Cape Hope Capers

by Winnie Reed

  “Of course! I’m not saying you have to hang around and wait for the conclusion to this. I’m sorry, did I give you the impression that you did?”

  She shook her head, shrugging. “I don’t know what my problem is. It’s just that you’ve always got something going on. You have things to be enthusiastic about. I’ve never been good at that. If anything, I spend a lot of my time looking for things to be interested in. But I don’t always find them. You’re an enthusiast, and it’s easy to get caught up in the things you’re enthusiastic over. But they’re not my things. This isn’t my thing.”

  “Oh, sweetie.” I gave her as good a hug as I could, considering I was trying to keep Lola from running off with a guy wearing skates. “You’re right. And we were supposed to be hanging out this weekend, relaxing. Instead I have you wrapped up in my latest enthusiasm. Or obsession. Joe would call it that.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun. I’m such a sucker for your little adventures. At least this one doesn’t run the risk of getting you injured.” She glanced at my newly unbandaged wrist. “How’s it feeling?”

  “Fine. Like nothing ever happened.” Like I wasn’t almost shot. Okay, she had a point. Sometimes I took too many chances.

  “Now, as long as we can get through this without finding out the lawyer killed the son so he could keep all the money, everything will be okay.”

  “Oh, don’t even start!” I laughed.

  “So, where is Detective Joe? You said he went with you to the courthouse.”

  “Yeah, and he had other things to do. You’re right, I have a tendency to pull people into my situations. Besides, he doesn’t need to be with me all the time, does he?”

  If she heard a defensive note in my voice, she was kind enough to ignore it. “You two are talking. That’s good. It’s never easy, when you have feelings for somebody and they only see you as a friend.”

  “Oh, my God. Please, don’t tell me he has feelings. You’re the one who always tells me not to jump to conclusions.”

  “Emma, I think it’s time you get honest with yourself and stop pretending there’s nothing between you guys. You mention him all the time, for no real reason. You just name dropped him a few minutes ago, out of nowhere. Sure, you didn’t get along well at first, but that was understandable. Now, it seems like you keep finding a way to each other. He could’ve taken a vacation anywhere, and he came here. What’s that tell you?”

  “Deke could have gone anywhere else, too.”

  “That’s true. And he chose to be here, too. You might as well face it, girlie.”

  “Face what?”

  “No matter what you think about yourself, no matter how you brush aside people who tell you you’re smart and funny and beautiful, that doesn’t make it untrue. Both of these men find you super attractive, and I don’t blame them. You might have been the shy, quiet girl growing up. You might’ve been the girl who spent most of her time either reading a book or working behind the counter. You might have been easy to overlook. But that’s not the case now. And as we both know, Landon was a complete idiot to mess up what he had with you.”

  “Idiot being the nicest word I can think of,” I muttered.

  “But hey, he did you a favor. Now, you have guys he only wishes he could be half as hot and kind and successful as practically drooling over you.”

  I couldn’t help it. I knew that what she was saying came from a good place, that she loved me, but it still made me comfortable to think of myself as anything special. She was right. I was always the girl working, reading, baking. Boys, then men, tended to overlook me.

  It was so easy to assume all the men in my life wanted to be friends, because that was the way it had been for so long. “I’m a grown woman practically in my late twenties, and I still can’t get a handle on this whole situation.”

  “I don’t think any of us ever does,” she confessed. “You remember how depressed I was in Rome, during the whole Paolo situation. I’m not exactly proud of myself when I remember how everything turned around when Nate got in touch with me.” Yes, even gorgeous, wealthy, jet-setting girls like Raina had insecurities.

  It was easy to change the subject to happier, more pleasant things thanks to being on the boardwalk. Kids and adults alike played games in the arcade. Music floated our way from inside dozens of shops. People on the beach flew kites, played frisbee and catch. Kids squealed and splashed in the waves. The smell of so much delicious food just about drove me crazy. Which went double for poor Lola, who seemed to have developed a bad habit of begging perfect strangers for some of their food.

  “I’m going to have to send her to obedience school if this keeps up,” I fretted, pulling her away from a couple and their shared funnel cake. “She’s too spoiled.”

  “How could she not be? You take one look at that little face and you want to give her everything in the whole wide world. It’s her built-in defense mechanism.”

  “And she uses it beautifully,” I laughed as my incorrigible little dog tried to sneak a french fry from an innocent passerby.

  “Uh-oh. Deke Bellingham, twelve o’clock.” Before I knew it, Raina had worked the leash from my hand. “He’s already seen you.”

  “Good for him. I’m not trying to hide or run away.” Still, my legs were little shaky as I left Lola with Raina and approached him. At least he wore an easy smile, which I took as a good sign. As always, he wore his uniform of a button-down and jeans. Even in nearly ninety-degree weather. He didn’t look the least bit overheated.

  “Hey.” His hands made it on my shoulders, but he didn’t draw me in for a hug. Instead, he sighed with his mouth pulling back in a grimace. “I’m sorry. I was a jerk yesterday.”

  “I said some pretty harsh things, too.”

