Always and Forever (39 page)

"I can't lie. I'm relieved you figured it out. I was growing rather tired of the whole thing."

Up close, the marked aging of the woman was frightening. Constance seemed to know what Quinn was thinking when she offered, "I'm only 33."

"Jesus," Gabriel hissed and Quinn silently agreed. The woman sitting before them looked to be at least in her 70s.

"I didn't know about the side effect, none of us did, and it was such a rush that we didn't think of the consequences until it was too late."

"You found the necklace at the Mayan temple?" Quinn asked.

Constance hesitated then answered, "Yes, I knew immediately what I had found, recognized the markings from my dissertation on a theory related to them." Constance stood and walked over to the one side of the room before turning back to them, her face lit with wonder.

"We're talking about time travel. The concept is so far out there, teased about in movies and books, but to actually hold the secret to it in your hands. It was overwhelming as you can imagine. I should have known better, should have known the impact on the future by going back into the past, but the chance to do what no one ever had, it was just too tempting. I think I knew, after the first walk, that the cost of walking through time was very high but I was addicted."

Quinn scrutinized Constance, who moved to join them at the table, before she asked, "You were the one leaving the treasures for Derek, weren't you?"

A self-deprecating grin lit up her face. "I thought if I was going to prematurely age then I might as well see as much as I could, see all the time periods that fascinated me in my studies. The stealing was an after thought, I did it for Derek since he really is a very mediocre archaeologist."

"It was you who jumped to the 18th century?" Gabriel asked.

Again the hesitation. "Yes, Derek and I attended a party where an announcement was made that the Scarcliff treasure was going to be unveiled at some gala event. Derek has always been greedy and he's always lived in your shadow, Quinn, so when the opportunity of traveling through time presented itself, Derek wanted to go back and get the treasure, wanted to come out on top for once. He's greedy but he's also a coward. So although he wanted the treasure, he was too afraid to go back for it. So I volunteered. I wasn't sure where to look so I went to the beginning, to Bryon Scarcliff's time, and man was he a piece of work! I needed access to his house to search it so I got myself employment within his household staff but it didn't take me very long to realize that there was nothing there, that whatever the treasure was I was too early for it. Later, I realized that the treasure was related to Archer and Morgan."

"Were you there when Morgan was killed?"

She looked down at her tea for a moment before she answered. "I was. I never knew what happened to her but I know she met with foul play."

It was Gabriel who asked, "Do you have any idea why the father made the son believe he was married to another after Morgan's death?"

She looked almost guilty in response to that question which had the pieces falling into place for Quinn. "You were Connie Daniels."

"Yes. That was my employment, his nurse."

"And you pretended to be Archer's wife. why?" Quinn asked.

"Bryon insisted and, frankly, I was scared of him especially after that woman started coming around. It was why I was so damn angry all the time, why everyone thought I was such a cold bitch. I didn't like the part I was being forced to play. I feared if I let onto Archer what was really happening that Bryon would retaliate. I couldn't keep up the charade and eventually, I jumped back into the future."

"What woman?" Gabriel asked.

Constance couldn't look at them when she answered. "I was careful to avoid her. She was interested in Bryon but I didn't stick around long enough to learn what for."

She sat back and her expression was very sincere when she offered, "I always felt wretched about being a part of the conspiracy especially since Archer was such a good man and he loved his wife so much and never got a chance to mourn her. It wasn't right."

"Any idea who killed her?" Quinn asked.

"No, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was Archer's own father. Bryon hated both of them, Archer and Morgan. He was a very ill man but it was his hatred that kept him alive."

"And the Danvers?"

"You're an archaeologist; would you have resisted the temptation to learn firsthand about possible ancestors?" Constance challenged.

"No, I wouldn't have but you shared what you learned with Derek, didn't you?"

"He needed a cover and I knew of one. I'm not proud of that, Quinn, of deceiving people but that was all I thought it was, deception, not murder."

That sent a chill through Quinn and Gabriel must have seen her fear because he reached for her hand and pulled her from her seat.

"Thank you for sharing, Constance," Gabriel said as he put his arm around Quinn's shoulders and started walking to the door.

Constance held the door open for them and whispered, "Be careful, both of you."

They walked a distance from the shop before Gabriel broke the silence, "She isn't telling us everything."

Quinn didn't miss a beat when she replied, "No, she's not."

Later they were sitting in Nick's solar with Cole as Gabriel relayed what they had learned from Constance. Nick stood and walked toward the bar.

"Are you saying you think Bryon Scarcliff killed Morgan and then…what? Jumped into the future and killed Quinn? Morgan, if the bastard killed her, I can see that, but what's the motive for Quinn?"

Gabriel exhaled as he stood and walked to the fire to stare into the flames. "I've no idea."

Cole spoke up from his spot next to Quinn. "Not to mention how did Bryon learn about jumping through time? Only Derek or Constance could have told him."

"Yeah, and when Derek arrived in the past Bryon was already believed to be dead. I think we need to find out what exactly happened to Bryon Scarcliff. Did he die or was his death faked like Constance's?" Quinn added.

"And who helped them fake their deaths?" Nick asked before he turned to Quinn. "We're going to need Charles."

She reached for her phone. "I'll call him."

