The Sapphire Pendant (49 page)

Jessie rested a hand on her hip. “Do you notice we’re back where we started? I see how familiarity does breed contempt.”

No, he silently disagreed. They weren’t back where they had started. They were both different people now.

“I see you decided to get a tux that fits,” he said, trying to maintain a casual tone. He folded his arms to refrain from touching her.

“Yes, I decided fitted wasn’t so bad.”

“Shame you couldn’t do something with your hair.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you trying to provoke me?”

“Sure. I could use a good slap.”

“I wouldn’t dare. You’d have good reason to hit me back.”

He lowered his gaze.

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I forgot.”

He shoved his hands in his pocket. “Do you have a moment?”
 

“Sorry, I left it in my other jacket.”

He groaned. “If your singing is as bad as your jokes, I’m glad you saved me the agony.”

“What do you want?”

“I didn’t really get a chance to eat.”

She sighed. “Let me see what I can do. Wait here.” She walked away then stopped. She returned to the table and grabbed the wineglass.

Kenneth laughed. “I wasn’t going to drink it.”

Jessie only sniffed. A few moments later she came back with a plate full of food and apple juice. She placed the plate in front of him with expert aplomb, going so far as to place a napkin on his lap. Once her performance was over she turned to go.

“It’s no fun to eat alone,” he said.

“Kenneth, I can’t—”

“Please,” he said gently.

She sat.

An awful, painful silence fell between them. Jessie watched him eat, looking at his hands and his mouth, remembering the first time he’d kissed her, the moment she felt she belonged to him. She brushed those thoughts aside.

“How’s Olivia?” she asked.

He nodded. “She’s fine.”

“Do you like her? She’s—”

“Don’t insult me. Or yourself.”

“I want you to be happy.”

“Why?” His eyes burned into hers. “So you won’t feel sorry for me? Did you suddenly realize you deserve better than a man who’s half a freak show?”

“Don’t talk about yourself like that.” She lowered her voice. “You know why I can’t marry you.”

“You mean
won’t
marry me.”

Jessie clenched her hand into a fist. “I will not marry a man who’ll sacrifice everything for just a name.”

“What am I without my name? Nothing! If I hadn’t been Kenneth Preston you wouldn’t have been interested in me in the first place. No, don’t shake your head like that. You and I both know the name means something. It’s all I have and no matter how much I—” He bit his lip and abruptly stood. “If you don’t understand that you don’t understand me.”
 

She also stood and grabbed his arm. “I do understand. That’s why I can’t be with you.”

They had nothing more to say, but neither moved.

“I don’t know what hurts more,” he finally said. “Being with you or being away from you.”

Jessie hugged herself and looked down. Kenneth made a move towards her, then stopped. She closed her eyes as she listened to his footsteps fading away.

* * *

Jessie didn’t cry when she got home. She went into her father’s studio and touched all his things to gather strength from his memory.
 

She remembered her father and his shy grins, his infectious laugh and dreamy eyes. She remembered the way he used to get on her mother’s nerves so that they could make up later. She remembered her mother—now with fondness instead of guilt—a woman who bristled at bad manners, created elaborate dinners as if expecting royalty, and scolded her children with tears in her eyes.

Jessie rested her head against the gray stone wall. All of a sudden, she felt a stone shift from the weight. She stared at the moved stone for a moment her heart pounding with anticipation. She moved it aside and saw a small hiding place. Inside sat a black box. It looked familiar. No, it couldn’t be. She remained still waiting for it to disappear like a hallucination. It didn’t.

Her fingers tingled as she grabbed the box and opened it. She carefully removed the cloth surrounding the object inside. Her heart stopped when a sapphire eye winked back at her: The Sapphire Pendant. Her fingers caressed the rope-chain as her ancestors once had, feeling its special allure. The pendant was here. Her father had owned it all the time!

