‘I sure do. I met Zane here in Everly Cliffs one summer years ago. Much later I moved into an apartment in Portland close to Zane’s. We ran into each other by accident and renewed our friendship. Zane was at Brody Montgomery’s every day. Libby got to know Brody and Zane, too. How are you, Zane?’
‘Not good,’ Zane snapped. ‘Brody’s missing. We think he might have come back here because it’s his home.’ Not because of Roxanne Everly, Vanessa could imagine him thinking.
Vanessa’s gaze flew to Max’s face but she saw no surprise. ‘I know the sheriff issued a search for him,’ he said. ‘I suppose people think he’d be most likely to come home. That makes sense.’
‘So what if he wanted to come home? He hasn’t done one damn wrong thing, but Vanessa here nearly lost her mind when she found out we can’t contact him! You should have heard her – making demands, issuing a high-handed ultimatum to Christian about telling the sheriff.’ Zane was seething. ‘Maybe Brody went off his meds. He’s done it before but even then, no one’s proved he’s done anything destructive, much less hurt someone, yet people act like he’s a serial killer on a rampage!’
‘I think they’re trying to locate him so he doesn’t injure himself or put himself in harm’s way,’ Max said calmly. ‘I wouldn’t get so worked up over it.’
‘Oh, you wouldn’t, would you? Well, you’re his friend, too, Max. Isn’t he, Libby?’
‘Yes.’ Libby looked about twenty with wide, brown eyes and a kind face. ‘We’re all friends. Brody’s real smart but he never shows off. He’s an awful nice person.’
‘He sure is,’ Zane blustered, ‘but it seems like not that many people care about him. Not Max. Not Miss TV Star.’
‘Zane—’
‘What, Vanessa? Are you going to deny you planned to marry his brother? That you were in love with Christian before people got it in their heads that his little brother kidnapped your sister? Some ignorant people thought he did. That’s all it took for you to drop Chris cold. That’s some love, if you ask me. And Christian is still torn up over losing you. He still loves you, don’t ask me why.’
Vanessa was astonished. ‘He d-doesn’t.’
‘He does. Brody knows he does and he’s wounded because he thinks he’s the cause of you leaving Christian. It seems to me you’ve done more damage than Brody ever did and now he’s somewhere, being hunted down like a rabid animal and you’re at a party!’
‘Trouble here?’ Derek Sherwin had appeared behind them.
Zane cast Derek a murderous look. ‘You. Still Mr Big Shot.’
‘I don’t know what you mean, Zane.’
‘You were an arrogant jerk when you were young and you still are. Mind your own business, Derek.’
‘I will if you leave right now, Zane. Otherwise, I’ll have to call the police.’
‘To hell with you, Sherwin!’
Vanessa was left open-mouthed as Zane stalked away, pulling Libby behind him.
Max looked at Vanessa. ‘Damn.’
‘Yeah. Double damn,’ she murmured. But she wasn’t sure she didn’t deserve everything Zane had dished out.
Derek went back to the party after he made certain Zane had left and Vanessa and Max were all right. When they got into Max’s car, Vanessa asked, ‘So Zane knows Derek Sherwin?’
‘From way back. He always hated Derek.’
‘Why?’
‘I don’t know. A lot of reasons. Derek’s handsome, he comes from an upper-class family, he used to act sort of high and mighty, he married a beautiful woman that Zane had a crazy crush on when he was a teenager. He always gave Derek a hard time. He even told Derek when Nia was having her first affair after she married Derek.’
‘What a mess and Nia was in the middle of it.’
‘Yeah, even though she was a little older than Zane, she flirted with him, made him think she was really attracted to him, even went out with him a few times then dropped him for Derek. Nia’s like that – she can’t get enough male attention. She had affairs all through their marriage – none with Zane. Anyway, Zane hates Derek. He even blocked him investing in Blackbird.’
‘And now it’s going to be a big success.’
‘Hopefully for Brody and Zane. Zane did the same thing to Simon Drake – prevented him from buying shares. Simon knows a good thing when he sees it.’
‘But this time he’s not going to see a dollar from Blackbird.’ Vanessa smiled. ‘I repeat, you are a fountain of knowledge, Max.’
