymond’s heels.

  “Doormat all the way,” Myra said.

  “Isn’t he your ride?” Norah said.

  “I’ll call a cab.”

  “While we’re waiting, perhaps you could introduce me to your friend,” Lucius said, twinkling at Myra.

  “Myra Newcastle, Lucius MacArthur, my father. Myra’s my agent; Dad, leave her alone.”

  “But darlin’ I’ve been in jail for fifteen years.”

  “First, ewww, second Myra’s too smart to take up with a fast-talker like you. Go find someone else.”

  “Is that an order?”

  “Ewww again, and you’re not leaving this house until we can figure out”—she glanced at Myra—“everything.”

  “That’s my cue to leave,” Myra said good-naturedly.

  “Sit tight for a minute, Myra.” Norah stepped into the hall, beckoning to Trip, who joined her, leaving Myra and Lucius in the parlor, making small talk in hushed voices.

  “Can we tell her?”

  “No.”

  “Once Raymond gets his mind made up he doesn’t change it. There’s no way he’ll give up. Myra could keep an eye on him.”

  “She destroyed her usefulness there.”

  Norah sighed. “You’re right.”

  When they went back into the parlor, Lucius and Myra, who’d moved to the end of the sofa nearest his chair, sprang apart. Norah sent her father a quelling look. He put on an innocent face.

  “I really do have to go,” Myra said. “I’m meeting my son for dinner.”

  Norah walked her to the door, coming back to see Trip and her father giving each other the evil eye. “Oh, come on. Can you two try to get along? You have more in common than you think.”

  “We don’t trust each other, we have that in common.”

  “None of us trust Raymond and Hollie. Why don’t we talk about that?”

  Trip clammed up, which ticked her off. “What’s with the silent treatment? Why didn’t you ask Raymond and Hollie anything?”

  “Like what?”

  “Like did they hire those guys who chased us out of Chicago a few days ago?”

  Trip shrugged. “They would have lied.”

  Norah blew out a breath and dropped onto the antique horsehair sofa. “So what do we do now?”

  Trip looked at Lucius again. “It would be nice if we could go get the loot.”

  “Well, now, I’d love to oblige you, boyo, but I can’t.”

  “Of course not.”

  “Why can’t you?” Norah asked him.

  “Because I don’t know
where the loot is.”

  “WHY DON’T YOU KNOW WHERE THE LOOT IS?” Trip asked Puff after a sketchy moment where he had to fight off the mental picture of his hands around the man’s throat.

  “I’m not the one who hid it,” Puff said.

  “You must have some idea where it is, Dad,” Norah said, not sounding too happy with him, either, but still buying his crap hook, line, and sinker.

  Lucius leaned forward, wincing a bit, but looking avid. “What did you find at the lighthouse?”

  Trip refused to take the bait, seething because he believed Lucius knew exactly what they’d found. Norah gave her father the highlights—the PG ones.

  Lucius went into grifter mode, smiling and shaking his head like he just couldn’t believe it. “Helen Abercrombie.”

  “The bank teller you conned into getting your friends into the bank?”

  “Face like a mud fence,” Lucius said, “but a very accommodating personality, if you take my meaning. She handled the scavenger hunt for me.”

  “You didn’t do her any favors.”

  “That, boy, is a matter of opinion.”

  “Or in your case, ego.”

  “I don’t recall hearing any complaints.”

  “Let me be the first,” Norah said. “Can we discuss the robbery without all the reminiscing?”

  “Now what fun would that be?”

  “Oh, so much more for me.”

  “So you were telling us how you trusted Ms. Abercrombie with fifty million dollars worth of stolen goods.”

  “We had no choice,” Lucius insisted. “Helen forgot to tell us about one of the silent alarms, Noel Black tripped it, and the cops were on their tails. It was only a matter of time before they ratted me out. Helen was my only option.”

  “Not buying it,” Trip said. But it was just plausible enough.

  “The clues contained bits and pieces of the loot. Norah said so. If you’d bothered to follow the trail to the end, you’d have found the main hoard, I’m sure of it.”

  “Why don’t we just ask Helen?” Norah said.

  “Because she’s dead,” Trip said. “The only way to prove Puff wrong is to head back out and pick up where we left off. All of us.”

  Lucius sank back against the sofa. “I’m not up to a road trip just now. In fact I’m all done in for today. I’ll just go up. If you’re done with me.” He struggled upright, Norah jumping to her feet to help him up the stairs.