Fury nearly strangled her. Rage crawled up her skin and heated her eyes. He’d lied to them. He’d made them suffer. Made her suffer with guilt never easing her pain with the truth. Him and his stupid stories of power and magic. The pendant was nothing but a piece of stone that at that moment she would have loved to see melted or crushed.
 

Jessie stared at the sapphire eye, its beauty penetrating some of her anger and her bitterness. Here it was. The fabled pendant. In the Clifton possession where it belong. She scoffed at the words then suddenly stared at it in horror.

Which meant the Ashfords had a fake. Her father had sold them a copy. Oh God! The deception was an anvil, crushing all that was left of her revered memories of him. His sense of honesty and integrity crumbled at her feet. He was as fraudulent as the pendant he had sold. Did she continue the lie? Did she let generations of Cliftons hold onto this secret shame?
 

Did she let them carry the burden of possible exposure and humiliation? How could he have done this to her? For years she had agonized about how to get the pendant back and he’d known the truth. She’d been on a yellow brick road to an ineffectual wizard. Everything had been a lie. She didn’t know what to do or think or say. So she did the only thing her chaotic mind could think of. She screamed.

Michelle and Teresa rushed into the room.

“What happened?” Michelle asked.

“Are you hurt?” Teresa asked.

Jessie held up the pendant. “Dad sold the Ashfords a fake.”

Michelle took it from her. “I don’t believe it.”

Jessie wrung her hands. “Here I am telling Kenneth the virtues of living honestly; lecturing on high ideals and my father actually sold the Clifton integrity for cash!”

“Calm down.”

“Calm down? I risked the man I love for my father’s sense of honesty and he’s a forger!”

“Look there’s more,” Teresa said, pulling out a box and list of names, descriptions, histories and prices.

Jessie squeezed her eyes shut. “There’s more and we can’t tell anyone. He’s forcing me into the very secrecy I abhor.”

“Let’s not panic,” Michelle said. “We have time.”

Teresa nodded. “Right. Let Mrs. Ashford think she has the original.”

Jessie bit her nails. “What if she gets it appraised?”

“Then we have to steal it back.”

Michelle sent Teresa a look of disgust. “Oh, that sounds brilliant. Let’s correct forgery with thievery.”

“Well, it gets worse.” Teresa held out her hand. “Tell me this is not the Arand necklace. The very one Mrs. Donovan is giving to the Historical Society Museum.”

They stared at each other. If they didn’t do something fast, their father’s forgery would be exposed for the world to see.

Chapter 28

Nathan had never believed in the power of the pen until it stabbed his best friend in the heart. Nathan paced, watching Kenneth who sat at his desk with the newspaper spread out in front of him. He hadn’t moved in half an hour. Nathan wasn’t sure he was breathing.

“It’s just a story,” he said casually, hoping to get a response. “All you need is an unscrupulous reporter and a slow news day and ‘Bam.’” He punched the air with his fist. “It becomes news.”

And it was big news. It had made the front page of the
Caribbean Times
and
Daily News
and had a significant write up in
The Journal
. Mr. Kenneth Preston wasn’t the honored son of Charles Preston, but the illegitimate son of Pierre Chevalier a repudiated womanizer, drunk and con artist and the teenaged girl he’d raped. The article exposed Kenneth’s early childhood run ins with juvenile authorities and even revealed that he had recently been seen in the company of legendary call girl, Leticia Mason. Now the board members had the ammunition they needed to remove him as CEO.

Nathan read his thoughts. “I know the meeting’s in three days, but there’s no reason to worry. I’m sure this will die down. Rodney’s still searching for our thief, our accounts are on track.” He stopped pacing and stared helplessly at his friend. “You’ve done a lot for this company. They can’t hold this against you.”

Kenneth knew they would. He knew the true nature of people. They were as fickle as the wind. The one person he’d allowed himself to trust had betrayed him. But what more could you expect from a hooker who probably remembered one’s dollar amount rather than one’s name?

