Liberty...And Justice for All (22 page)

“Scientific,” Katrina said, without missing a beat. “I like it.”

“Well, both Jacoby and Robert can be total douchebags,” Alexandra said. “I think we need to see the notes. We grew up with them being mean to us—maybe we can help you.”

“Thanks guys. Let’s hike a little faster. Maybe if you help me get a lead, we can skip the yoga this afternoon,” I said hopefully.

“Oh, no way! Hot yoga is my favorite!” Alexandra objected.

“There’s no better workout,” Katrina agreed.

“Oh yeah. I don’t want to skip it if we don’t have to,” I lied, mentally crossing my fingers behind my back. I was going to place my mat strategically at the back of the room. Maybe no one would notice if I fell over. Or fell asleep.

I wasn’t sure I would be able to sleep through yoga today, though. I was too excited. I was finally getting closer to figuring out who’d stolen the necklace, and I was going to get to confront him face to face.

I
went
to my room and grabbed the notes; Ian was sitting on the bed. I heard the water running in the shower.

“He’s up?” I asked.

“He talked me into letting him take a shower by himself,” Ian said. “He’s okay. He’s got Saran Wrap over his bandages.”

I stuck my head into the bathroom, which was steamy, too steamy for me to be able to see his gorgeous body through the shower door.

“Hey babe,” he called. “You figure it out yet? I’m pretty much ready to kick everyone out of the house so I can have you to myself again. And plus, Ian’s totally pretending he needs to take care of me so he can hide out in here.”

“I talked to Alexandra and Katrina—they’re clear,” I said. “Alexandra also says it isn’t Marks, and I believe her.” I almost added an
unfortunately
but I decided that I needed to get over it. Alexandra was committed to making it work with him. I wanted her in my life. I had to be supportive and not judge her decisions.

John sighed from the other side of the shower door. “That’s too bad,” he said. “I hate that guy. But I guess it’s good for Alexandra and the girls.” He paused for a beat. “So, that leaves Jacoby and Robert?” He asked.

“Yep,” I said. “Sean is searching everybody’s rooms today. Not for the necklace, really, but to see if he can find anything else—a gun, copies of the notes, anything. I’m not holding out a lot of hope but it can’t hurt. As far as I know, he hasn’t found anything. Katrina and Alexandra asked to see the notes, to see if they could help narrow it down between Jacoby and Robert.” I shrugged. “I’m ready to pack this in, too, babe. We haven’t had enough time to just settle in and be married.”

“Then go get ‘em,” he called. “But be careful. If it seems it’s too easy to wrap up, there’s probably something wrong. Murphy’s Law—and trust me on that, ‘cause I’ve learned the hard way.”

“Okay. I have to run—if I can get this finished before the gala tonight, I can totally avoid that slutty mermaid gown Catherine bought for me.”

“You’ll have to wear it anyway,” John called after me. “She’s really excited about that dress.”

I gave Ian a quick hug before I left the room. “If you see Sean, tell him to come see me ASAP.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ian said.

I went to find my half-sisters, who were proving to be much more helpful and entertaining than I’d originally given them credit for.

They were out by the pool; I handed them the letters and I waited, red-faced and embarrassed, while they read them. I didn’t want them to think of me as badly as the author did.

Those letters still stung. I was both looking forward to meeting who wrote them and dreading it.

Alexandra and Katrina both sighed at different times while they were reading. They exchanged the notes silently while I sat there, fidgeting.

They both looked up at me when they’d finished.

“I’m so sorry, Liberty,” Alexandra said, her eyes wide with a combination of worry and anger. “I can’t believe they said they’d tear you limb from limb. You
and
John.”

“Asshole,” Katrina said, tossing the paper she’d been holding on the table. I grabbed it before it could fly away. After this was all over, I’d burn both these notes. For now, I held them close, waiting to hear what they had to say.

“Jacoby,” they both said at once, and then looked at each other a little sadly.

Katrina shook her head. “Jacoby’s such an ass. He totally wrote these. He’s such a
girl
. I wasn’t sure when I read the first one, but the second one made me certain. He hates being ignored—that’s exactly the sort of thing that would push him over the edge.”