  “I needed to hear them. I needed a little time to think. You’re right. I’ve been taking for granted that you would be here waiting for me, and we both know that’s just not possible. How about we just try to enjoy the time we have together. I’m not trying to monopolize you, trust me.”

  How could I look up at that smile and those gold-flecked eyes without melting a little? “We were just taking a walk. You should join us.” I took his hand and led him back to Raina, who greeted him warmly.

  But he saved most of his warmth for Lola, crouching in front of her and scratching behind her ears. “Her breath smells like french fries,” he announced, looking up at me.

  Raina looked at Lola. Lola looked at Raina. They both looked at me. “She really wanted one,” Raina shrugged. “What was I supposed to do when the kid gave it to her? Take it out of her mouth?”

  I shrugged. “If it upsets her stomach, you’re the one cleaning up after her tonight. That’s all I have to say.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  I could only hope Bernard Lewis wouldn’t have me arrested for stalking or loitering or whatever.

  Were people ever arrested for loitering? Probably not. Maybe just ticketed. Did I want a ticket? No, especially since that would mean my father finding out about my hanging out in front of his house, waiting for him to come out.

  “Trust me,” Trixie had assured me when we spoke on the phone. “He always goes for breakfast at the diner on Sunday mornings. I’ve seen him there more times than I can count.”

  “You mean you have breakfast somewhere other than at the café?” I’d teased. “I’ll be sure not tell Mom about it.”

  “You’re a troublemaker,” she’d reminded me.

  “Takes one to know one.”

  So, here we were, Lola and I. Sitting on a bench near the curb across from Mr. Lewis’s house. I must’ve passed it a thousand times in my life. A three-story Victorian on a corner lot, pale blue trimmed in white with a wrap-around porch. The lawn was emerald green, the sign of somebody who had the money to cover a really good lawn service.

  “Do you have business to do?” I asked Lola in a soft voice. “Did those french fries stop you up? That’s what you get, you stinker. Here I was, thinking you’d have the o
pposite problem after your little boardwalk buffet. Auntie Raina got off lucky. I’m convinced you two have been plotting against me.”

  The house looked completely quiet. No big surprise, seeing as how it was barely eight in the morning. He lived there with his wife, according to Trixie. She tended to know random things like that.

  If I didn’t know better, I’d think we were related by blood.

  “Knowing my luck, this will be the one Sunday he decides to skip out on breakfast.”

  Lola looked up at me. There was nothing she could do about it, clearly, though I couldn’t help wishing there was.

  There was a car in the driveway, so at least that was a good sign. He hadn’t gone out early.

  It wasn’t like I couldn’t come back at a later time. Why did it feel so urgent? Why did I have to do it right this very minute? Patience was never my strong suit.

  And he could spend his entire week in Philly and not come back until the following weekend, and I couldn’t possibly wait all week. I’d die from the suspense. It would be easier to get an answer from him on the street than it would if I visited his office. I didn’t need to go through the humiliation of being asked to leave his high-priced law firm’s main office to know how it would go.

  Thus, waiting outside his house to attack him when he least suspected was the best course of action.

  “I’m only gonna ask a few questions,” I explained to my dog, though clearly she couldn’t possibly have cared less. It was way more important to her that she sniff the ground, the base of the tree we sat near. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt while you’re checking your messages from the other dogs in the neighborhood.”

  She looked up at me just before squatting to leave a little message of her own.

  “Charming. Sometimes I think you understand me much better than you should.”

  Moments later, the door to the Lewis house opened. It was quiet enough on the street that I heard the latch release from all the way on the opposite sidewalk. I darted across with Lola trotting faithfully at my side.

  “Mr. Lewis?” I called out as he walked down the pathway between the front steps and the sidewalk.

  “Yes?” He squinted at me from underneath the brim of his ball cap. “Can I help you?”

  “Sorry to blindside you like this,” I laughed, a little breathless from the short run. I really did need to start working out.

  “It’s all right, I assume.” He checked his Rolex.

  “We can talk and walk,” I suggested. “I know my friend here wants to walk.”

  He grinned down at Lola. “She’s sweet. But I’m still not entirely sure I want to talk to you. What’s this all about?”

  The man appeared to be in his early sixties. I knew from my internet digging that he was a sharp cookie who managed the estates of several clients with high net worths. If people with names like theirs trusted him, he had to know what he was doing.

  I’d have to be smart about this, in other words. This wasn’t an underpaid clerk who had nothing better to do on a Saturday morning than help me out. I couldn’t wave the word “detective” around in his face and expect him to stand at attention, either.

  So, charm it was.

  I gave him the whole smile, full teeth and everything. “I’m doing a little research into one of the town’s prominent citizens. Late citizens, that is. Millicent Montbatten.”

  “Oh, certainly. Millie was a great lady. Come on, walk with me. I have a standing breakfast date with a few friends.”

  Excellent. Lola was happy to trot slightly ahead of us as we went. He had a quick stride—places to go, people to see—and I adjusted my pace to keep up with him.

  “Millie—I called her Millie, she insisted—was very kind. Generous. A member of the old school, if you will.” He chuckled softly. “I was her lawyer for fifteen years before she allowed me to call her Millie. Even then, I nearly choked every time I used the nickname. She was a powerful person with a quick wit and a strong personality. If she wanted things done a certain way, that’s simply the way it was.”

