‘You think you might find a connection to this house?’ Vanessa slowly realized.
‘Among other things.’
‘Are you up to it, Roxy?’ she asked.
‘Do I have a choice? What about Libby?’
‘I’m going to ask her to come, too. She went there often with Zane.’
‘It was the headquarters for Blackbird although it’s closed now. What about their employees?’
‘We’ll talk to them, too, but you don’t have to be involved.’ Wade gave them one of his rare smiles. ‘C’mon, girls. One more hour and we’ll be on our way home.’
‘One hour, Wade Baylor,’ Vanessa said. ‘Then Roxy and I are going home, with or without you.’
Twenty minutes later they arrived at a three-story concrete-block building painted dark gray. The small front lawn was empty of shrubbery or trees and at the large front window hung beige vertical blinds. It didn’t look like a business and certainly not like a home.
When everyone got out of their cars, Vanessa said to Libby, ‘This is so plain.’
‘It belongs to Brody and that’s how he wanted it. He didn’t have many friends. He always acted like he didn’t deserve them,’ Libby replied.
‘But Max Newman was a friend.’
‘Real casual. He lived a few blocks away. I was here a couple of nights with Zane when Max came by. He was nice. Brody seemed to really like one of his employees, Dan Simmons. Both Zane and Brody think he’s brilliant. He’s only about twenty-five, but they even thought about making him a partner. Zane talked to him after Brody disappeared. He didn’t know anything, either, but that’s not surprising considering that Brody didn’t let anyone get close.’
Not at all like he used to be, Vanessa thought sadly. He was outgoing, athletic, popular with girls, and a sort of golden boy. Then he got sick.
The police opened the front door and they walked into a room filled with desks, worktables, monitors, and a wall-mounted television. There were five cubicles and a large, round table near a wall with a whiteboard covered with notes and equations.
‘This was the main work room,’ Libby said. ‘It always looked like a big mess to me but Zane and Brody made sense of it all. And the other employees, too. Everybody was really smart.’
They took an elevator to the second floor where there were racks with cables and equipment. ‘This was like a storage room,’ Libby told them. ‘Don’t ask me what any of this stuff is, though. All I see are cords and metal boxes. Zane used to say I’m not computer literate and he liked that because he talked about computers all day. Brody lived on the third floor. Let’s take the elevator.’
The elevator door opened and they walked out into a large, open space with eggshell-colored Berber carpeting, a long, heavily padded tan couch, three matching swivel chairs, beautiful golden oak tables, and ivory walls covered with framed prints of impressionistic art.
‘Wow,’ Vanessa said. ‘This wasn’t what I was expecting.’
Libby nodded. ‘I was surprised the first time I saw it, too. It’s so pretty and almost, well, delicate. Later Brody told me he thought it was calm, restful. I understood, then, considering his mental problem. The only time he ever talked to me about his schizophrenia, he said it made him feel completely out of control and paranoid, like the world was a big jumble. That’s why when he was well, he wanted everything to be still and peaceful and serene. I remember that word in particular. Serene.’
Vanessa nodded. ‘I understand. This room is certainly serene. And lovely.’ She looked closely at some of the framed prints. One was the dreamlike Waterlilies by Monet. Close by hung Cliffs and Sailboats at Pourville by Renoir and Montmartre by Van Gogh.
‘Zane and I used to come and watch TV with him.’ She motioned to the large fifty-five-inch television. ‘And we listened to music. Brody’s favorite group was The Eagles.’
‘Did he ever have a date on these evenings?’ Vanessa asked.
‘A couple of times there was a girl named Emily. She was very pretty but not very friendly to me. She asked a lot of personal questions and she drank a lot. Brody doesn’t drink alcohol, you know.’
‘When was that?’
‘Months ago. Zane told me not to ask about her. I think she found out Brody had a mental health condition and she acted fairly awful about it.’
So a recent break-up hadn’t sent Brody spiraling, Vanessa thought. Maybe there had been a girlfriend later that Libby hadn’t met.
Roxanne stood close to the elevator doors, her arms folded across her chest. ‘Do you recognize this place?’ Vanessa asked.
