Deadly Valentine (26 page)

"When I was growing up, if you wanted to know what was going on in my house, all you had to do was ask the help. No one pays attention to them, but they see and hear everything." Tess was careful not to let Shelby know that she suspected Sara of having a relationship with Philip.

"I can't imagine they'd have anything to say. Especially Sarah. That girl is about as dense as they come."

Tess began to believe Jack was right about Philip and Sarah. And she was pretty sure Shelby knew about it, if her reaction was any indication.

"I wonder who their alibi is?" Tess wondered out loud. She didn't really think Agnes, Walter or Sarah were murderers, but she wondered what Shelby would say to her question.

Like a small fish without experience in avoiding the bait and hook, Shelby bit. "You  know you're right. I don't think Sara has an alibi. Asa was pretty hard on her sometimes. He called her stupid a lot. Which she is, but she is human. Maybe she couldn't take it anymore."

Tess pretended to ponder the thought. "I can't see it. I still think it was someone at the dinner party."

Shelby's features darkened. "Those are pretty strong accusations, Tess. Do you have proof?"

Tess shook her head. "No. I’m just curious. It's like a Christie novel. All of us in the house. A murder. Aren't you curious?" Tess said trying to lighten the mood. She didn't need Shelby racing to Daniel to tattle about being interrogated. "You said yourself that you were reading up on these things. You even told us earlier you thought it was a family member."

Shelby relaxed. "Well, I couldn't very well accuse Jack to his face. And I am curious. In fact, sometimes I don't want to go to that house. What if the murderer
is
there? What if Daniel is wrong?"

On that Tess could agree. She didn't like visiting the house. She couldn't imagine living there. "Don't you and Philip have another home?"

"Yes, but its way out of town. Too far out of the way. And Philip wants to stay close to the Senator now."

"Yes. I imagine it's very hard for both of them, even though they both had a difficult relationship with Asa."

Shelby shrugged and turned back to her purse. She pulled out a tube of lip gloss. "That's really it, isn't it? Asa brought this on himself by being so hateful. The murderer should get a reward."

"Didn't you say you had a relationship with him?" Tess knew how quickly love could turn to hate. But she couldn't quite see how you could murder someone you once cared for.

"A long time ago. So I should know. He was cold and ruthless. And you know what they say?" Shelby pressed her lips together making sure the gloss evenly coated her lips.

"What?"

"What goes around comes around."

Chapter Thirty

"I was beginning to worry," Jack said as he helped Tess back to her seat. "I thought you fell in. Or maybe escaped out the back."

"No. I ran into Shelby."

"I'm surprised you two found something to talk about for so long."

"Normally we wouldn't. She wasn't feeling well and I wanted to make sure she was alright."

"She looks fine to me," he said looking over at the bar where Shelby and her friends were laughing.

"Apparently it was something she ate."

"You don't sound convinced."

"She didn't want me to call Philip. Not in a "oh it's okay" kind of way but in a "don't you dare call him" kind of way."

"That's odd. Although I don't think that marriage is based on any sort of emotional connection."

"There is some connection though. I confronted her on her story that she and Philip were together when Asa was murdered. She didn't budge. In fact, she thinks you killed him."

"Ah and to think my good looks and charm were working on her."

"Oh, they're working. In fact I think she finds you more attractive now that you're a possible murderer."

"That's disturbing."

"I thought so too."

The waiter interrupted by placing a decadent looking chocolate torte on the table. "With two spoons as you requested."

"Thank you," Jack said taking a spoon. "I took the liberty of ordering dessert."

Tess looked at the chocolate confection with longing and hesitation. It was similar to the way she looked at him, he thought. That was the difference between him and Tess; he desired her and wasn't afraid to indulge it. As if to prove to her that indulgence could be good, he took a bite.

"Oh Christ that's good," he said understanding why the Aztecs called chocolate the fruit of the Gods..

"Do you need a moment alone?"

"I might. Aren't you going to try it?"

"I don't think I should. One bite probably has five thousand calories."

