Jude Deveraux (23 page)

'
'Whatever happened, Toddy found the poor woman's remains when the wall fell in.
With the help of one of Toddy's strong young grandsons — who, of course, was
sworn to secrecy — we buried her far away from my family, and very far away
from Minton. I hope that she can at last rest forever.

' 'As
for the necklace that has caused my family so many problems,  I 
spent several  days thinking about what to do with it. Tell the world that
it had been found? Then what? Have every shyster in the country show up here
and try to sell me things? Would I have to tell the truth about Grandfather
Minton? Would I have people wanting to write those nasty, hate-filled
biographies about my family? Have the world know about the tears shed in my
family over those stones? Know about the murders committed because of them?
People would say the sapphires and my family had a curse on them. No, I didn't
want any of that. After a dozen sleepless nights, I decided to turn the whole
thing over to you, my dear, clever Eden. The necklace is now yours, and you can
do with it what you want. Wear it out to dinner. It'll look good with your
eyes.

'
'Finding the necklace has caused me no happiness, but finding the teapot caused
me nothing but joy. Toddy came to me one Sunday morning, very excited. He said
he'd seen something on TV that was like something I owned. He'd seen the
hallmark of a Paul Revere teapot and remembered seeing it when he used to
polish the silver for me. I can tell you that the two of us old duffers had an
awful time prying up loose floorboards and walls to find that particular pot.
But we found it, and I sold it, and it paid for at last making my house into
the beauty that it had once been. And it paid to send four of Toddy's
grandchildren to college. The other two went on full scholarships, so they had
no need of me.

'
'Eden, my dear, I have missed you and your dear child every day since you left.
That you had to leave and why you had to leave was the curse of my life. No
matter what my ancestors had done, nothing compared to the evil that was in my
son. I will not burden you with what happened at the last. That is between God
and me, and I pray that He can forgive me.

' 'The
Farrington family that I sacrificed my happiness for in an attempt to keep the
name going, is no more, and I think it's fitting that it ends. Too much hate
and anger runs in our blood. There was too much bloodshed in our history. Maybe
Minton's punishment for the murders he committed was that his seed should die
out forever.

'
'Dear, dear, Eden, I leave my beloved house to you. I know this is selfish of
me, for I know that you'll take care of the house and love it as I did. I am
glad that, in the end, I had the wherewithal to make it beautiful again. And
I'm especially glad that I'm not leaving you a mummy in the basement.

"I
wish you and Melissa all the happiness in the world. I've tried to keep up with
where you were and what you were doing. I cried on the day of Melissa's
wedding. I hope she presents you with a dozen grandchildren.

' 'I'm
sorry that you have never found the right man for you. Have you become bisexual
like me?

' 'I
want you to know that wherever you are, I'm looking down on you and sending you
my love. If it's possible, I will be protecting you from heaven — if they let
me in there, that is.

' 'I
must go now. I'm an old, old woman and I don't have much strength left. I send
you all my love. Kiss Melissa for me. And why don't you give one of the younger
Granville boys a call? Maybe one of them is as good in the sack as my Granville
boys were.

' 'I
will love you always,

' 'Alice
Augusta Farrington.' '

It
wasn't until late that night that Jared got enough privacy to call Bill.
Granville had stayed late, looking at the necklace as though it were the Holy
Grail, and talking to Eden about what she should do with the jewels. Eden seemed
to be more interested in the historical significance of the necklace than in
any monetary value, so she'd talked about doing more research into the family
history. Mostly, she just clutched Mrs. Farrington's letter. It was obvious
that the letter meant more to her than the jewels.

As for
Jared, all evening, he'd sat back and watched and listened to both of them. He
liked that Eden hadn't had an attack of greed the second she realized that she
owned a necklace that was worth . . . What? Millions? She hadn't started
talking about all the things she was going to buy. Her only mention of money
had been to say that she'd like to set up trust funds for all her
grandchildren. 'Which reminds me,' she said, 'I haven't talked to my daughter
in days.' Soon after that the party broke up and Granville went home. Jared
knew that the two of them wanted time alone, probably to do more kissing, he
thought, and was ashamed of himself at how jealous he felt at that thought.
He'd given Eden a look, then glanced upward at the tiny cameras in the shadows
of the corners of the ceiling. If Granville had noticed them, he hadn't shown
it. But Jared was forming the opinion that Granville didn't let on to a lot of
what he saw — or knew.

Eden
had taken the hint and hadn't performed for the FBI cameras, but had given Brad
cheek kisses when he left. As soon as the door closed, she held up the necklace
to the cameras. 'We found it,' she said, addressing the lens. 'So now all of
you can go away and let me have a life.'

Jared
had started to say that they had no way of knowing that the necklace had
anything to do with Applegate's swallowing of her name, but she wouldn't
listen. 'I don't want to hear it,' she said. 'I'm tired and I want to go to
bed.'