She shook her head. ‘I’ve never been here before. At least I don’t think I have. Maybe if I was drugged …’ She looked at her feet. ‘I don’t remember everything that happened when I’d been given something.’
Along one wall of the living space was a spotless kitchen, and an island with stools. At the back of the space was a king-sized bed, a dresser and nightstand, and another large flat-screen television. On a wall near the bed hung a framed print of My Fair Lady by Edmund Blair. Vanessa looked at the image of a lovely girl descending steps in a long white dress as she held a bouquet of pink flowers. She wore a coronet of pink flowers and her blonde hair hung below her waist.
This was the only space not in pristine condition. The bed was unmade and covered with pictures. A policeman wearing latex gloves picked up pictures of Alexander the Great, Alexandria, medieval castles – Bodium, Dover, Warkworth, Windsor – and women – Eleanor of Aquitaine with blonde hair and blue eyes, several of the Lady of Shalott with a gold ribbon around her forehead, Guinevere and Lancelot – alongside anonymous knights standing in armor, going into battle, riding in jousting tournaments, kneeling at the feet of ladies. There must have been at least fifty pictures scattered on the bed and on the floor beside it.
Vanessa looked at the pictures. ‘They’re all about ancient life except for these two photos of a tennis tournament. They were taken over ten years ago. There’s Christian standing beside him and in this one … you and me, Roxy.’
Roxanne glanced at the photo. ‘I remember that tournament.’
‘Libby, how long ago were you last here?’ Vanessa asked.
‘Right after Brody vanished. It looked like this. Zane and I didn’t move anything. But Zane said he’d been in here about eight days before then and it had looked like always – everything in place, the way Brody liked it.’
Vanessa wandered beyond the bedroom area to the bathroom. She spotted two blue-and-white capsules lying on the vinyl beside the white vanity. Libby walked in and Vanessa held out the capsules. ‘Zane and I already searched this bathroom to see if Brody took his prescription meds with him when he disappeared,’ Libby said. ‘They aren’t in the medicine cabinet. I guess he spilled those and didn’t see them.’
‘Maybe.’ Vanessa wrapped the capsules in a tissue and tucked them in a zipper compartment of her tote bag.
Before they left the bathroom, Libby said vehemently, ‘Vanessa, I don’t care if that hideous room was found in Zane’s house. He had nothing to do with it. He was a good man – the best I’ve ever known – and he wouldn’t have had anything to do with … with hurting anyone that way. Do you believe me?’
Vanessa wasn’t certain what she believed at this point, but she nodded to Libby.
‘No, say it. Say that you know it.’
Forgive me for lying because I don’t know it, Vanessa thought. ‘I know it.’
Libby smiled slightly then turned and headed toward Roxanne. ‘Are you OK, sweetie? You look awful pale.’
Vanessa mentally slapped herself for touring Brody’s living quarters instead of looking after her sister who’d lost most of the color in her face and held her trembling hands tightly together. ‘Wade, do you need for Roxanne and me to stay any longer?’ she called.
‘No. I’ll call you later. You can go, too, Libby. Thank you for coming with us.’
On the way home, Roxanne barely spoke. Vanessa saw a fast-food restaurant. �
�I’m hungry. Do you mind going in?’
‘No. I could use something to eat, too.’
Inside Vanessa ordered a hamburger and Coke and Roxanne a large chocolate milkshake. ‘Nothing to eat?’ Vanessa asked.
Roxanne nodded her head no. ‘Only a milkshake.’
When they sat down, Vanessa smiled at Roxy. ‘You always loved chocolate milkshakes.’
‘I still do. They cure all ills.’
‘Are you sure? Today has been terrible for you.’
Roxanne sucked so hard on her straw that her cheeks sunk in. Then she swallowed hard. ‘I feel … depleted. Not horrified, not sick anymore, just empty. Does that make sense?’
‘I have no idea how I’d feel in your position.’ Vanessa knew this was not the time to ask questions about what else had gone on in that room, or the drugs Roxy had been given, and especially not about the abortion. ‘This evening you can have something solid to eat and maybe we can persuade Christian to prescribe a sleeping pill.’
Roxanne’s eyes widened. ‘Oh my God! Christian! When he finds out about that room …’
‘You’re right.’ Vanessa put down her half-eaten hamburger. ‘There’s no way we can keep him from knowing.’