EIGHT
Christian unlocked his front door, walked into the lit living room, and flung himself on the long couch. He felt as if every bone and muscle in his body ached after hours of walking all around Everly Cliffs and down to the beach, where he’d sat for a while on a rock looking at the wreck of the Seraphim May. He and Brody used to play around the beached schooner, making up different stories about how the boat had crashed and which one of them had been a secret sixth sailor that had lived but never told the true story of what had caused the disaster.
He’s probably not even in Everly Cliffs, you fool, Christian thought. He probably went off his meds for God knew what reason and went somewhere exciting like San Francisco. He loved San Francisco. Besides, he never pored over the internet for gossip. He most likely didn’t even know Roxanne Everly had come home, even if it had mattered to him.
Christian’s head pounded, and he got up and found some coated aspirin, poured water from the sink into a plastic cup sitting on the counter and gulped down three pills. Then he looked at the cognac he’d left sitting on the counter. Without thinking he dumped the water out of the plastic cup and poured in a healthy dash of cognac. As he drank, he wondered if this ordeal was going to turn him into an alcoholic. Not considering whether or not he even wanted a drink and then dumping it into the nearest cup possible weren’t good signs. But he was in an unusual situation, he told himself. He was in an alarming situation. His brother was lost.
He poured more cognac and began pacing around the living room the way his father had when he was worried. Gerald, sit down. You’re going to wear out the carpet, Christian’s mother used to tell him. ‘And now I’m doing the same thing, Dad,’ Christian said aloud.
He was circuiting the room a second time when he glanced at the built-in shelves beside the fireplace. His eyes fastened on the top shelf. It was empty. The picture of Brody winning the tennis tournament and the trophy were gone. Shocked, he went to the shelf, as if looking at it more closely would make the memorabilia appear. He gazed around the room, but neither the photo nor the trophy appeared.
Someone must have been in the house to steal the objects, but he always kept the place locked, even the windows. But Brody still had all of his house keys. With dread, Christian set down his drink and started toward Brody’s room. Every Christmas, his mother had placed a big green candle in Brody’s window and a red one in Christian’s, even when they’d complained that the candles looked babyish. Still, neither of them had ever removed the candles set in thick glass holders on the windowsills and flickering through parted curtains. Neither had lighted the candles after she died.
Christian slowly opened the door to his brother’s bedroom, which he’d kept shut since Brody moved to Portland. He hadn’t removed anything from the room, even the posters of rock and tennis stars Brody had hung on the walls when he was a teenager, or the books of his childhood and notebooks full of Brody’s own creative writing piled on shelves. Immediately the smell of evergreen washed over him. He looked at the window where a dark-green, scented candle burned brightly, like a beacon in the soft, dark night.
Christian walked slowly down the stairs, sat down, and put his head between his hands. So it was true – Brody had come home to Everly Cliffs.
‘I’d ask you in but Grace is sleeping downstairs and I don’t want to wake her,’ Vanessa said as they stood outside the front door of Everly House.
‘I understand. I had a great time tonight.’
‘So did I, Max. For the most part.’
‘You, too. And thank you for a lovely evening.’
Vanessa stood on the porch, waving as Max drove away, but she didn’t go inside. Instead she stared down on the town, thoughts of Christian roiling in her head. For the last eight years, not a day had gone by when he hadn’t flashed to her mind, but actually seeing him had been different. When he’d approached her in the hospital, drawing close and looking at her with his beautiful hazel eyes, the rush of loneliness and longing had almost floored her. After the things Zane had said to her at Nia’s, she’d realized the truth. She could no longer ignore her feelings for Christian Montgomery. She loved him now and she always would.
When she was certain Max was well out of sight, she dug her keys out of her clutch purse and walked to her SUV, quietly opening the door and closing it behind her. She was certain no one would expect her home this early and there was somewhere she must go.
