Deceived 6 - Ultimate Deception (7 page)

Finally, being awake did take its toll and she drifted off to sleep. I watched her for a while and then carefully extricated myself. I got dressed, picked up my phone and headed out to make some calls. One of the few things I liked about being here was the Florida weather. It was still warm enough for me to walk outside to enjoy some sunshine while I phoned Ryan. I knew it was gray and cold still back home, so I intended to at least take advantage of the pleasant temperature.

After I finished all of the business matters with Ryan and let him know that Chloe was feeling better, I had to force myself to stop talking. I clamped my jaw tight. I almost blurted out my suspicions about the wine incident with Nina and her groping hands from last night. But I stopped short before I opened my mouth and said something I’d regret. I had no proof that Nina had actually done anything wrong and I didn’t want to start making wild accusations. Ryan wasn’t a gossip, but if Elyse ended up hearing what I thought had happened, it would make things very awkward between her, Ricky and Chloe. I didn’t want that to happen. So instead of sharing my concerns that seemed much less realistic by the light of day, I told him we were hoping to be home at the end of the next week and then ended the call.

I stopped in the kitchen, intending to make up a snack since Chloe and I had eaten breakfast late and she’d slept through lunch. I was halfway to the pantry when I saw a pitcher of iced tea sitting on the counter and there next to it was the sugar bowl. Nina always made her tea without sugar but Chloe preferred it sweet.

Nina had taken a drink in to my wife.

Panic rose in me. All of my doubts about Nina’s intentions vanished. If there was the slightest possibility that Nina had tried something last night, she could try to hurt Chloe, too. I closed the space between me and the bedroom in a few short strides, forcing myself to at least remain calm enough not to run.

“Patrick.” Nina greeted me with a smile at the threshold of the door.

I clenched my jaw as I brushed past her. “Chloe, don’t drink that!”

Chloe stopped with the glass partway to her mouth. Her eyes were wide as she stared at me. I could feel Nina watching me but didn’t acknowledge her. I crossed to the bed and took the glass from Chloe only to find that it was nearly drained. I knelt on the bed, ignoring her questions as I examined her face. Her eyes were clear and she wasn’t slurring her words.

“Patrick, what’s going on?”

I set the glass down on the table, trying to slow my breathing as I quickly came up with a lie. “I just saw a news story about a recall on some lemons that had been treated with a highly toxic pesticide.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Nina only buys organic, Patrick. No pesticides.”

“Of course.”

If Nina had given Chloe the same thing I’d been given last night, she’d be feeling the effects already. Unless Nina kept various water-soluble drugs with no taste or smell, Chloe’s tea was fine. I turned and glanced out the open bedroom door. Nina was gone. I handed the glass back to Chloe, feeling like an idiot for over-reacting. I couldn’t help myself. I was worried sick about this pregnancy and the fall, being stuck in Florida, everything, especially Nina’s unscrupulous behavior last night. It was all wearing on my nerves and making me jumpy.

I excused myself to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face. If I was wrong about the iced tea, was I also wrong about the wine? Had it just been a weird combination of things? It couldn’t have been food poisoning since Chloe and I had eaten the same things for days now, but it could have been the combination of stress and fatigue with the wine. That would be a more logical explanation for what had happened.

Still, no matter how logical it was, my gut was telling me that something was up with Nina. Now I wondered if maybe I should have told Ryan about my suspicions. I tossed around the idea of calling him back, but the same problems as before remained. If I was wrong, the fallout would be bad. And it wouldn’t just affect Chloe’s relationship with Ricky and Elyse. If I accused Nina of doing something as despicable as drugging me, then kissing me, and I was wrong, Chloe would be pissed.

I raked my hand through my hair. Just thinking about it got me all wound up again. I couldn’t keep it a secret forever. I didn’t want a marriage where I lied to my wife, even if it was about another woman hitting on me. I planned to tell Chloe about it, but after the birth, way after the birth. Even if Nina had drugged me just to make me an easy target for her kisses, I didn’t believe that she truly wanted to hurt Chloe. Why would she? They were friends and the fact that Nina opened her house to us was a sure sign of that. Nina’s intentions, whether she did do it or not, were probably just misguided. Whatever the case, I’d just make sure I kept a closer eye on Nina and not let her and Chloe be alone together.

