Target (11 page)

“Sit down,” Delia said. She faced them, and Nick held his breath. The big smile was gone and for the first time he realized she had left her forties behind some years earlier. “Sit down,” she repeated. Behind her, one of the oval wall medallions stood open to display a hidden safe. He'd never known it was there and was sure Sarah and Aurelie were also seeing it for the first time.

Nick cast around, grabbed delicate gilt and upholstery chairs for Sarah and Aurelie and went toward Delia.

She held up a hand. “No,” she said. “I'm fine. You sit down, too. I'd rather stand.”

So would he, but he perched on the arm of a divan.

“I'm sure you remember the day you came to me in Savannah.” Delia's smile trembled and he feared she might cry—or shriek. “Do you remember?”

They all murmured that they did.

“Your mother gave you something to bring to me, Nick. You used to ask about it but then you stopped. I really did expect you to push for answers again long before now.”

Sarah and Aurelie didn't move a muscle. They kept their eyes on Delia.

“Nick?” Delia said.

He wasn't sure what she wanted him to say. “I assumed she sent some sort of instructions to you. A request, too, I guess. But I could tell it upset you when I mentioned it so I gave it up.”

“She did send me a letter. She also sent one to you. Her instructions to me were that I should give you the letter if I heard something had happened to her. If I found out she had died.”

Nick couldn't look at Delia anymore.

“She thought I'd be doing this a long time ago. You see, she didn't expect to live long. She wrote that she could be dead by the time you got to me.”

“So she knew what might happen even when she was sending us away?” Aurelie asked. “I wish she'd come with us.”

Nick didn't trust himself to speak. He should have insisted his mother leave with him. If he had absolutely refused to go without her, she would have gone. Or he thought she would have.

“Sometimes I've managed to forget this was here,” Delia said, turning to the safe. “For a long time.”

“I can't stand this,” Sarah said. “What did Mary write?”

“To Nick?” Delia looked at her. “I don't know. I never read his letter. Now he can find out for himself.”

From the back of the lowest shelf in the safe, Delia removed a padded envelope she'd rolled down at the top. She opened it and took out a letter-size envelope.

Nick remembered, all too well, the night when Mary Chance had taken that same envelope and dropped it into the bigger one to make it easier for him to carry what was inside while they traveled. The packet had been heavier than he'd expected, and lumpy. He had guarded it like a last connection to his mother—which it had become.

“There's something else here, too,” Delia said, pulling out a manila envelope and prying open the metal fastener on the back. “Mary wrote to me that you'd know what to do with this once you read your letter, Nick.” Her voice jerked, and moisture glistening on her face blew him away. Delia didn't sweat.

“Why did you wait so long?” Nick said, his pulse pounding. “After a couple of years went by with no word, you must have known she probably wasn't coming back. It could have made things easier if I'd stopped hoping she would turn up.”

Delia looked directly at him. “I waited because I was afraid. I didn't want things to change between the four of us. I still don't want them to. How could I know there wasn't something in here that would take you away from me? I don't know now.”

Aurelie did raise her eyes to his then. She shook her head slightly and he understood, even if he did resent the suggestion that he didn't know how and when to do the right thing. “Nothing will change between us,” he said. Aurelie studied her glass again.

“I hope not.” Delia slid the contents onto her desk. And it looked as if the so-called private mail had already been opened.

Delia frowned, checked what had fallen out and pulled open the top, right desk drawer. She looked at several pieces of correspondence from inside, checked mailing dates against the one on the letter she'd dropped on her desk pad and looked inside the package, a medium-size bag folded and taped. Then she turned back to the mostly empty safe and searched each shelf.

“Gone,” she said, facing them again. “They were here when I opened the safe earlier. Someone's taken them and left one of my invoices instead. And the bag's different. It's got sand in it—probably from my Zen garden.”

“W
hat are you doing here?” Aurelie asked.

“Nice welcome,” Nick said. He folded the paper he'd been reading. “I'm doing what you're doing, trying to make sure we all do the right thing.”

Seven in the morning, and he was back in the little green dining room—the breakfast room at this time of day—that opened into Delia's study. He'd been there an hour already and all he could get from the one woman who came in early each day was that Delia wasn't up yet. Betty Valenti had brought him coffee and croissants then disappeared hurriedly.

Aurelie wore her hair strained back and wound into a knot that was already unraveling. A white blouse and beige linen suit reminded Nick that she was a lawyer. This morning she looked the part.

“Where's Delia?” she asked. Pink color had already risen along her cheekbones. “In her office?”

He shook his head, no. “Betty says she isn't up yet.”

“She's always up by five-thirty. I'll go and find her.”

“Betty told me Delia left instructions she's not to be disturbed.”

“When? When did she leave instructions with Betty who doesn't get in here until just before Delia gets up? Did Betty take her coffee up yet?”

“You sound like a lawyer.”