‘Wade will tell him everything.’
‘Yes, of course he will. He should. Zane and Brody were best friends as well as business partners.’
‘And probably more.’ Roxanne’s big blue eyes were full of meaning.
‘Fellow perverts?’
‘That’s one way of putting it.’ She looked at her milkshake. ‘I’m finished.’
‘I think I am, too. Let’s get home and try to forget today.’
Vanessa had picked up a few CDs she’d left at Everly House and in the car, she chose Supernatural by Santana. ‘I know this is dated, but you used to love “Smooth”. When you were five and six, you danced to it for the family.’
‘Always the show-off.’ Roxanne grinned. ‘But I’d love to hear the CD again.’
A few minutes later Vanessa looked over to see her sister’s eyes closed and her right hand tapping in time to ‘Love of My Life’. Roxanne had always loved music and been particularly sensitive to it. She wrote it and she could have been an excellent guitarist. But she was only twenty-three. There was still time.
They entered Everly Cliffs and Roxanne said wearily, ‘I’m so glad to be home.’
‘Me, too. This wasn’t one of the most pleasurable trips I’ve taken.’
Vanessa stopped the SUV in front of Everly House. As they neared the porch, she could hear Queenie barking inside. ‘Someone’s missed us!’ She laughed.
Then to her surprise, Derek Sherwin opened the front door. His smile was half-hearted. ‘You’re back.’
‘And aren’t you supposed to be at your restaurant or your office?’ Vanessa asked.
‘Yes, but Audrey called to see if I could knock off work early and come to look after the kids.’
Vanessa stopped on the top step, dread filling her. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Grace had a heart attack.’
EIGHTEEN
Vanessa, Roxanne, and Pete drove through the twilight from the hospital to Everly House. Audrey had waited until Vanessa and Roxy came home so she could explain what had happened while they were gone that afternoon.
‘Grace only nibbled at lunch. She said she wasn’t hungry and within fifteen minutes she said she felt nauseated and dizzy. Then she broke into a sweat. Queenie came running and stood beside Grace’s bed, whining. You know some dogs can sense when a person is going to have a heart attack. It has to do with adrenaline and enzyme levels. When she said her chest felt tight, I gave her an aspirin and called the paramedics. They arrived in record time, but Grace was having pain in her back and jaw by then.’
‘Not in her left arm?’ Roxanne had asked.
‘It’s more common for men to have pain in the left arm than women,’ Audrey had said. ‘The symptoms differ a bit between males and females.’ She’d lowered her voice. ‘Anyway, after I called the ambulance, I called Pete to come and stay with the children but when he got there, he was so worried I didn’t think it was fair to ask him to look after two distressed kids, so I called Derek.’
Vanessa had looked in her rearview mirror to see Pete looking like he was a million miles away. Vanessa had always thought his feelings for Grace went beyond simple respect for an employer.
‘Will she live, Audrey?’ Roxanne asked.
‘I called the hospital right before you got home. They aren’t supposed to give out information to non-family members, but Christian was there. He said she’s in stable condition, but they don’t know how much damage her heart suffered. Her cardiologist is Citra Amir. She’s very good. We’re lucky to have her. She’s not taking any chances – she’s helicoptering Grace to Portland tomorrow for more sophisticated testing.’
‘I keep thinking about how Christian said it’s hard to get a good night’s sleep in a hospital because they’re so noisy,’ Audrey commented. ‘I hope Grace sleeps well before her trip.’
An hour later Vanessa, Roxanne, Audrey, Pete, Sammy, Cara, and Derek sat at the dining-room table eating leftovers from the night before. No one seemed to have much appetite and Vanessa found herself constantly asking in an overly bright voice, ‘More green beans?’ ‘More carrots?’ ‘More turkey?’ She wished she’d put on some music so the only sound wasn’t cutlery clinking against china. The silence was unnerving.
Suddenly Sammy dropped his fork and asked in a loud, quavering voice, ‘Do you think I gave Grace a heart attack by reading “The Tell-Tale Heart”?’
‘Oh, no you didn’t!’ Cara cried, her face distressed.
