Secrets in the Shadows (35 page)

He hesitated for a minute and then spoke. “Tell you what. Why don’t I give you guys a ride? After you meet with the attorney, we can grab a bite to eat or something. You can save the energy you’d use driving over there, and you’ll have a shoulder to cry on if you need it.”

“I can’t let you do that,” she protested. “It’s going to take up most of the day, and I’m sure you have things you need to do.”

“Nothing that can’t be pushed back. Besides, I’m a night owl. I can play catch up tomorrow evening, now that my date’s backed out on me,” he said with a teasing smile. The smile faded as he turned serious. “I don’t want to overstep, Lauren, but I’d like to be there for you.”

“Are you sure? We’d need to leave by eight-fifteen at the latest. Are you okay with that, you being a night owl and all?”

“Absolutely,” he told her, “as long as I have coffee. I’ll pick you guys up at your house around eight, then?”

“It’s a date.”

Stepping back toward her, he bent down and stole a kiss, letting his lips linger over hers.

“See you in the morning,” he said.

Lauren stood watching until he disappeared around the other side of the tall fence that separated the properties behind her parents’ garage. When her mother opened the kitchen door and asked her if she was coming in, she snapped out of her reverie. “On my way,” she said. As she hurried inside, she realized that her hand was still touching her lips, and she smiled.

The next morning, Lauren and Charlie dropped Ava off with Josie in New Salem on their way downtown for her meeting with Sam Davis.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a woman glow like that,” Charlie said as they waved to Ava and Josie and settled in his truck. “It’s true, what they say about pregnant women, isn’t it?”

“It certainly is. All those hormones,” she told him wryly, propping her arm on the door. She rested her head on her hand. “And Josie just looks good pregnant.”

“Does it bother you?”

“What? The fact that she’s pregnant or that she’s with David?”

“Both, I guess,” he clarified, glancing at her.

“No, it really doesn’t. I’m glad to see him happy, and I’m glad he’s with someone Ava really likes. It’s a comfort to know that if something happened to me, she’d still have a good stepmother. I envy them sometimes, I guess, having what they have, but it doesn’t bother me. I certainly don’t wish he had that relationship with me instead of her.”

Charlie shook his head. “I should just kidnap you now while I have you in my clutches, and head for the border. Pretty much every divorced couple I’ve ever encountered has hated each other’s guts. That includes my parents.”

“One of these days we’re going to have to talk about that,” she told him quietly.

He gave her a tense smile. “But not right now. We’re here.” Pulling up in front of the attorney’s office, he put the truck in neutral and set the emergency brake.

“I can see that,” Lauren said, raising her eyebrow. “Saved by the bell, hmm?”

Charlie hesitated. “You know, I’ve noticed you do that a lot.” He gestured toward her brow. “Raise your eyebrow. How far you raise it depends on how angry or upset you are.”

She just shook her head at him. “Don’t think this discussion is over. This is just a temporary reprieve.” Gathering her purse, she started to get out of the car. Charlie didn’t move. “Aren’t you coming in?”

“I don’t want to intrude. Some of the things you discuss will probably be private.”

“Charlie, I’ve told you most of my deepest, darkest secrets. You wouldn’t be intruding. I’d like to have you there, as long as you don’t mind.”

“Only most of your secrets, huh?” he said with a smile.

“I knew you’d pick up on that and not the other,” she said, getting out and closing the door, a little exasperated, but smiling.

“I’ll be happy to go in with you, as long as you want me there,” he told her, getting out of the truck. He followed her up the walk, admiring the garden. “This is neat. Kind of reminds me of your mom’s house. I’d like to do something like this at mine. My yard’s a disaster.”

“I’m sure my mother would love to get her hands on your yard. All you’d have to do is ask. She’s probably already got a plan for it, anyhow.”

They went in the open front door and were greeted by a coolly professional blonde. “Can I help you?” she asked.

“I’m Lauren Grant. I have an appointment with Mr. Davis.”

The woman’s face warmed considerably. “Of course, Ms. Grant. Please have a seat and I’ll let him know you’re here. ” She lifted her phone’s receiver.

Almost before she had put the receiver of the phone down, a slim, gray-haired man came down the hall toward them. He held his hand out to Lauren as she and Charlie stood.

“Ms. Grant. It’s so good to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you over the years from Charity.”

“Mr. Davis. I brought along a friend of mine, Charlie Clark. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. Connie, please hold all my calls until we’re finished.” He led them back to his office and ushered them toward the couch, closing the door behind them.

“You have a charming office,” Lauren told him, taking a seat on the couch with Charlie beside her.

The attorney gathered a few files from his desk and came over to where they sat. “Thank you. Please call me Sam.” He sat down across from them, pulling his reading glasses out of his pocket. “Before we get started, let me just express how very sorry I am for your loss. Charity was one of my favorite clients, and this whole ordeal has just been shocking. I know it must be worse for you, learning who she was after she was gone.”

Lauren clasped her hands in her lap. “It hasn’t been easy. I’ll admit I’m a little angry.”

He sighed. “I tried to convince her to talk to you, but she wouldn’t hear it. She made it very clear that the subject was closed. Although, the day before she died, she was here. She was very upset about the vandalism at your shop. I think she was considering coming clean, telling you everything.”

She wasn’t expecting that, and felt her composure slip. “Really?”

Charlie, who seemed to sense how close she was to losing it, reached out and clasped her hand. His touch gave her the strength she needed to pull herself together.

“Yes. I’m sorry she didn’t get the opportunity.” It was obvious that Davis was distressed, but he pulled himself together. “I imagine you must have a number of questions. Why don’t we start there? Ask me anything you like.”