"We'll burn them off later," he said giving her a wicked grin. The effect was what he'd hoped if the flush to her cheeks was any indication. "Just one bite," he said reaching the spoon filled with chocolate across the table.

She took the bite, her eyes closed as she savored the sweet, rich confection. "If I eat this, I won't need you."

"In that case…" He pulled the plate towards him."So did you resolve anything with Shelby?"

"I just can't figure out why she'd lie and why Philip would go along with it."

"Because she did it?"

Tess shrugged. "Maybe. But why would Philip go along with that? And what motive would she have?"

"I can think of several million of them that are all wrapped in bow with Worthington Corporation embroidered on it." To Jack that made more sense than anything the cops had come up with. He couldn't figure out why no one else wasn't pushing Philip and Shelby harder, especially Philip. He seemed like the type of guy who'd give in easily with properly applied pressure. If Tess' so-called friend Deputy dog would do his job, he could get Philip to admit he hadn't been with his wife while Asa was being murdered. Jack wondered how Shelby would hold up if the cops turned the screws on her. Better than Philip, probably. But she'd need a pretty good excuse to explain why she lied about what she'd been doing and who she was with when Asa was murdered. Why lie unless she had something to do with the murder?

"Money is a motive," Tess said. "Except I don't think that they got much. Asa's shares in the company were divided between Helen and Tom. So there's more money for Shelby if Asa is alive."

"I'm still thinking someone wanted to shut him up," Jack said. "Otherwise why not kill him when he's alone."

"The timing does seem to point to that. But what was he going to say?"

"If I were dying, I'd want to put my affairs in order. Perhaps he was going to announce his plan for the future of the company."

"Which you would expect to be Philip. I'm wondering though if Asa's wishes had been put down in legal terms yet. Maybe he was planning something different, but died before he could put it in place."

"That doesn't sound like Asa. I think he'd have it locked down so the family couldn't change it."

"Maybe it was stolen. Maybe it was on the computer."

"So you're thinking he made some big change to his will, but it was stolen?"

Tess nodded.

"That would support Shelby's theory that Helen did it. Or Tom since they had the most to gain by Asa not making a change."

Tess' face dropped. "You're right."

"And what would that change be? Who else in the family could run the business?"

There was a change in her eyes that suggested he wasn't going to like what she was about to day. "There's...you."

The hole that had nearly taken him down two nights before opened, letting the anger and hurt seep out. "I'm not a member of that family-"

"You might be-"

"Tess." He knew his voice was dark. A warning. Despite his feelings for her, he didn't care. He wasn't ready for this conversation.

"Here me out. If Asa thought the Senator was the father of Delia's baby, and found out that you were Delia's son-"

"There is no real proof of that."

"It doesn’t matter if it's true. It only matters what Asa thought. You said it yourself, that if you were dying you'd be putting your affairs in order. But it had to be killing Asa to think he was leaving the company in Philip's incapable hands or Helen's indifferent ones. He needed someone else in the family. You're his half-brother-"

"I’m not-"

"Asa may have thought so and who better to leave the company to? You're even more successful than he ever was. Plus there's the added benefit that he could embarrass his father and completely disrupt the family. Asa would have loved that."

"If that was true, his leaving the company to me would give me a motive."

"No. Because you would have had to wait until it was in writing to kill him. To have a claim on the family's money, you have to have proof, DNA proof. Which we don’t have."

"Unless I killed him to hide the fact I was the Senator's son."

"Come on Jack. You see what I'm saying don't you?"

"Yes." He hated to admit that it made sense. "But it doesn't shed light on who killed him. It could have been the Senator to keep the secret. It could have been any number of people who were tired of his bull." And it still didn't answer why Tom would have taken Asa's computer. What motive did he have to prevent Asa's intentions from being revealed?

And here they were, back on the topic of murder. This was not the night he had planned. His goal was to sweep Tess off her feet. Convince her to give love a chance. He reached across the table and took her hand.