“And he would be the most upset about you getting the necklace. Out of all of us, he’s the most materialistic—and that’s really saying something,” Alexandra said. “He was the one I really fought to keep out of the loop when Daddy gave me the necklace for you. But not because I thought he would hurt you—because I thought he would resent you. No money is enough money for him, but he doesn’t want to work for a living. He thinks he’s too good for it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was living above his means. But I didn’t think he’d be capable of doing something like this, though.”

Katrina shook her head. “He can be vindictive. And he
really
has issues with women. He hasn’t ever had a healthy relationship. But he sees a lot of girls. And he never has anything nice to say about them, afterwards.” She shrugged. “I didn’t think he’d be capable of something like this, either, but I guess everybody who has a criminal relative probably feels that way.”

I stood up and paced. “You definitely think it was Jacoby? Not Robert?”

“Robert loves his money too, and he’s very proper. And to be honest, he doesn’t want to work for it, either. He’s another one that spends more than he should. That historic home of his is a money pit. And I know he still hasn’t forgiven our father for what he did to my mother,” Alexandra said. “He blames him for a lot.”

“But Robert is more cold and stand-offish. Jacoby’s more rabid,” Katrina said. “And those notes seem pretty rabid to me.”

“So what do I do?” I asked.

“We have a couple of hours before they get back. Think about it during yoga,” Alexandra said, hopping up. “I always do my best thinking in yoga.”

O
n the way
to the studio, I bumped into Sean and Catherine. I told my sisters—as I was cautiously beginning to think of them—that I’d catch up with them.

“Did you find anything?” I asked Sean, interrupting the two of them and not caring.

“I was just telling Catherine—no, I didn’t. There was nothing mildly interesting.”

“It’s Jacoby,” I said to Catherine. She looked stricken for approximately one second and then she straightened herself.

“How do you know?” She asked.

“Everybody’s clear except for him and Robert,” I said. “I had the girls read the notes. They agreed it sounds like Jacoby. They said he’s temperamental and extremely sensitive. He wants attention. He’s used to getting it. They also said that he’s the materialistic one of the family, and that he’s living above his means.”

“What about Robert?” she asked.

I shrugged. “They said he’s living beyond his means, too, and that he’s still angry about his mother. But they don’t think he’s angry enough to do something like this.”

“But why is Jacoby so angry that he’d do something like this?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. They said he has money issues and women issues. Maybe once he found out more about me—my stripping background, my junkie mother—maybe it really riled him up. Maybe he actually thinks I’m an unworthy whore, like the note said, and he didn’t want me anywhere near his precious family heirloom.” As far as I was concerned, if Jacoby believed that, he deserved to get beat up by John.

But not shot by him. I was going to have to work on that part.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

Catherine raised her hand to me. “Stop,” she said. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about. I just want to be sure.”

“I’m pretty sure,” I said.

“Well, it figures,” Catherine said. “I sure know how to pick them.” She pulled a cigarette out and lit it, ignoring my chastising look.

Catherine exhaled and the smoke was carried away by the wind. “I probably could have saved us the trouble of this weekend by just doing a simple test: Which one of Liberty’s family members did Catherine sleep with? Jacoby. Then you could apply a basic ‘if, then’ analysis.
If
Catherine sleeps with one of Liberty’s family members,
then
that family member will be the guilty party.

“That would have been a lot simpler, and probably a whole lot less embarrassing than all this.” She motioned to the house, which had half a dozen cars parked out front from the catering company, then her outfit, which was now a patent-leather pencil skirt and that one-shoulder Lycra tank top she’d had on earlier.

“I’m not embarrassed, and you shouldn’t be, either,” I said. “Jacoby’s the one who should be embarrassed. He was insane to break into our house and take that necklace. It was even worse for him to leave those notes.”

“I can’t wait to get my hands on him,” she hissed, through another cloud of smoke.

“You’re going to have to get in line,” I said, hoisting up my yoga mat and heading for the barracks. “I want a piece of him and John does, too. Not to mention Corey. I bet he’ll be thrilled to hear this.”

That brought a smile to Catherine’s face. “Way to find an upside. I appreciate it.” She trotted off, cigarette in hand, and I headed to yoga. The room was hot, over ninety degrees, and I grabbed a spot along the back wall. Alexandra and Katrina were both in child’s pose. The instructor, who was as tiny and as adorable as I’d remembered, gave me a welcoming smile.

I laid my mat out and lumbered down onto it. And promptly fell asleep.