'Yeah,
sure,' he said. Truthfully, he wanted to sit up with her for a while and talk
about finding the necklace. He'd had some experience with jewels, and he
thought he might be able to help her make some decisions. But, mainly, he'd
wanted to just sit and talk with her. Or watch TV together. It had been years
since he'd just sat beside a woman and watched TV. Not since his marriage broke
up had he done such an ordinary thing.

He
nodded to the necklace that was in her hand. 'You think — ' He broke off when
she tossed the necklace at him and he barely caught it. 'Sure you don't want to
wear it to bed?' he asked, teasing.

'That
necklace caused the deaths of several people and rivers of tears. The sooner I
get rid of it, the better. Look,' she said, 'could you please do what you have
to do as quickly as possible so all of you can get out of here?'

Holding  
the necklace, Jared   thought how it was still warm from her hand.
'I'll do my best,' he said, smiling, but Eden didn't smile back. Turning, she
went up to her bedroom.

He
stood at the foot of the stairs for a while, then walked into the kitchen,
where he got a piece of cake to take outside to the agent on duty. He had seen
nothing unusual, heard nothing.

‘What
about you?'  the   agent  asked.  'Find anything?'

Jared
started to make a joke about finding millions in sapphires and diamonds but
thought better of it. Years of training had taught him to trust no one. He bid
the man good night, then walked to the far side of the house and called Bill
Teasdale.

'So what
has forensics found out about the men who ransacked the house?' Jared asked.

'Nothing
yet. There were lots of hairs, but none from strangers. And thanks for leaving
that sample of Ms. Palmer's hair. You find out anything?'

Jared
gave a snort. He wasn't fooled by Bill's faked ignorance. 'Saw the tapes, did
you?'

'Yeah,
we watched the whole thing. Most exciting thing to happen around here in years.
A real treasure hunt. So what's she going to do with that thing?'

'I
don't know,' Jared said, pulling the necklace out of his pocket to look at it
in the moonlight. 'I can't figure out if this necklace has anything to do with
all this or not.'

'You
know what I think?' Bill asked but didn't wait for an  answer. 
'I   think that  if Applegate stood up and said that he'd been
looking for that necklace, you'd still come up with an excuse to stay there. If
you could have seen your face when Ms. Palmer kissed Granville!'

'Had a
good laugh at my expense, did you?' Jared said tightly.

'The
best.'

'If the
necklace is what they've all wanted, then how was Applegate connected to the
goons who ransacked this place and put the snakes in Eden's bedroom? It doesn't
make sense to try to kill her.'

'Her
death would get her out of the picture, wouldn't it?' Bill said. 'I'm sure her
heirs would put that old house up for sale. Who'd want to live in Arundel if
you weren't born there? No jobs, nothing to do.'

'It's a
nice place and the house is great,' Jared said defensively, then had to listen
to Bill chuckle. 'Okay, so I like her and I like this place. I admit it. But
whether or not I like anything has nothing to do with this case. If you can get
your mind out of the gutter for a moment, maybe you'll remember Tess's death
and that someone tried to kill Ms. Palmer.'

'All
right,' Bill said. 'What do you have?'

'Nothing
but instinct. Something isn't what it seems, but I don't know what it is. When
Eden told me that story about old man Minton I knew that he'd killed his wife.
If I figured it out, others can too. But who heard the story?'

'Anyone
with an Internet hookup. I found it in three hundred and eighty-one sites. Lots
of people are interested in missing treasure.'

Jared
groaned. 'I want you to check out Braddon Granville.'

'Ah,'
Bill said.

'Cut
the crap!' Jared snapped. 'This isn't personal. He knows too much, figures out
too much. And it's been my experience that normal people aren't suspicious, but
Granville is.'

'He's a
lawyer, isn't he?' Bill said. 'What do you call ten thousand lawyers at the
bottom of the ocean?'

'A good
start,' Jared said, bored. 'I just want you to check this guy out. Anything you
can find out about him, I want to know.'

'You
know what I think? I think you're falling for this Eden Palmer so hard that I'm
beginning to wonder if we should put someone else on the case.'

'What I
feel for her isn't hindering my judgment,' Jared said tightly.

'What
about your vow to stay away from 'good' women?'

'Bill,
you wanta cut this out? What I think of Ms. Palmer has nothing to do with
anything. I want this guy Granville checked out.'

'He
broke a man's jaw.'

Jared
grimaced. 'You've already done the research, haven't you?'

'Yeah,
but I couldn't resist hassling you. I did some checking, and a few years back,
Granville broke a man's jaw, but the guy didn't press charges.'

Jared
waited for Bill to continue.

'The
police report said that Braddon Norfleet Granville  
walked   into   a   party  
that    was   to celebrate the recent marriage of
Tredwell Norfleet Pembroke . . . Norfleet in both names. Think they're
cousins?'

'They're
all cousins here. It's the South, remember? Go on.'

