Seductive Knight (11 page)

Nanni had reminded her not to sound prying or fishing for gossip when asking questions, and to offer information only when needed. Anything she shared might be used against her. The Knights might be her dad’s friends, but she didn’t know their intentions yet.

However, if she were to discuss what had happened, she must show them that she could make a decision, think for herself, and handle important issues such as murder. And to do all that, she must earn everyone’s respect, not give them any reason to doubt her character, her personality. In return, they’d believe her sincerity and credibility. And she’d be treated as an equal.

Her mother’s character had been shredded into nothing before she married her dad. Anything she had said had been deemed false or a lie. After all, she was a former hooker and a drug addict. No one saw past her deeds. No one saw her true soul, her kind heart. No one believed that she married for love. Except Dad. But he was gone now, too. It would be up to her to prove that her mom had been more than what other people thought her to be.

Alex looked at Gawain. He was staring at her intently.

“Baby, Bors and Dad are here to talk to you. Just to ask you a few questions. If it’s okay.”

“Only a few questions, Alex. To appease this old man’s curiosity. To Baskerville and me, you’re an unsolved mystery. One that we cared too much to let go and mark as an X file. If you are worried to share information with us, please don’t. Our intentions are noble. We are here to help.”

Alex nodded. So it had finally happened. Time to open up the past.

“Ben, your godfather, is really hoarse from coughing. He’s having a hard time talking. I understand you are supposed to talk to him about what happened, but I am hoping you’ll tell me something, even though he isn’t here. We hope that you’ll trust us with information about you and Molly.”

“Of course.” At least she wasn’t the only one bursting with curiosity. “I’ll try to answer your questions as best I can.” She was about to walk toward the couch where Bors had been sitting, but Gawain moved and blocked her. He took her hand and urged her to sit beside him. With his size, he took up most of the space on the love seat. She was trapped in the corner and couldn’t scoot over. Gawain anchored his arm on the back of the loveseat with his hand resting lightly on her shoulder as the others sat. Her thigh pressed against his hard one. She scrunched her nose at him. He answered with a wink.

* * * *

Gawain remembered Alex to be a chatty girl who would stomp her feet if she didn’t get any attention. A wild free spirited child, and the only star in her parents’ eyes. Just like his sister Kristen. Not like this. She sat with her back so straight, he feared she might snap in half, her hands clasped together looking so proper and innocent, as if she would never kill a bug. Had she really changed that much? Alex was the same as his sister. Both were rambunctious. Kirsten might be a young woman now, but she remained the same. Whereas Alex, despite her claim that she was still the same person, had changed.

“Baby, relax.”

“I am.”

“As relaxed as a man facing a death squad,” he whispered.

He looked at her hands on her lap. She’d been rubbing her thumbs together. If she kept this up, she wouldn’t have skin on those fingers before his brother and father left. Before he could change his mind, he took hold of her hand, laced their fingers together and placed them on his thigh. He felt her resistance, but only momentarily. Bors’s brow rose in silent question. He ignored him.

Gawain rubbed Alex’s knuckles, silently urging them to relax. Unfortunately, his dick began to come alive. Damn it. He should have just let her sit on the other couch. She smelled sweet and her body pressed against him felt so fucking wonderful. What the hell? This was Alex. His childhood friend. Maybe he should take his own advice and relax. “Would you like to start, Dad?”

Arthur nodded. “Alex, I know you have questions yourself, but I suggest we start from the beginning. This way we’ll avoid leaving everything out.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry to hear Molly passed.”

“Me, too.”

“What happened?”

“Hypoglycemia. Her blood sugar went so low, she went into a coma. She didn’t have medicine. We were on an island far from everything.”

It was brief, but Gawain heard the tremor in Alex’s voice. Poor baby.

“I’m sorry,” both Bors and Arthur said simultaneously.

“Damn.” Gawain squeezed Alex’s hand.

“You were just ten when you and Molly left. Do you remember why you had to leave that night?” Arthur asked slowly and clearly.

His dad, ever meticulous and careful with his words, masked his true emotions. Dad was glad that Alex was back, but he was furious, also. As a judge, his instinct told him something was wrong—someone tried, deliberately, to destroy the Rose family. And whoever that was had triumphed.