I closed my eyes and blew out a breath. The end of the week couldn’t come fast enough.

Chapter 8

Patrick

Keeping an eye on Nina was actually easier than I’d first thought it would be. After she’d brought Chloe the iced tea late in the afternoon, she’d come back a few hours later, peeking in to tell us both that she had to fly to Orlando for an emergency business meeting first thing in the morning and wouldn’t be back until Tuesday evening. Chloe had been dozing, so I’d just smiled and told Nina that I hoped she had a good trip.

A wave of relief washed over me as I heard Nina’s heels clicking across the marble floor toward the front door. From the noises coming from the front of the house, I assumed she had called a cab to take her to the airport. When I heard the silence after the click of the front door, I was able to relax a bit more. I went back to sorting through all the emails from Ryan on my laptop, hoping to get a good portion of them answered, when the edge I felt before came back. Although I had no proof, I couldn’t get rid of the nagging feeling that there was more to what was happening than I knew.

Chloe and I had spent the morning making plans for various labor scenarios and were enjoying feeling Victoria squirming around.

I placed a hand on Chloe’s stomach and waited. “There she goes again. That’s my little girl.”

“I think it’s good that she’s so active. Maybe it’ll make the birth easier. I’m kind of scared about how it’s all going to happen. But actually, this makes me feel better about it.”

I smiled in reply. The fact that she was moving so well was starting to put both of our minds at ease regarding the birth itself, and now that we were feeling good about it I didn’t want to rock the boat with my concerns about Nina. I turned my attention back to the unopened emails. There were dozens of them waiting but I didn’t mind because at least they would keep my mind occupied.

Ten answered emails later, I glanced over to see Chloe’s eyes shut. The magazine she had been reading had slipped out of her hand. I closed my laptop and headed to the kitchen to make lunch for us while she dozed. No sooner had my foot crossed the threshold into the tiled floor of the kitchen than my suspicions started to nag at me again.

I began opening cabinet doors, telling myself that I was just looking for something new to eat, but my eyes glanced over the boxes and cans of food, searching for something out of place. I wasn’t sure why I thought Nina would keep drugs in her kitchen, but it was as good a place as any to start. I hadn’t realized that I’d made a conscious decision to do some exploring until I opened the door under the sink to see what kind of household cleaners she had. Everyone knew from the movies that if a person had rat poison in the house this is where they kept it.

A wave of guilt washed over me. What did I think I was doing? Now I was just being ridiculous. Nina had invited us into her home when she didn’t have to, and I had no real proof that she’d done anything other than let some wine go to her head. Here I was, repaying her by snooping.

Before I could get feeling too guilty or move my investigation to another part of the mansion, I heard the doorbell chime. I frowned as I straightened. I didn’t really feel right answering Nina’s door, especially considering how it would look, a man in casual clothes and no shoes at the house when the owner wasn’t there, but when the chime rang again, I started walking. If it was something important, I should get it. I didn’t want to look like an ungracious guest and Nina might wonder why I hadn’t answered. I slowed down my pace to a crawl, my bare feet sticking to the cool marble. I could lie and say I hadn’t heard it or that I was taking care of Chloe, but my wife would know I was lying and that would lead to awkward questions.

Jesus! It rang again and I jumped, as I was right in front of the massive oak doors. I was starting to wonder if I’d be able to take another two weeks here. Maybe I could convince Chloe that we should get a hotel after Victoria was born. I’d use the excuse that the baby’s crying would disturb Nina. Judging by the size of the house, that idea might get laughed at, but I knew I’d have to at least try.

I opened the door and found a bored-looking deliveryman holding a package. He shoved a clipboard in my direction and said, “Sign here.”

“I’m not...”

“Look, man, I don’t care if you’re Elvis. I have a hundred other packages I have to get delivered today. Just sign for it.”