'Granville
walked into the party, hit Pembroke, and smashed his jaw. The man had to have
it wired back together. The report doesn't say what they fought about, but it
must have been something big.'

'Granville
broke the guy's jaw, but the man didn't press charges?'

'That's
right. Maybe it was a family thing.'

'Yeah,
maybe,' Jared said softly. 'Send me all that you have, will you? I want to know
everything there is to know about him.'

'We
don't have much. He's never even had a traffic ticket, but that town protects
its own. You know what old lady Farrington did, don't you, and that was covered
up. The police report of her son's death said 'accidental drowning.''

Jared
had his own ideas about justice, so he didn't comment on what Bill was saying.
There had been more than once when Jared had played judge and jury. 'Just send
me what you have and I'll find out what I can from the locals. Nobody knows
people like childhood friends.' He changed the subject. 'So what did you think
of Tess's watercolors?'

'Threw
me for a loop. She never struck me as being the watercolor type. No, Tess
Brewster was more the pit bull type. If I'd been told she owned any paintings,
I would have guessed they were on velvet.'

'Find
out about her painting, will you?'

'I've
already sent out the order.'

Jared
hesitated before he asked his next question. 'Bill, isn't your wife a member of
some garden club?'

'Yeah,
but that doesn't mean she can use a shovel. She and her sister like to visit
gardens around the world — at my expense.' There was disgust in Bill's voice,
but Jared ignored it.

'Could
you find out what kind of things a real gardener would like? Not some
lady-gardener things, but for a serious gardener.'

'Right.
Something like that Melissa plant, maybe? Around here, we call that 'the
kissing plant.''

'Wasn't
I sent here to woo her?' Jared asked, anger in his voice.

'Yeah,
but it was supposed to be an act. And besides, you're doing a very bad job of
it. She sure doesn't like you much, does she? And who is this woman who calls
you every ten minutes?'

'Minnie
Norfleet. She works for Granville. I don't have time for her now. Besides,
she's not my type. As for Eden, she doesn't like me because she doesn't know
me.'

'She
feeds you and does your laundry. What else is there to know?'

Jared
started to reply, but Bill's chuckling stopped him. 'Just get some gardening
things, will you?'

'Are we
talking a couple of plants or a twenty-thousand-dollar greenhouse?'

'Whatever
is mobile. Tools, maybe. The old potting shed here is full of rusty shovels.'

'Who
pays?'

'Me.
Put it all on my AmEx.'

'If
you'll just give me your number — ' Bill began, but that was too much for
Jared. Like the FBI didn't have the credit card numbers of pretty much everyone
on the planet. When Jared didn't answer, Bill laughed. 'By the way, your new
girlfriend, the stripper, she's been out with some other men. I thought you
might like to know that you're free.'

Jared
didn't say anything for a moment. Just days ago, Bill had acted as though he
didn't know anything about Jared's new girlfriend, but now he was admitting
that he knew all about her — and had had her watched. Jared didn't know if he
should be grateful or offended. 'I'm too old for this job,' he muttered as he
snapped the phone shut, then went back into the house. He saw the light on
under Eden's bedroom door and started to knock and ask if everything was all
right, but then he glanced up at the camera in the shadows and thought better
of it. Everything that went on inside the house was now being watched by men at
the agency, so he went to his own bedroom. As he put his hand on the knob, he
heard the soft sounds of the washing machine and remembered what Bill had said:
'She feeds you and does your laundry. What else is there to know?'

Jared
told himself that Bill was right on one count: Jared needed to stand back from
this case, distance himself. Did he really and truly
like
Eden Palmer,
or was it just that he didn't like to lose?   He  
was   being   out-courted   by  
a   slick, small-town lawyer, and he didn't like it. Was his problem
that he was losing or was his problem Ms. Palmer herself?

He ran
his hand over his eyes. Maybe Granville was on the up-and-up. Maybe he was just
what he seemed to be: a small-town lawyer who had been knocked over by the
arrival of a beautiful woman like Eden Palmer. Jared well knew how few women
like Eden there were out there. Sometimes it seemed to him that if you didn't
find the right woman when you were in your twenties, then you lost your chance.
It seemed that all the best women were claimed the moment they put on high
heels.

But
somehow, through circumstances, a grown-up woman like Eden was still
unattached.

Bill was
right: Jared was losing his perspective. He was getting to the point where he
couldn't see clearly. He'd have to change that or he'd be taken off the case.
First, he had to figure out who was doing what and why. Was it all for that
damned necklace? Who else would know that it actually existed and that Mrs.
Farrington had found it? The man who'd helped her find it, Toddy, knew, at
least one of his grandchildren, and . . . Jared's eyes widened. Mrs.
Farrington's lawyer would probably know. Did Eden have a copy of the will? Or
had Granville not bothered to give her one?

In the
next instant, Jared was outside Eden's bedroom door and knocking on it.