“I do remember what happened that night. The rest…I learned from Nanni. Mom told her everything. So she knew.”

“Start from the night you left, Alex. We’ll go from there,” Bors said. He looked so relaxed sitting on the couch with his arms across his chest. Anyone who didn’t know him would think he was about to doze off. Gawain knew better.

“I like my bedroom door open. Kinda made me feel like I’m still in the same room with Mom and Dad that way. That night, I was already in bed playing with my mom’s pretties, I mean, jewelry, when I heard voices. I thought it was Dad coming home from his meeting and he was arguing with my mom. I don’t remember ever hearing my parents argue. Maybe they did it when I wasn’t around. I don’t know. Anyway, I ran downstairs. It wasn’t Dad I saw.” Alex looked at Arthur, then took a deep breath. “There was a man. He, he was lying on the floor. His head was bleeding. There was so much blood. And he wasn’t moving.”

“What about Molly, Alex. Where was she?”

“She didn’t do it on purpose, Uncle. My mom said she didn’t know the man. I believe her.” Her last words came out like a whisper.

“Baby, it’s okay.” His heart went out to Alex. He wanted to hug her, keep her pain at bay. But he knew there was no escaping the agony of what had happened in the past. Gawain kissed her temple instead. “No one is judging Molly.” He squeezed her hand. She squeezed back.

“Mom was there. Standing, holding a poker. The one that you use on the fireplace. When she saw me, she dropped the poker, stopped to look at the thing when it hit the floor with a clang, and then she picked me up. She ran up the stairs carrying me. Mom was shaking so badly. We went back to my room. She told me that we were leaving. Her hands shook so she couldn’t really touch anything without dropping it.”

“What about your housekeeper, cook? Where were they that night?”

“I don’t know. We didn’t see anybody when we left the house.”

“You left that same night?”

Alex looked at Arthur, then nodded. “In my pajamas. Mom stuffed a few clothes in a bag. And then we left. I didn’t want to leave without Dad. Mom said Dad would follow us. He would know where to find us.”

“To the Philippines,” Bors confirmed.

“Yes. We waited and waited. But he didn’t come. Mom was worried that something must have happened. She thought about calling him, but she was afraid. She didn’t want to be found until she talked to Dad. Mom didn’t let me leave her side the whole time, she said so when Dad arrived, we’d all be together. Uncle, we waited for him. We don’t know why Dad never showed up.”

Alex remained composed. Her accent mixed with her fluent English, but she spoke without halting. Her hold on Gawain’s hand told a different story. Her nails dug into his skin. Slowly, he pried her fingers and smoothed them. She had long fingers with clean short nails free of nail polish. Not a worker’s hand, but he could feel her calluses. He wondered how she’d gotten them. For some odd reason, he wanted to kiss those thick skins.

“Clayton said that Molly had been talking about going to some island for their anniversary, but he couldn’t remember where. He was mad at himself about that. He said that he should have listened to Molly instead of thinking about his business. Clayton went searching for you and Molly. He never stopped.” Arthur closed his eyes briefly. “He was lost, Alex. Not sleeping, not eating. Baskerville and I tried to stop him. He wouldn’t hear us, Alex. When he tried to fly his plane again, thinking maybe you and Molly went to Coquille Point in Oregon, it was foggy, and the sun was down.

Alex kept swallowing. Gawain could tell she was fighting back tears. “I didn’t know. Mom didn’t know. Oh, God.”

Bors stood up and left the room. When he came back, he handed Alex a glass of water. “Drink, Alex. I know this is hard for you, but we need to know everything. It is the only way to find answers to our questions.”

Alex accepted the glass from Bors and took a big gulp. And then she stopped as if she’d caught herself doing something wrong and then began drinking in little sips. “Thank you,” she whispered, then placed the glass on the coffee table. “I don’t understand. Why would Dad search in Oregon? He should have known where to go. You see, we’re not really missing.”

“Baby, what do you mean?”

“Mom left a note for Dad to find, Gawain. She wrote down where we were going and left it on their dresser. I know because I saw it. Mom was crying, but I remember what she said.
Dad will follow. He’ll know what to do.
That’s why Mom waited.”