“I
am
a lawyer,” she said with not a glimmer of a smile.

“Sure you are. But I'm not your witness, Counselor.”

“Give me a break,” she said and pressed her lips together.

This shouldn't be happening, not after what they'd shared. Not
because
of what they'd shared. “What am I supposed to do, Aurelie? What can I say? Or dare to say without you getting even madder at me?”

“Nothing.”

“So you admit you're mad at me,” he said. She didn't have the right to be but he couldn't resent the way she felt.

“That's how you handle things you can't deal with. The personal stuff. You get angry. The last thing I want is for you to be angry because of me.”

“I'm not.” She raised her chin and he saw her swallow. “Is Betty in the kitchen?”

“You wanted us to make love.”

“Don't.” She glanced behind her as if expecting to see someone there. “Leave it, please, leave it.”

He spoke softly. “Did you make love with me because you were horny?”

Her eyes glittered and she put a fist to her mouth.

“I'm sorry. That was too blunt. Goddammit, woman, I don't have any more experience with this situation than you do but we've got to get through it. Sure, there's big stuff going on that'll keep everyone busy until it's over. But it will be over and you and I will still be here. Then what?”

Aurelie pulled out a chair across the table from his and sat down hard. She looked at him. He didn't want to see the turmoil she felt but it was right there in her eyes. And she was afraid to speak in case she broke down.

Betty had only brought one cup but the pot of coffee was hot. He poured a refill and pushed it across the table. “Take a deep breath. And please try to listen to me. I'll try not to be offensive again.”

She picked up the cup and swallowed several sips of coffee.

“If I thought it would help, I'd suggest we forget what happened.” He was glad it wouldn't help because he didn't intend to forget a moment of it. “There was a lot of feeling between us. I actually thought it was going to be all right.”

“It shouldn't have happened.”

He stopped himself from snapping back at her. Instead he took his time to say, “For me, it was so all right, Aurelie. I'm not going to apologize for that. But it wasn't for you. Do you want me to go away somewhere? Would it help if I got lost? I'll do it.”

“No, you won't. Threats aren't going to make this any easier.”

She didn't want him to leave. He almost grinned.

“If anyone goes it'll be me,” Aurelie said.

“Now who's threatening?” If she went, he'd follow, which might be a great idea. “Why are you so upset? What we did was normal. It was healthy. It was damn healthy for me. I don't know how much longer I could have controlled—”

She set the cup down carefully. “Good idea to stop right there,” she said. “Your mouth does have a way of digging deeper holes. Don't mention it again. If we try hard enough, we can hope to put the mistake behind us. We were both overemotional. That's what happened. Emotion got away from us and we just…we just…it did.”

This was the most he could hope for now. Not that it would change a thing for him—except for making him work on better timing. He hadn't had nearly enough of her.

“We should never mention what happened again,” Aurelie said.

When her very blue eyes filled with conviction, understanding why she made a good lawyer was easy. “You're right,” he said.

“Right.”

Move on.
“You feel the way I do, don't you?”

“Nick!”

Before she had time to get really ruffled again, he added, “About last night. The letters. Delia's wrong on this one.”

“Oh.” The pink returned to her face. “Yes, I do.”

“I don't know why I didn't argue last night—”

“I do,” Aurelie cut in. “You didn't want to make her any more upset than she already was. I felt the same way and I bet Sarah did, too. We've got to report the theft.”

Amazingly, he felt some of the tension between them lessen. “Even if it can bring a heap more trouble on our heads,” he said. “Yeah. We don't have a choice. We're going to have to dig Delia out of her hiding place.”

“She feels threatened. For us, all of us. She can't accept that it isn't possible to keep some things private indefinitely.”

Betty opened the door and poked her head into the room. When she saw Aurelie, she said, “You need a cup. You should have called for me. I'll get it right away.” Then her eyes moved left and she whistled. Betty often punctuated her train of thought with a single whistle. “Matt Boudreaux is here. He's got another policeman with him. I've already told them Miss Delia isn't entertaining guests this morning. Did that bother Matt Boudreaux? Uh-uh. The two of them are out there, standing by the door. You got a message for them, Nick?”

“You're a gem, Betty,” Nick said. “You were right to fend them off and come to me. I think the best way to deal with them now is to let them come in. Yes, do that. Delia will appreciate it if we take care of them. You know how she approves of hospitality. Yes, and if you can spare the time, would you bring more coffee and cups for them—just in case they'd like that.”

Aurelie watched the exchange, fascinated by the adoring expression on Betty's face. How come a good-looking man with a sweet tongue could manipulate most women?

“I tell you,” Betty said, “I almost thought the same thing myself. It's lucky you were here to put it into words, Nick.” Off she went, humming.

Aurelie waited until Nick looked at her and pretended to gag herself with a forefinger.

He laughed.

She laughed, too, before they both fell silent.

