Secrets (6 page)

Cassie had thought about going to a movie at the beautiful New Town cinema, but her head was racing so fast that instead she stayed in and baked six batches of cookies. She knew that Jeff loved her sesame seed and apricot bars, so she made a double batch of them. As she baked, a plan was forming in her head. If Althea knew so much about people, maybe she knew of a way to break up Skylar and Jeff. It was a low-down, devious plan, but Cassie couldn't stand by and see Elsbeth have to put up with a mother like Skylar.

Maybe if Cassie could get into Althea's good graces, she could find out more about Skylar's past. Maybe she could find out something she could tell Jeff that would change his mind about the woman he thought he was in love with.

And at the very least, if she did accept a job from Althea, just as she said, Cassie would be right next door.

Smiling, she took a sheet of cookies out of the oven and put another one in.

B
Y SIX THAT EVENING,
Cassie had piles of cookies made, but no one to eat them. Thomas, Jeff, and Elsbeth still hadn't returned from the boat, and she didn't like to think what was going on. Maybe Thomas had taken Elsbeth so Jeff and Skylar could have a romantic dinner. But what about Dana's husband? It was his boat. As to that, why had the man bought a big boat if his wife wasn't, as Dana said, “good” on boats? Cassie smiled at the image of perfect Dana heaving over the side. Maybe her husband had bought a boat to get away from his wife.

Cassie took a basket from the pile of them she had stored in the pantry, tied a ribbon around the handle, put a good linen napkin in the bottom, and filled it with cookies. She would take them over to Althea's house as a thank-you gift for the tea she'd served them.

She told herself she wasn't sneaking, but she avoided the path to the beach. She'd seen the way the windows in the house showed any movement on that path. Instead, she made her way through the trees to the side of the Fairmont house.

As she quietly walked toward the house, she thought how oddly secured it was. It almost looked like a fortress. It had a tall iron fence across the front, with a big iron gate that was opened by a security code box. The residents of Hamilton Hundred saw this from their side of the street and assumed the fence went all around the property. But it didn't. It ended about two-thirds of the way down to the water, leaving the end of Althea's property free for walking—and trespassing.

Cassie slipped around the end of the fence and walked into the garden, staying hidden under the trees and between the plants.

Most of the house was dark and she heard nothing. Her soft-soled shoes made no noise on the slate as she went to the door of the room where she and Dana had had tea.

The curtains were still drawn, but she could see light in the room, and she could hear voices. For a moment she stopped, telling herself that she was spying on a woman who had been very nice to her. She should go back the way she'd come and never bother Miss Fairmont again.

But even as she thought it, she couldn't help looking at a gap in the curtains. She could see part of the room through the space. It was as pretty as she remembered, and for a moment she thought about asking Althea who had been her decorator. Maybe she could redo their living room. If Jeff would let her touch it, that is. If Jeff didn't marry Skylar, that is. If Jeff—

Cassie stopped thinking because into her view came Roger Craig, Dana's lawyer-husband. He had a drink in his hand, and he was laughing.

Cassie stepped forward, moving closer to the glass. On the couch she could see two people. One was Althea with her perfectly coiffed head and the other looked to be her gardener-cum-bodyguard, the beautiful Brent Goodwin. The three of them were drinking cocktails and laughing.

When Roger turned his head, Cassie quickly moved to the side. She hoped he hadn't seen her.

She wasted no time as she ran across the terrace, down the steps, then ran back toward Jeff's house. She didn't look back, so she didn't know if anyone had opened the door or not.

Roger! she thought as she ran all the way back as fast as she could. Perfect Dana's perfect husband was the neighborhood spy. What's more, he'd ratted his own wife out, telling an outsider that his wife desperately wanted little Elsbeth Ames for her own. Why? Because Dana was infertile? Had the rat fink told Althea that too?

