Holdin' On for a Hero (102 page)

“The events of the fateful night are not entirely clear, but this much I have pieced together over the years.

“Helen gave orders for an elaborate meal to be prepared. Aside from Osgood and Louise, the rest of the staff were given the night off. Even Maxwell’s nurse, which was unprecedented.

“Helen and Lucien dined alone, a romantic candlelight dinner, with copious amounts of wine. She dismissed Osgood and Louise immediately after dinner with strict orders that she and Lucien were not to be disturbed.

“Beyond that, all that is sure is that Richard returned home unexpectedly, and shortly thereafter, Mark Robinson was summoned to the estate. Within minutes of his arrival, the authorities were notified. According to the testimony given by my son and his wife, Lucien, a man unknown to either of them, managed to breach security, break into the estate, happened upon Helen whom he beat and raped. Richard returned as the rape was in progress, a fight ensued between he and the rapist and Lucien was killed in the fight.

Nikki’s posture had shifted during the telling of the tale to one of rigid attention. When Simon fell silent, she looked at him in amazement.

“But how could the police have bought the story? Osgood and Louise and I assume the rest of the staff knew that Lucien was a guest. Surely they told the police!”

Simon shook his head. “As far as the authorities were concerned, Lucien was a criminal, not an invited guest.”

“You mean they lied?”

“I believe it more correct to say they did as they were ordered.”

She looked from him to Gaspar, who nodded in affirmation. Falling back in the chair, she thought about Simon’s story. It didn’t add up.

“Okay, maybe your son or Helen ordered everyone to keep their mouths shut, but you and I both know that human nature isn’t so easily controlled. People love to gossip. Surely someone would have talked. Maybe not to the police, but there had to have been rumors that came up.”

“Yes, you’re quite right. Upon my return, I discovered the deception. Immediately I spoke with everyone on the staff. Osgood, being closer to me than my son, told me what he knew, trusting me to protect him should the need arise. Two others of the staff, a young woman employed as Helen’s maid, and one of the grounds men also told what they knew. Unfortunately, they told it not to me, but to Richard. Essentially, they tried to blackmail him.”

“Tried being the operative word, I take it.”

“Indeed. Their bodies were found in the burned remains of a terrible automobile accident two days later.”

“You mean Richard had them killed?”

Simon didn’t answer. Nikki looked at Gaspar. “And that’s why you said my life was in danger?”

Gaspar nodded and she turned to Simon. “So, in other words, your son is really nothing more than a cold-blooded murderer.”

“In a manner of speaking. But what is more, I later discovered the truth Lucien had found. Richard, my only son, was the enemy.”

“Well, why didn’t you have him arrested or something?”

“There was no evidence. Bear in mind that by this time, Richard had forged many strong alliances with many powerful people. Trying to bring him to justice through the legal system would have been fruitless. Instead I sought recompense in another way.”

“Which was?”

Simon rolled his chair over to the low-bar and poured himself a brandy. “I will answer that, but first there is more to my story.”

“The night of Lucien’s murder, Maxwell was here on the estate, having been returned home from Iraq and suffering from post traumatic stress disorder over an event that occurred in Baghdad. As I have told you, his nurse was given the night off. Actually forced into it. According to Helen, Maxwell was asleep in his room throughout the entire ordeal. According to Osgood, he was not.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that before the police arrived, Louise went upstairs and saw Helen in Maxwell’s room, talking to him as he lay in bed.”

“Well, that doesn’t really prove anything. Maybe she just went up to check on him.”

Simon’s laugh was bitter. “Then it would be the first time she had ever done such a thing. No, I don’t think her presence in Maxwell’s room was out of maternal concern. I suspect she was checking to see if he’d heard anything. When the authorities arrived, Maxwell was not only soundly asleep, but could not be roused the next day by the nurse.”

“Well, people sometimes sleep very soundly.”

Simon shook his head. “The murder occurred around midnight. Maxwell went to bed precisely at ten o’clock. At eight a.m. the next morning the nurse couldn’t wake him. Alarmed, she summoned Louise, who in turn called for Osgood. Nothing they could do would wake him. Frantic that something was terribly wrong, they notified Richard.”

“And?”

Simon took a sip of brandy before answering. “And nothing. Richard ordered the nurse to keep an eye out and to notify him when Maxwell woke. She was to allow no one else to speak with Maxwell aside from Richard or Helen. The woman did as ordered and remained my Maxwell’s bedside until he woke, seventy-two hours later.”

“Seventy-two hours?” Nikki was starting to think Simon’s mind was less clear than she had originally thought. “You’re telling me that Max slept for three days without waking up?”

“Yes. And has not spoken one word since the moment he woke.”

Nikki was thunderstruck. “You mean…my god, what happened?”

“That we do not know. Over the years I’ve questioned Maxwell many times, but his memories begin with waking after that long sleep, unable to speak.”

“So he doesn’t remember anything that happened that night?”

“There is a gap in his memory.”

For a long time no one spoke. Nikki’s mind swirled with the new knowledge she had been handed. The problem was, she didn’t know if the tales of Lucien’s death and Max’s loss of speech were really connected. According to Simon’s facts, Maxwell was in his room during the murder. So what did the two events have in common? What was missing?

“The artifact!”

Gaspar jerked slightly at her abrupt exclamation. Simon merely regarded her with a somewhat curious expression.

“You said Lucien came here to bring you the artifact. Do you think that maybe Richard found it?”

Simon shook his head. “No. Initially I suspected that might be the case, but later I knew that could not be, for you see, Richard still seeks it.”

“Well, maybe Lucien didn’t bring it with him.”

“No, he told me quite specifically that he had it with him.”

“Then it has to be here, somewhere.”