"Earlier we agreed that we wouldn't spend the evening talking about Asa. This whole thing about a secret is crazy and unsettling. In fact, I think I'm going to need another piece of chocolate torte to get me through the funk."

"How about we just work it off?" Tess asked.

Jack's mood instantly lightened at Tess' suggestive tone. "Tess? Or chocolate?" He held his hands out as if weighing his options.

"You could have Tess and chocolate?" she said.

His libido kicked into high gear. "Together?"

"Why not?"

"I knew you were the perfect woman for me."

~~~~

Jack was surprised, but ridiculously pleased when Tess agreed to come to his home. He'd rebuilt nearly every corner of the two-hundred year old home, and it was important to him that she liked it. He watched her as she moved through his house, admiring the work he'd done and teasing him about all the green features.

"People never laugh when they learn I pay nearly nothing in utilities," he said.

"No I guess they wouldn't."

He guided her to the sunroom off the living area. She fit his home, he decided. He had an overwhelming desire to tell her that and to ask her to stay, forever. But he knew it would be too much too soon for her. He bit his lip instead and watched as she took in his home.

"I bet this is beautiful in the spring and fall," she said as she looked out the wall of windows framing a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. "Are you sure all these windows pass the no-footprint test?"

"I'm sure."

"So far this is my favorite room," she said.

"I'd thought you think so. My mother loved it too,"  he said remembering all the time he spent with her during the last days of her illness. He and Cora had already removed the hospital bed and his mother's belongings, but the room wasn't completely vacant. A chair sat toward the window overlooking the view. On the other side of the room a baby grand piano waited silently.

"Do you play?" Tess asked.

He shrugged. "A little. My mother was the pianist."

"Will you play something for me?"

Nervousness rolled in his belly. It had been a long time since the opinion of a woman mattered so much. He sat on the bench, stretched his fingers as if he was a world-renowned maestro
.
With two fingers he banged out Chop Sticks. She laughed and the sound of it was pure music.

"Actually," he said reaching to organize sheets of music. "I've been trying to learn a little something I think you'll like."

"Really?" she said looking pleased.

He played the short introduction and then started on the lyrics. She laughed in delight, as he repeated Marvin Gaye's words, "Let's get it on."

"You've been learning that for me?"

"Yes," he said continuing to play. "I know you have a thing for Marvin."

"And what about you?"

"I have a thing for you." So far in this relationship, Jack had initiated every move. Even the kiss in her office, he'd started it with a dare. So when she sat with him on the bench, placed her hands on his cheeks and pulled him to her for a kiss, Jack felt like he'd won the lottery.

"So, you going to show me the rest of this place?"

"Sure".

He took her hand and led her to the living area. Neither were in any hurry, so she took her time to look at the room starting with the large fireplace with a line of photographs on the mantel.

"More doodads I see."

He laughed. "They make a house a home, don't you think?'

She stopped at a picture. Her head tilted and her brow knitted as it did when she was thinking. "Did Asa ever come here?"

He hadn't expected that. They'd agreed not to talk about Asa or the case for the rest of the night. "Once. Why?"

She turned and pointed to the picture of Delia and Cora. It was a copy of the one at his penthouse in Northern Virginia. "He would have recognized Delia."

Jack's own brow furrowed as he moved to get a closer look at the picture. She was right. If Asa had seen it, he would have wondered why a picture of the Senator's dead secretary was in his home.

"Did he say anything?" Tess asked.

Jack shook his head. "Nothing."

"Why was he here?"

"He'd been wanting to meet with me for some time. I still wasn't back at work after mom's death, so I put Brad on him. But you know Asa, he only wants to work with the top people. One day Cora and I were here packing up to get the house ready to sell and he just showed up. I guess Brad told him I was here."

"Seeing this is probably what started his investigation of you. Otherwise how would he have known?"

Jack remembered his resentment at Asa's showing up expecting him to jump at his whim. He started to wish he'd gone with his first instinct and not allowed Asa in the house. But he realized that his current reunion with Tess was due in part to Asa. It was hard to hold on to the resentment when he had Tess standing in his home.