  Yet he’d boxed up her treasured books and dumped them in Darcy’s lap, hadn’t he? Silly me, it probably hadn’t been him. He’d more than likely hired a company to handle it.

  “She didn’t have any family left by the time she passed on, did she? I was away at school when that happened, but I remember what a big deal it was. I guess just about everything that happens around here is a big deal by default.”

  His laugh boomed out in the otherwise quiet morning. “You have a way with words.”

  “I’m a writer,” I shrugged. “And no, I don’t think I’ve written anything you might’ve heard of.”

  “You get that question a lot?”

  “Sometimes.” We exchanged a smile. “So you knew Millicent well?”

  “Very well. I might’ve been the closest person to her, in the end.”

  “That’s pretty close for a lawyer. One wouldn’t expect their lawyer to be so close to them.”

  “I guess I felt sorry for her.” He was kind enough to pause while Lola went all-in on sniffing a tree trunk like her life depended on it. “She didn’t have anybody else. Her last few years were spent solely in that monstrosity of a house. Her food was delivered, the household staff saw to her needs. That was hardly the same as having friends.”

  I couldn’t help wondering if he’d angled to get himself included in the will. Was I jaded? He might’ve been a nice guy who felt sorry for an old woman who didn’t have anyone else in her life. Was that a crime all of a sudden?

  “It’s nice that she had somebody in the end who cared about her needs.” I cleared my throat. We were coming to the uncomfortable part. And with little time to spare, since the diner was only a couple of blocks away. I could see the unlit, chrome-trimmed sign already.

  “Somebody had to.”

  “What about her son? How did he feel when he found out who his mother was?”

  Maybe I could’ve gone about that in a better way. Maybe I didn’t have to drop it in his lap like a ticking bomb. Maybe Mom was right all those times she’d accused me of liking drama too much.

  He stopped in his tracks. “What did you just say?”

  I turned to him. The look of slack-jawed wonder was clear even though his face was shaded.

  “Her son. The son she mentioned in her will as her primary beneficiary. The son whose name she never learned. He was given up for adoption, wasn’t he? I mean, I imagine he was.”

  “What gives you the right—”

  “I only want to know if he got what was left him, whoever he is. That’s all. There was never a word of it in the paper, nobody in town knows. It was a mystery for a long time. Nobody ever found out who he was—I mean, nobody even knows he exists except for me and a few others.”

  “How dare you?”

  “How dare I what? Why does this have to be such a huge secret? It’s not the forties anymore. It isn’t like I plan on going to the newspaper and telling them she had a baby out of wedlock. If anything, anybody who read the story would want to know her son got what she wanted for him. A secure, stable life thanks to her wealth.”

  “It isn’t any of your affair, young woman, and I would appreciate it if you’d let me go about my day in peace.” He tried to get past me, but neither Lola nor I would let him get away that easily. She ran around him in a circle, tangling him in the leash. “Damn it!” he growled.

  “Calm down. I’ll untangle you.” I walked around him to unwind the leash, but I took my time about it.

  “Hurry up!”

  “Why can’t you tell me whether or not you found her son? That was your job, wasn’t it? She wanted you to find him, because she trusted you.”

  “It’s none of your concern, that’s why. It’s a private matter.”

  “So you won’t say yes or no? You can’t even do that much? I’m not asking for a name, Mr. Lewis.” I finished untangling him, silently reminding myself to give Lola an extra treat when we got home. />
  “I refuse to be badgered this way.” He tried to push me out of the way this time, and he came close to getting what he wanted. I stumbled back, landing against a parked car.

  “How dare you put your hands on me?” I shouted. It took a lot to get me worked up, but minor physical assault was right up there at the top of the list of things that made me furious.

  “How dare you stick your nose into business that has nothing to do with you?”

  “You do realize I could hire a lawyer and find out with their help just what happened to Millicent’s money, right? Whether you saw it turned over to its rightful owner. Or if you were just too lazy and jealous that somebody else got something you thought you deserved to do your job!”

  He sputtered, red-faced, and for a second I felt more secure. Just like at the courthouse, I hadn’t planned anything that had just come out of my mouth. But it was the right instinct, because it shook him into silence.

  Silence that was quickly broken by the squeal of brakes.

  So many things happened at once.

  I looked down.

  She wasn’t there.

  My hand was empty.

  I’d dropped the leash when I stumbled.

  And Lola. Where was she?

  “Lola?” I whispered, afraid to turn around and see what I knew I’d see. “Lola!”

  All I heard was a soft yipping coming from the middle of the street.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “I swear, I’ll never forgive myself. Not ever, ever.” I sat with my face in my hands, crying hard enough to take my breath away. I hadn’t stopped crying since finding Lola lying in the street, nearly under the tire of the car that hit her.

  “I’m sure she’ll be okay,” Raina whispered, rubbing my back.

  “She might’ve had internal injuries. I have no idea. Oh, my God. My poor girl.” I couldn’t shake the memory of trying to pick her up. She’d let out this pitiful little whine while staring up at me with those puppy eyes.