When Cassie reached Jeff's house, she ran in through the back, into the mudroom, closed the door, then leaned against it to catch her breath. She could hear voices in the breakfast room. They were back. But then, she knew that, didn't she? Ratty Roger must have run straight from the boat to report to Althea about what he'd heard that day. Every secret he'd gleaned from Jeff, Thomas, Elsbeth, and Skylar would be told to Althea Fairmont.

And what would she do with those secrets? Cassie wondered. The woman kept to herself. She didn't see anyone at Hamilton Hundred other than Roger. Her meeting with Cassie and Dana had been an accident. So what harm did it do that Roger Craig was blabbing everything to her? Maybe she was his client and maybe the way he got to handle her multimillions was to entertain her with the happenings about Hamilton Hundred.

“I thought I heard someone,” Jeff said, looking at her from the doorway. “Why are you standing in the dark?” He flipped on the light switch, then stared at her. “Are you all right? You look out of breath.”

“Jogging,” she said, not meeting his eyes. “I've decided to take it up. I need to lose about twenty pounds.”

He smiled. “You don't need to lose an ounce, and since when does a person go jogging while carrying a basket of cookies?”

“Since Little Red Riding Hood ran through the forest.”

Jeff chuckled. “In that case, I think you should look out for the Big Bad Wolf.” He took the basket from her hand and put it on the counter. “The house smells great, but I thought you were going to take the day off and have some fun.”

“I did have fun. I like to bake.” She still wasn't looking at him.

“Hey,” he said softly, taking a step toward her. “What's going on? You look upset. Are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” she said, taking a deep breath and straightening her shoulders. “Have you guys had dinner?”

“Nope. We decided to eat with you, so we bought about twenty different Chinese dishes. Dad couldn't make up his mind so we got everything. Come and eat with us.”

“Sure,” she said. “Just let me change first.”

Jeff caught her wrist. “Cassie, you can tell me if something's bothering you.”

“Nothing,” she said. “I'm just not used to running, that's all. You guys start without me. I may take a quick shower.”

Jeff was frowning slightly and watching her. “We'll wait. Hurry and join us.”

“I'm sure Skylar—”

“She's not here,” he said quickly. “And she won't be here tonight. I sent her off with Roger. They're old friends, and since I came into the picture, they don't get to see each other enough.”

“Right,” Cassie said. “Roger and Skylar. And Roger's boat.”

Jeff frowned deeper, but before he could say anything else, Cassie ran up the stairs to her room. By the time she took a shower and pulled on clean clothes, she was calmer. What did it matter if someone told a famous star the gossip of a small, gated community? Didn't they all sit around the pool and watch the kids swim while they told everything they knew about everyone else? Gossip was as common as SUVs in the community.

But everything she knew and had been told had been harmless. No one was talking about Dana's desire for a child, which was so strong that she'd spent years maneuvering a neighbor's life so she could have his child. But Dana's husband had told that to a stranger. And the stranger had thrown that knowledge in Dana's face.

When Cassie went downstairs, Jeff, Elsbeth, and Thomas were sitting at the table, waiting for her. Elsbeth and Thomas made a great show of digging in just as Cassie appeared. She got extra napkins from the kitchen, and when she returned, Jeff was looking at her intently.

She smiled at him. “So tell me about every second of the day,” she said as she heaped her plate full of Chinese food. Immediately, Elsbeth started talking so fast that her grandfather could hardly get a word in.

“Did Mr. Craig have a good time?” Cassie asked after ten minutes of Elsbeth's chattering about the boat and the water and every shell she'd seen.

“He caught two fish,” Elsbeth said. “And he cleaned them himself. But he had to clean Skylar's fish for her. She's a silly chicken and afraid of everything.”

Cassie waited for Jeff to defend his girlfriend, but he said nothing. In fact, he'd been silent since they sat down.

“But Mr. Craig wasn't afraid?” Cassie asked. “He's good on a boat? No seasickness?”

Thomas looked at her. “What's all this concern for Roger?”