‘You’re just a kid like me. You don’t know.’
‘Well, I’m not a kid and I can tell you for sure you didn’t cause it,’ Derek told him.
‘But you’re not a doctor!’
Audrey stepped in. ‘I’m a nurse. I know a lot about illness and I’m absolutely certain hearing a story she’d read a hundred times didn’t scare Grace into a heart attack. She loved the way you read aloud.’
Sammy’s lower lip trembled. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Cross my heart.’
‘OK then. I believe you.’ He looked around the table. ‘But I sure wish she was still here.’
Derek smiled at him. ‘So do we all, son.’
‘I’m afraid you missed dinner,’ Vanessa said to Christian when he arrived at the door after dark. ‘There wasn’t much left from last night, not even cherry pie. I know it’s your favorite.’
‘And I only came here for cherry pie.’ Christian smiled as he pulled Vanessa into his arms and traced her cheek with a gentle finger. ‘How’re you doing, sweetheart?’
‘I’m scared. And upset. It’s been a godawful day. I’ll tell you all about it later.’
Christian greeted everyone, including Pete who obviously didn’t want to go to his cottage and be alone. ‘I checked on Grace right before I left the hospital,’ Christian said. ‘She was sleeping like a baby. Everything seems fine.’
‘Thank God!’ Pete exclaimed as everyone looked at him.
Audrey offered Christian coffee or something stronger. He asked for coffee and Vanessa knew he thought he might get a call to come back to the hospital. Everyone talked for a few minutes before Cara said, ‘Oh my gosh! It’s almost time for Aunt Vanessa’s show! Can we all watch it together?’
‘Sounds good to me,’ Audrey said. ‘Derek?’
‘Sammy and I never miss it.’
Pete turned on the big flat-screen television, fiddled with the remote control until he finally found the right channel, and everyone settled in, the children smiling, Audrey seated in a chair near Derek, Christian and Vanessa side-by-side on the couch. Roxanne sat by herself in a rocker farthest away from the TV.
The rousing music Vanessa knew so well came blaring on. ‘Oh, Pete, turn it down!’ she said.
‘Don’t turn it down!’ Cara looked earnestly at Vanessa. ‘We have to get t
he full effect. You can’t totally get into the show unless you totally get the full effect.’
‘Oh. I didn’t know.’
‘Are you totally getting the full effect?’ Christian muttered a moment later, laughing under his breath.
Vanessa nodded. ‘I totally am.’
Halfway through the show, King Dominick had been stricken ill just as an uprising of local nobles was forming. Everyone agreed that the nobles would see Dominick’s sickness as a sign of weakness and take the opportunity to muster all their armies and strike at the capital. It was the king’s chief advisor, Cadmus, who suggested that Queen Na’dya meet the nobles just outside the gates of the capital city with the king’s army behind her and talk them down.
The cameras panned over the gathered nobles. Even though each had brought only part of his army, the number of gathered troops was beyond impressive. Then the gates of the city opened. Queen Na’dya rode through on a magnificent black horse. She wore a red-and-gold brocade gown that spread gracefully over the horse’s sides. The dress was low cut and on her chest shone a huge gold and ruby pendant that matched her gold crown studded with large, glittering rubies. Her black hair was parted in the middle and unbound, falling over her shoulders and down to her waist, wavy and gleaming in the bright sun. She rode straight and proud, her face classically beautiful, proud, and unmarked by the least hint of fear. Behind her came the king’s army – knight after knight after knight until hundreds stood in formation behind her. Then she delivered a speech, telling the nobles that the king was not ill. He was discussing foreign affairs with his most trusted advisors – foreign affairs that if not settled immediately, would threaten the whole kingdom of Corinna and therefore the lands and fortunes of the nobles. She proclaimed that she did not doubt the nobles’ devotion to the kingdom that had given them such munificence and that the king was determined would remain theirs. Her speech was valiant, stirring, and eloquent with just a hint of what might happen to those who were disloyal to the king. At the end, the nobles and their armies cheered, and she smiled benevolently.
Audrey, Derek, Pete, and Christian clapped. The children cheered, ‘Yeah, Queen Na’dya!’ Only Roxanne sat silent, her face expressionless.
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