The records office, that supported Whispering Winds and the two villages near it in Gloucestershire, was right next to Jack O'Shea's pub. The place was small, damp and so full of unorganized pile of papers, that Nick was convinced it was going to take them years to find what they were looking for.

"Death records are stored here, really?" Nick asked as he ran his finger along the table where a quarter inch of dust had settled.

"Everything is. Land grants, birth records, divorce settlements, all of it is here. These are property lines disputes," Charles said as he put the lid back on the box and moved to another. Quinn was in the corner with Gabriel and while she was looking through marriage records he was brushing his lips over her neck, licking the skin behind her ear.

"Would you stop that? I can't focus when you're feasting on me," she muttered under her breath which caused Gabriel to chuckle.

"But I like feasting on you."

She turned to look at him which was a mistake because she was blushing and he, of course, noticed causing his one eyebrow to rise ever so slightly. "Oh, Quinn, love, please don't do that." He wrapped his arms around her waist and lowered his head to her ear. "Your body covered in that blush is gorgeous."

"Please stop my legs are getting weak."

"Later, my beauty, I'm going to make you blush in earnest."

She lifted up onto her tip toes and brushed her lips over his. "Later, I'm going to let you."

He growled before his mouth covered hers in a kiss that was more a promise. When he pulled away, they were both a bit breathless.

"I've got something," Cole said and Quinn and Gabriel immediately stopped their banter.

"I didn't find Bryon's records. However, there was only one doctor in the area so he was more than likely the one who tended, Morgan, Connie and Bryon."

"Well, we know he wrote up Morgan's death as dying in childbirth and created a death certificate for Connie even though there obviously wasn't a body, so it's not a stretch to believe that he would have lied about Bryon, if asked."

"Especially considering Bryon was the Earl and his word was the law so if he had asked, the doctor would have done as requested." Nick offered.

"So in theory, Bryon kills Morgan and then asks the doctor to fudge the death certificate. Then he has the records sealed to keep his secret from Archer while making his son believe a lie to cover his ass. Sick, but obviously doable. But what's the link to Quinn in the future? You said that Constance mentioned that Bryon really was ill so how likely is it that he'd travel through time to kill Quinn, again, and what would be his motive? Gabriel isn't a Scarcliff," Cole worked on the scenario out loud.

Gabriel's head snapped up at that. "That's a really good point. Presumably, Bryon did all he did because Archer wasn't living up to the family name but I'm not in that family so there's no motive for Bryon in the future."

"So, we're back at square one. Who had the motive?" Quinn asked.

"Derek?" Nick suggested.

"I thought so, he is linked to both the past and the future, but Quinn and I agree, he's an asshole but we don't think he's a killer," Gabriel theorized.

"Wait! Bryon died, or disappeared, right after Archer recovered from his illness but Constance stayed and continued the charade. Why?" Quinn looked to Gabriel. "She said she was afraid but he was more than likely dead so who was she afraid of?"

"Looks like we need to have another chat with Constance." Gabriel said. "She's probably still across the street, I say we go chat with her now."

"I think we might have better success if Nick goes. He looks so much like Archer it might throw her off and have her spilling more than she will to you," Cole suggested.

Nick started for the door. "I'll go. I'll meet you in the pub."

Later, Quinn sat in the booth watching Gabriel and Cole play darts and the easiness of their relationship was testimony enough to the strength of their friendship. Charles sat across from her and was as quiet as she, so much so that when he spoke it took Quinn by surprise.

"Gabriel is from the future, isn't he?"

It took Quinn a minute to comprehend his question and then she felt terrible because she had completely blown over that part of the story when she filled him in earlier. "I'm sorry, Charles. I didn't tell you that part. Yes, he's from the future." She paused before she added, "And you are not running away screaming."

A half-grin pulled at the one side of his mouth before he said, "After learning about your adventure, seeing what I've seen since I took this case, it's not all that surprising. Unbelievable, but not surprising." He was a silent for a moment before he asked, "Any ideas on what it all means?"

Quinn pulled her attention from Gabriel and Cole and met Charles' inquisitive gaze.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's all completely unrelated. Maybe Morgan's death was a crime of passion by her father-in-law and the cover-up was for his protection. Derek stumbling onto the Scarcliff treasure could just be a coincidence and me, maybe I really did just have remarkably bad timing in the future and was killed by chance."

Charles remained silent which piqued Quinn's interest. "What are you thinking?"

"I don't think it's random and I don't think you do either. I think the link is Gabriel and Archer."

Quinn held Charles' intense stare for a minute before she said on a sigh, "So do I."

Charles leaned over the table. "I think Archer and Gabriel are the targets and Morgan and you were just the means to get to him."

"For what purpose?"

"That I have no idea."

At that moment, Nick entered the pub and Cole and Gabriel rejoined the others at the table.

"First, let me just say, wow, if that woman is only in her 30s remind me never to time travel. She didn't know what happened to Bryon. She was living at Whispering Winds at the time of his death so heard when Archer did that his father was dead. I asked why she didn't just leave after Bryon's death but she said she thought Archer and Nickie were in danger. She did say the doctor, a Dr. Elliot Jenkins, was a real sleazy guy and anything he was accused of wouldn't surprise her."