Ring of Lies (82 page)

Catherine snickered.
‘
Aren’t you the clever one, Jack? What gave me away?
’

Grace paled. She’d wondered about it, but never imagined Catherine would say it, and with such complete disregard for her feelings.

‘
What gave you away?
’
asked Jack.
‘
Damned near everything. Your constant lies. Your appearance out of nowhere. Your inability to respond to your sister when she called you in shock and pain. Most of all, y
our lack of surprise when Grace told you about the Miami bank account, and the fact you knew where the safe was.
’

Grace tilted her head back
,
furious with her sister
,
but most of all with herself for not seeing what had been happening right under her nose.

‘
The blue cocktail dress
!
I knew it was familiar
—
you wore it last Christmas—a
nd the perfume I smelled
on the fabric,
it’s the one you’re wearing now.
I knew cats on heat would take on any male, but your own sister’s husband? How could you?
’

Catherine shrugged.
‘
Just another reason they call me Cat,
’
she smiled.

‘
You heartless bitch!
’

‘
Oh, come on, darling sister.
It was easy
.
Who do you think got you tickets for Wimbledon? Me! And all th
ose
conferences Daniel told you he was attendin
g? In reality,
he was actually
spending time
with me
here at Sand Dollars
.
He had a
nickname
for you. He called you his little nun!
’
She turned to Jack.
‘
What does that tell you about what she’s like in bed?
’

‘
You…vulgar…
whore.
’
Grace’s hand shot out and
c
racked across Catherine’s face.

Stunned, Catherine lifted her hand to her reddened cheek.
‘
My God…
Grace
! You’ve never struck me before.
’

‘
W
ho’s idea was the scam—yours or Elliott’s?
’
Jack asked.

‘
Why, Daniel’s of course,
’
said Catherine, hand still to her cheek.
‘
He did it all, you know. Every bit of it was his fault.
’

‘
I don’t believe you,
’
screamed
G
race, eyes puffy with tears. She shook
her fists in front of Catherine’s face.
‘
Daniel wasn’t like that.
’

‘
How do you know, Gracie? You never knew the man.
Daniel liked money, but he had no ambition. I introduced him to
Salazar
, who
was looking for
an accountant, someone who was prepared to bend the rules
and not ask too many questions.
’

Jack crossed his arms.
‘
How’d you meet this
Salazar
?
’

‘
At a nightclub. I was with a group of other pharmaceutical reps.
He said his wife was dying and he’d heard about this new drug my employers had developed, but his doctor wouldn’t prescribe it. I felt sorry for him, so I got some for him.
’

‘
Which he copied
in his factory
along with the other drugs you
supplied to him
, and
no doubt
helped sell.
’

Catherine ignored Jack
‘
Daniel
transferred
Salazar
’s
money
around Europe and the U
.
S. He started skimming some off for himself, just small amounts at first,
but
then he got greedy. He bought this house and we were going to live here.
’

‘
But there was just the small matter of his wife.
’

‘
She was an inconvenience. He never loved you, Grace. Not for a single minute. In fact, he made me get stuff to poison you with. Yes, that’s right
. H
e wanted you to die, darling Gracie. I begged him to divorce you. But no, he wanted you
dead
. That’s how he felt about you, sweetie. I defended you. You’re my sister and I wouldn’t let him kill you.
’

‘
Shut up, Catherine! I don’t believe a word you’ve said.
’

‘
I don’t believe you either,
’
said Jack.
‘
You’ve been in non-stop lying mode since you got here.
’

‘
Believe what you like. I talked him into making arrangements for both of us—in case anything happened to him
before we had chance to put his plans into action
. He eventually liste
ne
d to me, he left you pretty well off, I must say.
’

‘
You told him to make arrangements?
’
s
aid Jack.
‘
Now why would you do something like that unless you planned his death?
’

‘
Oh, shove it, West. I loved him. I loved my sister more. I had no ide
a he’d go and die on all of us…
and he wasn’t supposed to leave her my house!
’

Jack grimaced.
‘
Keep going. You’re digging yourself a pretty efficient hole. What happened to him? How did he die?
’

‘
I’m telling you the truth, Jack.
I
honestly
don’t know. When he didn’t meet me at the airport, I went to work as normal
. I
expect
ed
him to call me later in the day
.
When he didn’t—
’

‘
You packed your bags and ran.
’

‘
The rep
who was supposed
to attend the conference called in sick. I was asked to go in his place.
’

Grace stared at her sister in disgust.
‘
What
will happen to
her now
?
’

Jack’s eyes narrowed.
‘
That’ll be up to the judge to decide
, but she’s looking at a lengthy prison sentence
.
’

Catherine shoved Grace hard, knocking her sideways into Jack
and
dashed
down the hall
.
W
ithin seconds
she
was out of the house and heading for the sand dunes.

‘
Grace!
Wait
’
shouted Jack, but it was too late. Grace
sped after her sister through the garden
. He
cursed and
took off after
her
, but tripped over the roots of
the
tree
at
the side of the gate
and
crashed
to his knees.
He
climbed
to his feet and caught sight of Grace as she disappeared through the
Sea Grape
towards the picnic tables on the beach.

A late afternoon
rainstorm
had drifted in from the gulf
,
sending sun worshipers and tourists scurrying indoors. Water trickled down
Jack’s
neck and by the time he reached the picnic tables his shirt was plastered to his back. He ignored the discomfort and
the waves crashing on the beach, and concentrated on following Grace and her sister.

A
lone
,
black BMW
sat
in the corner of the parking lot adjacent to the state park. Its
single
occupant clearly visible through the rain splattered windshield.
Jack
was so furious with Grace that he didn’t
notice
the
door
open.

‘
That’s far enough
, Agent West.
’
A
short, stocky man
climbed out
,
and
point
ed
a heavy revolver at
the
centre
of
Jack’s chest.
‘
Drop your weapon.
I don’t wish to
kill
you
. A
t least not yet
.
’