“
H
ey
. Liberty.” Someone was shaking me, but I ignored them. I was warm, so warm, and I was lying on the beach next to John…

“Wake up.”

I opened my eyes to Alexandra leaning over me, laughing, her face sweaty and her hair slicked back in a ponytail.

“Hey,” I mumbled. I looked around warily. “Is the instructor gone?”

“Yeah,” Alexandra said. “She said you do this a lot.”

“I’ve only ever done it once before,” I said, defensively, and sat up.

Katrina came over, drinking water and wiping herself with a towel. They both had a lovely post-workout glow.

“Did you accomplish all your best thinking?” she asked me and laughed.

“I got some real clarity, yeah,” I said. “It’s clear to me that family drama is exhausting.”

I stood up. “Let’s go grab some food and get ready for this gala tonight. I’ll deal with Jacoby then. I guess I sort of have to.”

“Yay, gala,” Alexandra said. “We can all just keep hanging out with each other, except in super fancy clothes, with super fancy cocktails.”

I shook my head. “I’m done with super-fancy cocktails,” I said. “I can’t play in the big leagues like you people.”

“That’s okay,” Katrina said. “You’re going to need to keep your wits about you when you’re dealing with Jacoby.”

We grabbed our stuff and headed towards the house.

“How’s this going to work, anyway?” Alexandra asked. “Are you going to call the police?”

I shook my head,
no
. “We don’t usually do that unless we have to. John prefers…a more private approach.”

Katrina stopped dead in her tracks. “You’re not going to kill him, are you? Because he’s a jerk, but he
is
my brother. And Alexandra’s brother. And your brother.”

“No I’m not going to kill him,” I said, appalled. I did realize, however, that John and I would need to have a little discussion about my brother, the thief. Nasty notes and threats aside, we couldn’t hurt him. John couldn’t hurt him. “I just want to hold him accountable, and let him know that what he did was not okay. That he hurt me and that it was wrong.

“I don’t need to have him formally charged or arrested. Although that might set him straight, too.”

Alexandra nodded. “So you’re just going to let him go after all that? With just a slap on the wrist?”

“What do you want me to do with him?” I asked her.

She shrugged.

“Listen, we deal with hardcore criminals. People who do horrible, very bad things—way worse than what Jacoby’s done. A whole different stratosphere of worse. More than anything, it’s just him having a temper tantrum. A good public shaming might work wonders on him.”

Katrina looked hopeful. “I think that sounds perfect. He’s usually so self-satisfied, getting knocked down a peg or two will do him good. Plus, if you don’t turn him over to the police, it’ll avoid our family’s name being dragged through the mud. Which I’d appreciate.”

“Me too,” Alexandra agreed. “But it just seems a little anticlimactic.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “But trust me—climactic’s over-rated.”

J
ohn was in bed
, sleeping, his hair combed back neatly. He cocked one eye open when I sat gently on the bed. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” I said.

“I didn’t want to sleep anyway. I don’t want to miss anything,” he said. “Are you going to get ready?”

“Yes.” I stood up and went to my closet, grabbing the dress Catherine had bought for me to wear tonight. “I can’t believe I have to out my brother in front of everybody in a slutty mermaid dress. What if he runs? How am I supposed to chase him?”

“You don’t have to. Send Matthew,” John said. “Send Corey, Jacob or Sean. Hell, send Ian after him. I don’t want you getting hurt.” I frowned at him and he ran his hands through his hair, making it spiky and wild, the way I liked it. “And Liberty—not to tell you what to do, but I don’t think calling Jacoby out in front of everyone is the best thing. You need to speak with him privately. With the guys close by, of course.”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “I kind of want to shame him in front of everyone. It’s all I’ve got.”

“I just want you to be careful. You don’t know what to expect.”

“Maybe I can pull him aside before we have to sit down to dinner, but we’re running out of time.” I sighed and looked at the clock. “I don’t know what I’m doing, babe. But I guess I better get this thing on.”

“Do you need help?” John asked.

“Just moral support,” I said, sighing and dragging the dress into the bathroom with me. It was unwieldy; I mentally cursed Catherine for making me wear something couture when all I really wanted were my sweats.

I took a one-minute shower and did my makeup quickly; I realized while I was putting on my blush that my hands were shaking.
Steady girl,
I thought.
Almost there.