Considering the man’s sniffling, bloodshot eyes and unshaven appearance, I doubted it was deliveries on his mind, but I scribbled my name on the line and accepted the box. After I closed the door, I headed back to the kitchen. I didn’t know where Nina usually put her mail, but since I’d seen her spend time in the kitchen, I figured that was the best place to leave the package where she’d get it.

I set it down, already thinking about whether or not I should just make lunch and go back to Chloe, or if I should at least take a look in the medicine cabinets of the downstairs bathrooms and see what I could find. Just as I turned to leave, something familiar caught my eyes. I turned back to take a better look at the return address on the package. My heart stopped when I read it.

Anna Von Lamberg.

I put my hand on the counter to steady myself as I shook my head. I squeezed my eyes closed. What the fuck? Was I seeing things? I was convinced Nina was screwing with us, so my mind had naturally conjured up the name of the woman who’d nearly torn Chloe and I apart. That’s all it was. The person who’d sent the package was probably named Ann or Annie, even Anna, but I prayed that when I looked again, the last name would be something like Lambert.

I opened my eyes and forced myself to look at the return address one more time, slowly, reading across the name carefully, just to prove to myself that I’d been wrong the first time.

I wasn’t.

“Fuck.”

I ran my hand through my hair. What the hell was Nina doing getting mail from the Baroness? Had Anna somehow managed to get ahold of my client list and was sending things to all of our clients just to mess with us? I dismissed that idea. Why would she send a package? A letter would be enough for her to rage about us.

I opened a drawer and pulled out a knife. I looked at the box, contemplating the wisdom of what I was about to do. Technically, opening someone else’s mail was illegal. Not to mention that Nina would undoubtedly be pissed when she found out. But, I reasoned, if she was in contact with Anna, things had changed. My previous suspicions suddenly had more weight and I had every right to know if my life and the lives of my wife and daughter were in danger.

My heart rate picked up as I slashed through the tape and opened the box.

The first thing I saw was enough for me to sink onto one of the barstools next to the counter. I took out the newspaper clippings first and looked at each one. I didn’t have to read the articles to know what they said. The headlines were enough to tell me that each one was about the Baroness’s trial. After the clippings came print-outs of online articles, these with pictures. Some were of the Baroness while others were of me and Chloe. I even saw Ryan in one or two. Knowing that my sweet Chloe was under the watchful eye of that bitch made my stomach turn. My first instinct was to rush into Chloe’s room and get her out of this house now. No excuses, no questions, just get the hell out of here, but there was more in the box and I knew I had to look.

Under the articles were file folders. A note had been attached to the top file.

Nina, take these files to Louis.

It was a short message, but I didn’t really need much more of an explanation. There it was. Nina was involved after all. Louis could only be Louis Nettle, the defense attorney who’d tried to get Anna’s sentence reduced after he’d failed to win his case. Whatever was in those files probably had something to do with the appeal I knew Louis was working on. The prosecutor had told Chloe and I not to worry about it and I hadn’t given it a second thought until now.

I opened the files and flipped through them. They were financials and I supposed the Baroness was thinking that she could use them to prove some sort of wrongdoing on my and Chloe’s part, but I’d had a professional accounting firm go over the books with a fine-toothed comb to see if there was anything even remotely suspicious-looking, so I knew she didn’t have a leg to stand on. I hadn’t needed to hand over their findings, but I knew if Anna tried to use these files, it would be easy to disprove whatever claims she thought she had. Those were the least of my concerns at the moment.

I stilled my raging anger as I put the files back and then returned the articles and clippings to their place on top of them. I was seething. All I wanted to do was throw this box of shit at the wall and take a sledgehammer to the rest of this mansion, but instead I simply closed the box and sat for a minute, trying to decide what to do next. The fact that Anna had sent things to Nina to be delivered to her defense attorney said that this was personal. They knew each other. Fucking son of a bitch, these two knew each other, which meant that Nina had known who Chloe and I were right from the very start. But how? What was their connection? I needed to know that before I made any decisions about where to go from here. Maybe Nina supported one of those charities that took on cases for people who claimed they were innocent. I snorted a bitter laugh as I stood. And maybe this entire thing was just a giant mistake and the Baroness had meant to send this box to some other woman named Nina.