“I saw his wife on the beach today and she wasn't very happy. She didn't say so, but I think it hurt her that her husband went without her.”

Jeff frowned. “But Dana throws up if she so much as steps onto a boat. I've seen it. Roger's done everything to get her to go, but she refuses.”

“Isn't it interesting that a man would buy a boat when he knows that his wife can't get on it? Sure does allow him lots of private time, doesn't it?”

“Are you implying that Roger is doing something he shouldn't? Like having an affair?” Jeff asked, incredulous.

“What's an affair?” Elsbeth asked.

“It's something that your father has no idea how to conduct,” Thomas said. “Ellie, darling, how about if you and I go brush our teeth and get into our jammies?”

“So Daddy and Cassie can talk in private?” Elsbeth whispered loudly.

“Exactly.” Thomas took Elsbeth's hand and led her out of the room.

Cassie stood up and began clearing the table.

“You want to tell me what's made you so sulky?” Jeff asked as he closed the tops of the food containers.

“I am not sulky.”

“Right, and I don't want a Maserati for my birthday. Okay, so you saw Dana today. I thought you didn't like her.”

“What gave you that idea?” Cassie snapped.

“I don't know. Maybe it's the way you can't say her name without sneering. Or maybe it's the way you get upset whenever I suggest that you take Elsbeth to visit her. Dana has been a good friend to me. After Lillian—”

“I know,” Cassie said. “Dana was a saint. She took over your daughter as though she were her very own. And I'll bet
she
was the one who hired all your bad nannies.”

Jeff gave a crooked smile. “Yeah, she did.”

Cassie glared at him. “You
knew
what she was doing, didn't you? You knew it but you let her hire one awful woman after another to look after your precious daughter.”

“You make it sound criminal. Yes, I knew that Dana wanted Elsbeth to stay with her. She even told me so. Or at least she said she'd take care of my daughter until I…” He turned away and looked out the windows of the breakfast room. It was dark outside, and the windows had no curtains. When he turned back, his face was calmer.

“Cassie, it may seem that I don't know what's going on, but I do. Roger and I have talked. I know that Dana is sick with worry that she'll never have her own baby, but they've both had thorough medical exams and nothing is wrong. The doctor thinks her fear is most, if not all, of the problem.”

He took a breath. “After Lillian died I couldn't think about anything. It was a year before I could function. I would have left Elsbeth with Dana full-time, but Roger asked me not to. He thought that when I did take my daughter back it would destroy Dana.” Jeff smiled. “But Dana had her own way of getting what she wanted. Yes, she hired those rotten nannies, and until you asked for the job, I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't want to hurt Dana's feelings by telling her that I'd hire my own nanny, but I was getting sick of dealing with those lazy girls she chose.”

Cassie was behind the kitchen counter, looking at him. She wanted to tell him about Roger and Althea, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

“As for Roger and his boat,” Jeff said, “I got the idea that Dana loves getting rid of him for a day or two. Roger is pretty hyper, and I think Dana likes the peace and quiet.”

“Peace and quiet won't get her pregnant,” Cassie muttered, then caught herself. She looked up at Jeff and saw that he was holding in his laughter. “I mean—”

“I know what you meant. I know how babies are made.”

Cassie wanted to laugh in a sophisticated way, but instead her face turned red.

“Are you over whatever was eating you?” he asked. “If you're mad at Roger about something, I don't think you should take it out on us.”

“You're right,” she said, smiling. “Would you like some cookies?”

“You didn't make those apricot ones, did you?”

“A double batch.”

Smiling, Jeff went to the kitchen and Cassie nodded toward the refrigerator. He opened it, shifted the plastic wrap, and came out with three fat cookies. “I don't know what we'd do without you,” he said, then kissed her on the cheek on his way out of the room.

“Then don't throw me out,” Cassie said under her breath as she started cleaning up the kitchen.