Someone knocked on the door.
 

“Come in,” Nathan said.

Brooke walked in, a cool figure in dark blue. “I’ve solved our computer problem.”

Nathan shoved his hands in his pockets. “If you’re expecting applause, you’re going to be disappointed.”

Kenneth pushed away his own concerns. “Who’s our thief?”
 

Her eyes slid to Nathan then focused on him. “Rodney.”

Nathan blinked. “No, he’s not.”

“It’s true. I found him last night at one of the terminals and he confessed everything.”

“He wouldn’t do that. He’s been relentlessly searching for—” Nathan stared at her cold impassionate eyes. He pointed at her. “You’re lying.”

She dimpled prettily. “You can ask him yourself. Come in Rodney.”

Rodney lumbered into the room, his lanky form draped in loose trousers and a large ill-fitting shirt. He hung his head, careful not to meet anyone’s eyes.
 

Nathan sat down and watched him.

Kenneth put his hands together in a steeple and pinned Rodney with an assessing stare. “You’ve been busy.”

Rodney shrugged. “Yeah.”

“Why did you do it?”

He swallowed and shifted awkwardly. “Because Nathan asked me.”

Nathan exploded from his chair. “That’s a lie!”

Kenneth studied him, his voice quiet. “You always wanted to have more responsibilities. What better way than to create a problem then fix it?”

“You know I’m not like that. I’m your friend. ”

Kenneth looked at Rodney.
 

Nathan leaned against the desk. “He’s lying.”

Kenneth narrowed his eyes. “Why? Why would he lie about you? The very person who helped him get his position?”

He glared at Brooke who was watching the scene with studied disinterest. “Because he’s covering for that bitch—”
 

“Careful Nate.”

“Who’s had her eye on your job for years,” he finished. “Don’t you see? She’s trying to divide and conquer. She knows how you feel about loyalty. She’s using it against you.”

Kenneth glanced at her then him, but said nothing.

Nathan tapped the desk. “I’m going to prove that she’s behind all this. You don’t have to trust me or even believe me, but if you put your trust in her you’ll find yourself bleeding from the back.” He pushed himself off the desk. He grabbed his brother by the collar, lifting him out of the chair. “I hope the sex was worth it because your balls are mine now.” He dropped him in the chair then stormed out.

Brooke shook her head as the echo of the slammed door filled the room. “It’s a shame how that man only thinks about sex.”

Neither Rodney nor Kenneth replied.

* * *

Rodney stumbled out the office building. He felt sick to his stomach. The game was no longer fun. Nathan would never trust him again. He’d betrayed his brother. He hadn’t expected it to make him feel like shit. He didn’t even care that he didn’t know what Preston would do to him or that Brooke had promised to take care of him. It was the look on Nathan’s face that seared itself on his brain. The look of hurt. His brother had gotten him this job and he had repaid him like this. He was the wretched Cain throwing a stone on Abel’s head.

The sky held the heavy scent of rain as he walked across the parking lot. He stopped when he saw a familiar figure standing next to his rusted Toyota Camry.

“How deep are you in it?” Nathan asked, blocking his path.

“I have nothing to say.”

He pulled him close. “Speak or squeal. The choice is yours.”

“Because you’re Mr. Big Shot, right?” Rodney said, guilt making him angry.

Nathan let him go. “So this is about me? You couldn’t come to me and fight like a man?”

“I may not be able to beat you in the ring, but you’ve got to give me credit for what I’ve done. I broke into the receivable files of a huge corporation leaving it as innocent as a babe. I’ve stolen cycles costing this company thousands. You’re not smart enough to do that. I even got a beautiful woman that appreciates me.”

Nathan jiggled the change in his pocket and stared up at the building. “She’s not worth it.”

His smug confidence tore at Rodney’s patience. “Brooke cares about me. The company should have been hers anyway. You and Preston can find other jobs, but it’s harder for a woman.”