Vanessa pulled into the driveway of the pale limestone and stucco French-Country-style house Gerald Montgomery had built for his family in 1995. She’d always thought the house beautiful inside and out. Even though it was almost eleven o’clock, all the downstairs lights were on and glowed over the shrubbery and brick walkway leading to the front door. When she reached it, she raised the knocker and tapped gently, fighting an urge to run away. She wouldn’t have had time, however. Christian opened the door almost immediately, his hair mussed, his shirt untucked.
‘Were you asleep?’ Vanessa asked. ‘It’s late. I shouldn’t have bothered you.’
He blinked at her in surprise, then said, ‘I wasn’t asleep. I’m a mess because I’m tired. It’s been a long day but please come in.’ He shut the door behind her. ‘Can I take your coat?’
Vanessa slipped out of the faux fur sable and handed it to him. His gaze swept over her quickly. ‘You look beautiful.’
‘I went to the party at Nia’s tonight. I hadn’t planned on going but Max Newman came over to bring a painting to Grace and when she heard he didn’t have a date, she nearly begged me to go with him. I was embarrassed, but she said it would be a vicarious experience for her and … well, you know how Grace can be.’
Vanessa realized she was talking too much and too fast, but Christian merely gave her a tired smile as he hung up the coat. ‘Yes, I know how Grace can be. I think she should be in charge of foreign policy – she could talk down any country on the verge of invasion.’
Vanessa laughed. ‘I’d never thought of that, but she certainly is a force of nature.’
‘Come in and sit down.’
‘The living room looks the same as the last time I was here.’
‘Neither Dad nor I wanted anything changed after Mom died.’
‘She would have liked that. I cared very much for your mother.’ Vanessa smiled. ‘Anyway, the room is still lovely, but you look worn out.’
‘I am. I’ve been looking for Brody for hours.’
‘I know. I ran into Zane and Libby when I came out of Nia’s. He was furious that I’d gone to a party when the three of you were scouring the town for Brody. He made quite a scene.’
Surprisingly, Christian laughed. ‘Zane is a great guy, a brilliant guy, but he’s also volatile. I don’t think anyone who’s not as mellow as Libby could put up with him as a boyfriend.’
‘She’s very young.’
‘Twenty-three although she looks eighteen. But she truly loves Zane, and he’s crazy about her.’ He frowned. ‘Brody didn’t have a girlfriend and I think sometimes looking at Zane’s and Libby’s devotion made him sad.’
‘He could have had that with the right woman, Christian. As long as he stayed on his medication, he was fine – the Brody we’d always known.’
Christian shook his head slowly. ‘No, he wasn’t. When he learned his diagnosis, his self-confidence nose-dived. He buried himself in work. He never dated. He rarely even laughed or had a good time.’
‘Max didn’t tell me that.’
‘Max must have told you that by coincidence he lived near Brody. He was always nice to Brody and Zane, interested in their work although technology isn’t his thing. But the guys didn’t hang out together. Brody was a loner.’
‘He used to be so social, so extroverted.’
‘That all changed after he learned he was schizophrenic. It didn’t have to, but it did for him.’
‘I’m sorry, Christian. I really am – sorry for Brody, sorry for all the drama when Roxanne was kidnapped.’
He gave her a piercing look. ‘Does that mean you no longer think he took your sister?’
Vanessa paused. ‘The more I learn about her abduction, the harder it is for me to believe he did it. But I’m not absolutely sure he didn’t. I know that isn’t what you want to hear—’
‘But you were always honest.’
‘To a fault. I never learned to be tactful.’
‘Your honesty is one of the things I loved about you, Vanessa. I’m glad to see you haven’t changed.’
Vanessa’s heart beat harder, and she felt flustered and awkward.
She was thankful Christian’s manner became brisk. ‘I didn’t even offer you anything to drink. I don’t think I have much except beer and rum and cognac.’
‘I had three glasses of champagne at the party. I shouldn’t have anything but I can’t resist a weak rum and cola. If you have some cola, that is.’
‘I bought a twelve pack of Coke yesterday. I think I’ll have one, too.’ Christian walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. She heard glasses clinking and the tabs on cans popping. In moments he handed her a glass and sat near her on the couch.
Vanessa took a sip. ‘I said a weak drink.’