T
HE SECOND
J
EFF
was out of Cassie's sight, he practically ran down the hall to his bedroom. As soon as the door was closed, he flipped open his cell phone and speed-dialed Roger's number. “What the hell have you done?” he asked as soon as Roger answered. “Cassie's ready to skin you.”

“I don't know what you're talking about. I went fishing with you today, remember?”

“Yeah, and in case you're asked, you caught two fish.”

“So who came up with that one?”

“Elsbeth.”

“How did
you
create such a dear, smart child?”

“I married well,” Jeff said quickly. “Where are you?”

“You know where I am.”

Jeff groaned. “Okay, get out of there ASAP. Something's up with the womenfolk.”

“No!” said Roger in a voice that was mostly groan. “Anything but women trouble. I can take it all but that.”

“You and me both,” Jeff said.

“If that were true, you'd ditch Skylar.”

“Would that I could, old buddy. I really wish I could. Meet me on the landing in ten minutes.”

“Better make it thirty,” Roger said. “Her Royal Highness has me, and you know how that is.”

Jeff grimaced. He knew that Roger and Althea had a chummy relationship that he'd never developed with the woman—and had never wanted to.

“Okay, thirty minutes,” he said, then hung up.

The house was quiet, and he had papers to grade, but he didn't feel like doing it. He had no idea what had happened, but something had agitated Cassie today. He well knew that she and Skylar hated one another, but it seemed to be more than that. Whatever it was, Cassie hadn't been herself.

He felt the vibration of his phone and looked to see who it was. Leo. Or rather, code name 386. None of the people Jeff worked with used their names. He flipped the phone open.

“Hey, old friend,” Jeff said. “What's up?”

Leo didn't waste time on preliminaries. “I need a favor.”

Jeff smiled at Leo's elegant English accent. Leo could say horrible things and it came out sounding as though he was inviting a person to afternoon tea. “Shoot.”

“You remember that cabin you and I had the meeting at about four years ago?”

“Sure. Roger's place.”

“Does he still own it?”

“Yes. You want to borrow it?”

“I want you to meet me there the weekend after this coming one. The twenty-eighth. I need you to take delivery on something for me.”

“Me? This is an honor.”

“Don't get your knickers in a twist. My contact is an old man, and he only trusts your father. I talked him into handing it off to Thomas's son. Can you do it?”

“I don't see why not. Fax me the details and I'll arrange it all with Roger.”

“Great. Thanks a lot. I'll owe you one.”

Jeff waited for Leo to say more, but he was silent. “Anything else you need?”

When Leo still said nothing, Jeff understood. Years ago, he and Skylar were an item. “You want me to bring Skylar, don't you?”

“I wouldn't mind seeing her again.”

And I wouldn't mind turning her over to you, Jeff thought but didn't say. “So who will you be?”

“Myself,” Leo said, laughing. “I look forward to a whole weekend of no disguises and time with my friend and a pretty girl. When we get back from the drop, I'm going to get into swim gear and laze in the water with Sky. Tell her to wear that tiny purple suit of hers.”

“Gladly,” Jeff said as he hung up.

He looked at his watch. He still had twenty minutes before he was to meet Roger, and since he was with Althea, he'd probably be late. Leaning back in his chair, Jeff closed his eyes for a moment and thought back to the time he'd told his father about Skylar.

 

The derelict building was roofless and had a thousand bullet holes in the walls. The floor was covered with chopped bark that made footsteps soundless. Four men and one woman, all clad in black and wearing ski masks, slipped about in the shadows. They each carried a handgun held at arm's length. Their breathing was as controlled as they could manage, but their hearts were pounding with anticipation and fear.

Suddenly, a lean, agile form came around the far corner of the building, and in an instant, there were three blasts from his gun. Behind him came another person, but the man spun and shot. They saw the man quickly raise his gun and fire the fifth round, this time at the figure crouched on top of the wall.

“Damn it!” said the man as he jumped to the ground. “I thought I had you that time.”