“I don’t know where to start,” she said. “There’s so much I don’t know. Why did she do this, all of it? Why did she come back? Where was she all these years? Why didn’t she come to me?” As she uttered the last question, Lauren felt herself tearing up. Davis held out a box of tissues and she took it, thanking him as she dabbed at her eyes. As she fought to regain her composure, Charlie rubbed her back, and spoke quietly.

“Maybe we should start at the beginning. Why don’t you tell us how you met Charity?” he asked Sam.

As the attorney went over his relationship with Charity, Lauren listened quietly, letting Charlie ask most of the questions. He was a skilled interrogator, smoothly leading the conversation to the questions she wanted answered. After most of the questions about Charity’s past had been addressed, she spoke up.

“You mentioned that Charity made arrangements for her funeral. Wasn’t that unusual, especially for someone as young as she was?”

Davis hesitated before answering. “Something you need to understand about Charity. She was paranoid. Not the kind of paranoid that builds conspiracy theories around tin foil,” he said, seeing their expressions. “But ever since I first met her, she was very security conscious. Her lifestyle was high-risk, and she knew that. I’ve wondered if she didn’t have some sort of premonition about how things would end, given the precautions she took. To answer your question, though, it was very unusual for someone her age, especially since she didn’t have children.”

“How did she want things handled?” Charlie asked.

“She wanted to be an organ donor if that was possible, and then she wanted to be cremated. She didn’t want any funeral service, wake, or anything of the like. Charity was very specific. She hated funerals,” he told them. “She’d had a bad experience when she was young, apparently, and it scarred her. Just one of a long line of bad experiences, as it turned out,” he said, his face sad.

“That’s right,” Lauren told them, remembering. “When Margie was about six or seven, her paternal grandfather died, and from what she told me, the funeral was a circus. Her grandmother had a fit of some kind, screaming and wailing, and had to be taken to the hospital. Other people in the family got into a big fight over the whole situation. Someone got shoved into the casket and everything. It was pretty ugly, from what I remember.” She stopped. “It feels so strange, talking about Margie and talking about Charity. It’s really like they were two people, even though they weren’t.”

Charlie disagreed. “I don’t know. It sounds to me as though she was a different person, at least in her own mind. Maybe she couldn’t handle being Margie any more, so she created Charity. Does that make sense?”

“It makes perfect sense to me,” Davis said. “When she talked about her life here all those years ago, she distanced herself from it. She’d refer to herself as ‘that girl,’ that sort of thing.”

“It does make sense, I suppose.” Lauren looked at Davis. “What about her ashes? How did she want them handled?”

“She wanted her ashes scattered at a specific location, which I have a question about. She wanted them spread over a small lake out in Jefferson County, Indiana, and a letter delivered to the owner. When I asked her about it, all she would tell me was that it was a debt she owed.”

Lauren rubbed her arms as gooseflesh covered them. “Would that be Travis Tyler, by any chance?”

He nodded. “It is, indeed. Can you explain the lake’s significance?”

“Like I said, it’s a little complicated. Margie and Travis dated when she was seventeen. They used to meet at his parents’ lake house. Things didn’t end well for them, and they had a big fight right before she disappeared. He’s had a guilty conscience ever since. There’s more, but I don’t feel I should be sharing other people’s secrets.” She shifted in her seat, a little uncomfortable.

“Oh, my,” Davis said. “Do you think he’ll be amenable to having her ashes scattered there? If they had that kind of history, he might object.”

Lauren shook her head. “No, I don’t think there will be a problem. I met with him yesterday to tell him about her, and he was pretty upset. Without going into details, I can tell you that he did care for her, and that he had a pretty bad shock when he found out she had been killed.” She let out a breath. “I just hope her letter is what I think it is, for his sake.” Charlie’s stiffness told her more than words that he was not happy about her being close to the other man, but there was nothing she could do about it right now.

Moving on, the attorney shifted papers in his lap. “We need to go over Charity’s will, as you’re one of her heirs.”

“I’m what?”

He smiled. “Charity left you a significant amount in her will.” When he told her the number, Lauren stared at him in shock.

“How much?” When he told her again, she shook her head. “I—I can’t… dear God.” Swallowing, she put a hand on her chest. “I don’t feel so well,” she told the men, her voice faint.

“Nausea or lightheaded?” Charlie asked.

“Both,” she answered.

“Okay. Put your head down, that’s a girl, and take slow, deep breaths.” Rubbing her back in a soothing circular motion, he asked Davis for some ice water. As the man hurried to get it, Charlie leaned over and spoke to her gently. “You okay? Starting to feel better?”

After a couple of seconds, she nodded. When Davis came back with the ice water, Charlie thanked him and set it down on the table. He helped her sit up and handed her the glass, steadying her when the glass shook.

Davis’s concern was evident. “Are you okay, Ms. Grant?”

“I think so. I just need a minute, and I’ll be okay. It’s a lot to take in.”

He sympathized. “It is a tremendous lot to take in, and if Charity were here right now, I’d bust her chops. I don’t think she ever meant to shock you this much, but she wouldn’t listen to me when I told her that it would.”

“How did the rest of her family take it?” Charlie asked him.

“Surprisingly well, at least her brothers. Her sisters? They were angry. They called their portions of her estate blood money. But I really believe once they’ve had a chance to think about things, and once Jacob and his wife have had a chance to calm them down, they’ll accept it,” he said.

“Good,” Lauren said. “Something good should come out of this.”

“Just for the record, though, what she had wasn’t blood money. Charity worked hard to achieve what she did, and while Mason Smythe gave her a big head start, the money wasn’t tainted. She never was anything more to him than a friend and surrogate daughter,” he told them.