‘You only live once and you visiting me is an occasion.’ He looked at her and cocked an eyebrow. ‘Why have you come to see me?’
She bought time by sipping more of her drink. ‘Tonight Zane reminded me of how close we used to be. Brody was my friend and not because he was your brother. You and I were … more than friends.’
‘Much more. We planned to get engaged at Christmas.’
‘Yes. And then Roxy was taken at the end of summer. It was so shocking, so unbelievable, so devastating.’ Her throat felt dry and she took another drink, noticing that her hand was trembling slightly. She saw Christian notice, too. ‘Brody was sick. He’d been wandering around, thinking he was a knight looking for his lady. Everyone was talking about him, afraid of him.’ Christian winced and Vanessa had to look away from his face. ‘No one could catch him.’
‘The police caught him before Roxanne was kidnapped, Vanessa. You knew that.’
‘I did. I also knew he’d been turned over to your father and he’d made arrangements for Brody to enter a mental health facility the day before someone took Roxanne. Frankly, I wouldn’t have taken her out on the beach late at night unless I thought Brody was safely locked up. I know that sounds brutal, but it’s true. After she was kidnapped, I found out there had been a delay and Brody was still in town that night.’
‘He was in my father’s house. Dad was looking after him.’
‘I know he was supposed to be in this house but he could have sneaked out.’
‘He was heavily medicated. My father swore—’
‘Your father could have been lying. Brody was his son, for God’s sake.’
‘Ben Johnson also swore Brody was here.’
‘He was your father’s best friend.’
Christian sighed. ‘Vanessa, we’ve already had this conversation more times than I can remember a long time ago. Why are you bringing it all up again now?’
‘Because I’ve had a lot of time to think. When Roxy was kidnapped, I was so frightened, mystified, incredulous and … and paranoid. Everyone kept saying that Brody wasn’t mentally stable, that he’d seemed fixated
on Roxanne when he was in Everly Cliffs and she was taken. They said it over and over until I couldn’t think of anything else.’
‘And what’s different now? She’s back and Brody is missing. You seemed sure enough yesterday that there was a connection.’
‘I know. And I was. But it was an automatic response. I’ve believed for so long that Brody had something to do with Roxanne’s kidnapping I didn’t take the time to think. But as hotheaded as Zane was, he said some things that hit home with me. He said that Brody has never hurt anyone. Until this week, I thought Roxanne was dead but even though I was convinced Brody kidnapped Roxanne, I never thought he murdered her – I thought he took her and something happened, something he didn’t plan, something that ended in her death. But it didn’t.’
‘No, she’s alive and well and there’s no proof that Brody’s ever done anything bad, even when he’s off his meds.’
‘What about the beating I took on the beach? It took months for my hand to heal.’
‘I’ll repeat that there is no proof about Brody’s guilt. If he didn’t take Roxanne, he didn’t beat you.’
‘I realize that now. It took years, but it did sink in, Christian. And our relationship aside, I’d been Brody’s friend too. Yet I turned on him within days. And I decided your father, whom I’d always admired, was lying to cover for him. I think I did those things in a kind of hysteria. Roxy was missing, it was my fault, my parents were distraught, I’d been beaten and concussed, and thought my hand would never be the same—’
‘And you thought Brody would do that to you?’ Without waiting for an answer, Christian picked up her left hand and looked at it closely. ‘They did a wonderful job of reconstructing it.’
‘Yes. I have some scars, an enlarged knuckle, a couple of stiff fingers … Some days it hurts and I can’t make a fist. But I’m so lucky that it’s as near normal as it is.’
‘You were on a lot of drugs after the beating you took. Do you think the things people were saying to you about Brody were distorted by the drugs? Did they alter your perception of what was being said?’
‘I have no idea. My father didn’t say much of anything. My mother was a screaming shrew and she hated Brody before Roxanne’s kidnapping. She started hating him after she learned his diagnosis. I think she was aware of how fragile her own mental stability was and she thought she was headed down the same road as Brody. She hated what she was afraid of becoming and in her mind schizophrenics were raging violent maniacs. The medical people were kind to me, but the doctor in charge constantly made insinuations about Brody being a possible suspect.’
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