Their teacher, Jefferson Ames, had shot all five of them with the red paint slug, then removed his mask and was now reloading. “I heard you and I saw you.” He looked up at them, their masks now removed and their young, eager faces looking at him with wide eyes.

“Have any of you reloaded?” His voice was full of the frustration of having to tell them the same things over and over.

“No, sir,” three of them said sheepishly.

“A good agent—” Jeff began, but then he saw the face of the girl. She was good at the book work, but she had a long way to go with the physical aspects of being an agent. Right now her eyes were open wide in astonishment, as though she saw something behind her teacher.

Jeff spun, but not fast enough to shoot first. The intruder's gun went off. Exactly over Jeff's heart, in a perfect shot, a red blob of paint marred his black running suit. In front of him was a man wearing a pair of khaki trousers and a dark brown leather jacket, his face hidden under a black ski mask.

Behind Jeff were his five students, and he could feel that they were standing absolutely still. Who had had the audacity to shoot their teacher? And who had been able to sneak up on him and get that deadly shot off?

Jeff turned to the students. “May I introduce my father? Thomas Ames.”

Jeff smiled at the respectful silence that hit his students. His father's name was in the textbooks and on award plaques around the school. Thomas Ames was a legend to those training at the CIA school, the school that the United States government said didn't exist.

Thomas pulled his ski mask off, revealing his handsome face and thick gray hair, and smiled at the students, who still hadn't recovered enough to speak.

“Our guest lecturer for the next hour,” Jeff said, and he was pleased to see his father's slight frown. Thomas hated teaching. He was a man who learned by doing and thought others should learn that way too. Jeff knew his father had come to have lunch with him, but the elder man couldn't resist showing off by shooting his own son in front of his students. So his punishment was to have to teach for an hour while Jeff showered and changed.

Thirty minutes later, Jeff went back to the classroom to find his father reading a book, his feet propped on Jeff's old desk.

“What did you do with them?” Jeff asked. “They didn't deserve a holiday.”

“You're too hard on them. That blond boy has potential.”

“Maybe. He's too impetuous for my taste.”

“I seem to remember saying that to someone else.”

Jeff smiled. For all that his father said he hated teaching, when Jeff was growing up, they had played endless games of “find the spy”—or whatever name they came up with. By the time he was in the second grade, Jeff was figuring out simple codes. When he was twelve, he started training with weapons.

In their house, what his father did for a living was never spoken about, but Jeff and his mother knew. There were many nights when Jeff had sat by his mother and held her hand while she waited nervously for a call from her husband. Three times the call had come from agents to tell her that Thomas had been injured.

It was an injury to Thomas that had caused Jeff to be at the conference where Margaret Madden and her daughter were. As a favor to an old friend, not on official business, Thomas had agreed to work on security that weekend. Tempers were high over jobs that were being lost and others that were to be gained. Jeff was young and wasn't a CIA agent then, but he'd had a lifetime of training, so when his father was incapacitated, Jeff went in his place, and he'd done an excellent job. Not one argument had gone past the shouting stage.

When Jeff first mentioned Skylar to his father, they had gone to downtown Williamsburg to The Trellis restaurant. Jeff knew that after lunch his father would want to go to the William and Mary bookstore and spend hours browsing.

But the minute their order was placed, Thomas started on his favorite topic: Cassie. As always, he asked Jeff when he was going to ask Cassie out.

“Don't start on me again,” Jeff said. “Cassie is wonderful, but if I let her get close to me, she'll find out too much, and you know that she couldn't handle the truth about my life.”

“Don't underestimate her,” Thomas said. “There's more to that girl than you think.”

“Do you forget that I've known her for a very long time?”

“Since you never let me forget it, how could I?”

Jeff paused until the waiter had put his salad down and left. “Look, Dad, Cassie is great. I couldn't like a girl better than I like her, but, face it, she's a quiet, gentle person. She lives in a world that's normal. My world would scare her. Look at the way she's terrified of her own mother.”