“So it would seem. But the estate has been searched thoroughly, both by myself, Osgood, Richard and his associate, Mark Robinson, and has not been found.”

“Well it couldn’t have just vanished. Did anyone come to see Lucien here before he died? Did he strike up a friendship with one of the staff maybe?”

“I considered that but the answer is no. According to what I was told, aside from the dinner that Helen invited him to join her in, Lucien had contact with only one other person.”

Nikki waited for him to continue. After a few moments she looked to Gaspar. He regarded her without expression. Confused, she turned again to Simon who was watching her like a teacher who is waiting for a reply from a student.

She considered the facts as she knew them and came to the only possible answer that existed based on the evidence.

“Max?”

Simon nodded.

“That’s it!!” All at once it made sense. “Richard knew that Lucien was a member of your group. Apparently Lucien thought Richard was on to him because you said something happened that he narrowly escaped from before he came here. That’s why Richard returned unexpectedly—to beat you home and get whatever it was Lucien had. Only when he arrived…”

She trailed off, closing her eyes and trying to connect the pieces together to make sense.

“Was Helen actually raped? I mean was there evidence of intercourse?”

“Yes.”

“And it was Lucien?”

Simon nodded.

“Okay.” She thought about it. “So Helen was cheating on Richard with Mark, but had a fight with Mark. Then Lucien shows up and she has this dinner with him and—” She looked up excitedly at Simon. “And maybe she tried to seduce Lucien, or at least was flirting with him. After all, she was on the outs with her lover, and probably all keyed up and wanting to make Mark pay, so how better than to get another man interested? Only Richard showed up unexpectedly and caught them and…no, that’s crazy. If he had caught them, he’d just have divorced Helen and gotten rid of her.”

“Not necessarily,” Simon said. “Remember who and what you’re dealing with. When vast sums of money are involved, it is inevitable that mountains of legal papers accumulate, spelling out each and every detail of every relationship. That holds true for personal relationships as well as business. If Richard had tried to divorce Helen at the time, he would have lost half of everything he owned. Probably more because she would have made it her life’s mission to destroy him.”

Nikki shook her head. “Sorry, but I don’t know much about that world and it just doesn’t make sense to me. Besides, even if they did fake the rape and all that, it still doesn’t explain what happened to the artifact and why Maxwell lost the ability to speak. Even if Lucien hid the artifact in Max’s room or something like that, it would have turned up. There’s something missing, some piece of the puzzle that makes it all add up.”

“Exactly.” Simon held up his glass in a toast to her. “And precisely why you’re here.”

She looked at him in astonishment. “Why I’m here? Well, excuse me, but I think you’re barking up the wrong tree. If all of you haven’t figured it out in all these years, what do you think I’m going to be able to do?”

“Discover the missing truth.”

“And just how do you propose I do that? You said yourself that you’ve been over every inch of this place and can’t find it. And you said that you know Richard doesn’t have it. And even if Lucien did for some mysterious reason tell Max about it—which is, by the way, preposterous—Max’s memories begin after Lucien’s death, so that’s no help. I mean, excuse me, but where exactly do you think I’m going to find anything that’ll lead me to the missing element in this convoluted mess?

Simon arched one eyebrow at her. “From chaos comes order. From the void comes all things.”

“Oh great, get Taoist on me. That’s a big help.”

Placing his empty glass on a table beside him, Simon reached for Nikki’s hand. “My dear, you’ve already chosen the path. Now what remains to be seen is whether the clues that are to be had will be recognized.”

Nikki thought about his words. She’d chosen no path of discovery. Well, at least not in terms of this artifact he and Gaspar were seeking. Somehow, along the way, that quest had seemed to diminish in importance, to be replaced by another more important pursuit. Unraveling of the mystery of Max.

Abruptly she looked at Simon. “I won’t use Max to further your quest. If that’s your idea, then forget it.”

“I would not ask such a thing, my dear. In fact, that is the very reason you’re the first person I’ve ever confided in regarding any of this. You see, I don’t want my grandson to be exploited in any manner that might be detrimental to him. On the contrary, what I seek is your assistance in helping Maxwell discover the truth within himself and thereby gaining what he wants so desperately.”

Nikki could not help but hear the ring of sincerity in Simon’s voice. “And what might that be?”

“Two things, actually. One, his voice. A chance to communicate his thoughts and feelings with others. To escape this prison he has been captive of for all these years. You see only the surface of his prison, my dear. The bars run far beneath the surface. Have you not wondered why his parents, among the wealthiest people in the world, would not move heaven and earth to help him function in the world, live a productive life?”

“Well, yes. I just assumed that everything had been tried.”

“Hardly. Consider the brilliant minds in this world today who are bound within bodies that do not function as normal. And yet these people make marvelous contributions to the worlds of science and medicine.”

“Well then why didn’t Max get help from them? Or from you?”

“Every tutor and specialist I’ve hired over the years has been summarily dismissed.”

“Are you saying that his parents don’t want him to be able to communicate? That’s … that’s unbelievable, Simon. Who could be that cruel?”

“Man is capable of great cruelty my dear when there is great wealth at stake.”

She shook her head, unable to comprehend treating someone that way, then looked at him with raised eyebrows. “That’s only one. You said two.”

“Indeed I did. The second is something you also seek, my dear, which is why you were chosen.”

“Oh, and you know what I seek?”

“Oh yes.” Simon’s expression softened. “You and my grandson are kindred spirits in that respect. You both seek something or someone in which you can trust completely, something you can believe in without reservation or doubt. In short, you both seek love.”

Astonishment could not begin to describe Nikki’s feelings. How was it possible that Simon Weston could know her most intimate hopes and dreams? And how was she supposed to reply to such a statement?