Gawain saw Bors’s shoulders stiffen. Dad leaned forward, his fingers steepled as if in prayer, as was his habit.

“Are you sure about the note?” Bors asked.

“Yes. I remember everything that happened in the house that night. Including the note.”

“If there was a note, Clayton did not find it, Alex. And if there was a dead man, he didn’t find the body either.”

“What do you mean, Bors?”

“To Clayton, to us, you and Molly went missing, because no one knew where you went and what happened. If the man you mentioned had still been at your house when your dad came home, then he’d have an idea what happened. Alex, there was no trace of the man or any murder that happened at your house. Except for the jewels, you and Molly, nothing else were missing. In fact, this is the first time that we’ve heard about this.”

“But how could a dead man walk?”

“Couldn’t. A live man could though,” Bors said nonchalantly.

“Was it possible that Mom didn’t kill the man at all? Maybe he just passed out? Maybe the man woke up after Mom and I left and managed to get some help? Or—”

“Alex, you said there was blood on the floor. Clayton would have seen it if there was blood. He would certainly have called the cops.”

Alex looked at Gawain. “Someone or the man must have cleaned the floor.”

Bors and his dad looked at each other.

“I’m not lying,” she said. To Bors and Arthur, she asked, “You believe me, don’t you? I’m not making this up. I saw the man. We left because Mom killed him. That’s what we thought. My God!”

“It’s all right, baby.”

* * * *

“Why…” Her emotions were in a riot. What was going on? All these years, she thought her mom had killed the man. They hid in Palawan, away from the authorities, because of that. And now she found out there wasn’t even a dead body?

“There is always that possibility that the man didn’t die.”

“I hope so. If he is alive, that means Mom is not a murderer.” Alex closed her eyes and let out a long deep sigh. “She’s not a murderer,” she whispered. “Why would a total stranger come to our house half-naked?” she asked in a louder voice.

“Alex,” Bors stretched his legs before him, his hands laced together rested on his flat abs. “Maybe Molly knew him—an old acquaintance—and let him in the house?”

“No. Mom didn’t know who he was.”

“No sign of forced entry that Clayton knew of. He had the house searched and checked. My guess is that someone had let him in.”

Tapping his finger on the top of his beer can, Bors stared at Alex. “Did Molly say anything about the conversation she’d had with the stranger? I’m sure they exchanged one or two words.”

“Yes. Thank you for asking, Bors. I almost forgot about that. Mom told Nanni that the man offered her drugs. He said something about my mom using them before and she’d enjoy them. Mom refused. Bors, Mom didn’t know him. Believe me.”

Bors smiled. “I believe you, Alex.”

“Thank you. Mom and Dad are gone now because of that man. Now, I’m learning that he’s not even dead. Or if he did die, someone took him. I am so confused.”

“I’m sorry, Alex. But we didn’t know anything about a dead man.” Arthur rubbed the side of his nose with his fingers.

Alex shook her head. “Dad had no idea about that horrid man. What did Dad think about me and Mom’s disappearance?”

“Because he didn’t know anything about the man you mentioned, he thought Molly took you away to punish him. He tried to think of all the reasons why Molly would do that. He came up with working too much. And he blamed himself for that. He said Molly never complained about it, though. So he was really lost. Although there were speculations that your mom ran away with a man, he didn’t buy it.”

“Who would think that Mom was having an affair? Why?”

Bors and Arthur gave each other a quick glance.

“It’s possible, Alex, that Molly made a good decision to take you away from here.”

“What are you saying, Bors?”

“Just brainstorming here, mind you. The man you mentioned. Molly didn’t know him, right?”

“Right.”

“He must have had a bad intention when he showed up at your house. What it was, we don’t know. For some reason that we don’t know about, Molly had to bash him in the head. Thinking she killed him, she ran away with you.”

Gawain squeezed Alex’s hand. “You saw him. Aside from him being shirtless, do you remember anything about him?”

Alex shook her head. “His arms spread wide, that I know. It feels like I should know more, but whatever it was just hovers in my mind. It’s frustrating. Over and over, I tried to picture him. To keep the image in my head. But he’s a blur now. I want to know why he came shirtless and who let him in. He is the key to solving the mystery of that night.”