“I've met Margaret Madden, and she scares everybody.”

Jeff ate a few bites before speaking. “Cassie is an innocent and it's better that way. She stays at home with Elsbeth and that's all she needs.”

Thomas smiled. “I've seen the way you look at her, and it's not especially ‘innocent.'”

Jeff grinned. “Who wouldn't? She's a knockout.”

“She's in love with you.”

Jeff put his fork down. “She thinks she is, but it's just an old-fashioned crush that she's carried into adulthood. She loves my daughter, and that's what's important.”

“Jeff, my son, you're a fool. Someday that beautiful young woman is going to get tired of waiting for you.”

“She's not waiting for
me
. If she finds some nice young man, great. I'll walk her down the aisle and give her away.”

Thomas looked at his son in astonishment. “I wonder where your mother and I failed in raising you. Or do you think it's a genetic defect? I must brush up on my Mendel to see how two intelligent people could give birth to an idiot.”

“Are you finished?”

“No. I'm not going to be finished until you come to your senses about Cassie. If you don't do something soon, someone's going to swoop down and snatch her away from you.”

“Good. I hope she finds someone nice and
safe
.”

Thomas snorted in derision. “I'd like to see what you'd do if someone went after Cassie.”

“You don't know me as well as you think you do. Look, let's forget this. I have a problem. You remember David Beaumont?”

“I remember his money.”

“The agency wants him to help—” Jeff broke off and looked away.

“I know. You can't tell me. So what's the problem?”

“They want me to look after his daughter for a while. Get her settled here in Williamsburg.”

“Is she too old for Elsbeth?”

Jeff smiled. “I guess so. She's thirty-four and gorgeous.”

Thomas was silent as their entrées were placed before them. “And how were
you
chosen to be this woman's escort?”

Jeff shrugged. “I don't know. She and Roger Craig knew each other in college, so—”

“Couldn't he and that lovely wife of his, Dana, show this older woman around?”

Jeff frowned. “What is wrong with you today? I'm going to be spending time with a beautiful woman. Haven't you been complaining that I never go out?”

“No,” Thomas said angrily, “I've been complaining that you live with a woman who is equal to both our late wives but you're too stubborn to see it.”

Jeff's face was just as angry. “Are you forgetting that the last woman I was in love with was killed because of me?”

Thomas sat back in his seat, his anger leaving him. “No, I haven't forgotten. Do you plan to go through your life without love?”

“Come on, Dad,” Jeff said. “How's your fish?”

Thomas sighed. “Excellent, as always.” He lowered his voice. “It's true that Cassie is an ‘innocent' as you call her, but she's only that way when you're around. When she's alone with Elsbeth and me, she's…” Thomas searched for the word. “She's a firecracker. She's funny and smart and creative. It's just when you come into the room that she becomes quiet and subdued.”

“You've said all this before,” Jeff said, “but it changes nothing. I don't want Cassie to get hurt.”

“You're no longer a field agent,” Thomas said, “so there wouldn't be the danger that Lillian was in.”

Jeff had heard every word before, so he couldn't bring himself to listen. “Dad,” Jeff said slowly, “I know you've come to love Cassie and so do I, but not in the way you want me to. Sure, I've had some problems with…” He hesitated.

“Raging desire?” Thomas asked.

“I'm a firm believer that parents shouldn't say such things to their children, but, yeah, raging desire. It wouldn't work out between Cassie and me. I really hope that I like this woman, Skylar Beaumont. In spite of being a rich kid, she's been around. Did you know that she used to go with Leo Norton? And she and Roger were nearly engaged when they were in college.”

“In my day, we had a name for girls like that,” Thomas said quietly.

“I'm not going to argue with you,” Jeff said. “I know what I'm doing.”

Thomas pushed his empty plate away. “I've never seen anyone who knew less what he was doing than you. Thank you for lunch.” He stood up. “By the way, when you saw your students' eyes widen, you should have ducked.”