“Do we mention last night to Matt?” Nick asked.

“I'm not sure. You don't think Delia called him here because of the letter, do you?”

“We'll know as soon as he comes in here. Let him suggest the topic.”

“Suggest the topic,” she repeated. “Cute. I must remember to use that.”

“Why would he bring another cop with him just to ask questions?” Nick asked.

She had no idea, but the door opened again to admit Matt and a policeman of similar age, so she didn't have to come up with an answer.

“Come on in,” Nick said.

“‘Mornin',” Matt said. “‘Mornin', Aurelie. How are you doin'?”

“Very well,” she said, but her spine felt prickly. Instinct put her on alert and she suddenly dreaded whatever Matt had come to say.

“Thought I'd bring Buck Dupiere out to meet y'all. He's going to be taking my job.”

Aurelie's mind went blank. Matt was trusted locally and expected to follow Billy Meche in the chief's chair eventually. “I'm sorry to hear that,” she said.

Buck Dupiere laughed, low and memorably. “A sad time, hmm? You'll have to let me help you get over it.” He had the build of a middleweight boxer, but not the nose. Buck's nose, narrow and straight, didn't look as if it had ever been punched. His short, dark hair had a good acquaintance with expert styling, though, and a killer smile drove just the right number of lines from the corners of greenish eyes. Naturally, the smile also produced winsome dimples.

Men
. They were so obvious and this one had
womanizer
etched into his attitude.

“Dupiere?” Nick asked. “Is that your name?” He managed to make a simple enough question sound insulting.

“Surely is,” Dupiere said. “And you must be Nick Board. Pleased to meet you.”

Nick looked at the man with the kind of expressionless face that Aurelie decided was threatening. He was reacting to Buck Dupiere sounding a little flirtatious toward her. Ridiculous.

“I'm going to be taking over as chief,” Matt said.

Aurelie frowned at Nick and they both gave Matt their full attention.

“Billy's decided not to come back to the department,” Matt said. “With all the vacation he's got stacked up, he's close enough to be able to retire with his full pension and he thinks that's the best thing. So does his wife. I knew this was happening but I wanted to wait until Buck got here to say anything. He comes highly recommended and he wants to move out of the big city. So everything's coming together. Not that we won't miss Billy,” he added quickly.

“Congratulations,” Nick said. He turned to Buck and said, “Good luck with the new job,” but not with any enthusiasm.

Betty came in with a tray and set it on the sideboard. Another pot of coffee, cups and more fresh croissants. She actually winked at Nick before backing out of the room.

“Have a seat, both of you,” Aurelie said and got up to pour coffee for everyone. “I'd better go and tell Delia you're here.”

“Or not,” Nick said quickly, and without looking at her. “She's pretty tired. We had a late night.”

“Talking about Baily's death?” Matt asked.

“Not entirely.”

Aurelie carried cups to the table and returned with the croissants, butter, honey and homemade peach preserves. Betty took instructions seriously.

“Thanks,” both cops said. Matt leaned toward Nick. “What does ‘not entirely' mean?”

So much for letting the police suggest the topic. “Mostly we talked about Baily,” Aurelie said before Nick could reveal more than ought to be revealed. It was likely that Delia would feel betrayed if they didn't let her be the one to talk about yesterday's theft. “We wondered if you'd contacted the Morris family.”

“Her father,” Matt said promptly. “They haven't had a lot to do with each other for a few years. He said her mother is an archaeologist and on a dig somewhere. I got the impression Baily's folks figured they'd done their job when she left home.”

“You wonder why some people have children,” Aurelie said and felt stupid. “I know everyone says that. I feel badly for Baily, that's all.”

Delia walked in silently, her feet bare. “Don't stop for me,” she said, her voice tight. Most redheads would avoid the red brocade kaftan she wore, but on her it was spectacular. “Why do you feel badly for Baily, Aurelie? Other than the obvious reason.”

Both policemen were on their feet, Dupiere holding a chair for Delia. She smiled, assessing him, and sat down.

“Baily Morris didn't have real close family ties, Miz…Delia,” Matt said. “Aurelie was sympathizing over that.”

“Thank you for speaking on her behalf,” Delia said. “What are you two here for?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Matt said. “First, this is Deputy Chief Buck Dupiere. He's taking my place. Billy's retiring and I'm filling his spot.”

“Congratulations,” Delia said.

“We won't take up much of your time,” Matt said. “Just to bring you up-to-date, I've decided to put extra surveillance out in this area. We'll have a car drive through regularly. You have an alarm system. Please use it.”

Delia stayed in her chair but turned to look at Matt. “I beg your pardon?”

“This is for your security. Routine precautions.”

“Routine?” Aurelie crossed her arms.

“I thought we agreed to keep this among ourselves,” Delia said. She stood up and pointed at Nick. “You should have talked to me first, not called these people in so I didn't have a chance to help make the decision.”