All That Lies Broken (Ashmore's Folly Book 2) (3 page)

(Aphorism, Benjamin Franklin)

Chapter 1: Questions, Questions

To: Richard Ashmore

From: Thomas Maitland

Attached is a draft of the divorce petition. Review and let me know of any changes. If you want this filed tomorrow, I need changes tonight.

Hope your weekend went well. Heads up – Lucy has it in her head you went off with a girl, so prepare for the inquisition.

Double heads up – she knows about Meg.

Tom

~•~

To: Thomas Maitland

From: Richard Ashmore

Everything looks fine. No changes from this end.

I’ll be in Glen Allen in the morning. Back after noon. Have the paperwork sent over, and I’ll sign.

What I did this weekend is none of Lucy’s business. How the HELL did she find out about Meg?

Richard

~•~

To: Richard Ashmore

From: Thomas Maitland

I’ll messenger the final to your office after lunch. Sign, send back, and I’ll get it filed before 5 pm.

How does Lucy guess anything? She picks up stuff out of the ether. Somehow she got it into her head that you want the divorce because a child is involved, and she made the leap to Meg in less time than it takes to write this. Downright spooky. I’ve been married to her for eight years, and I still don’t get how she does it.

Tom

~•~

To: Richard Ashmore

From: Lucy Maitland

Hey, you didn’t return any of my phone calls. Julie says you went up to some antiques fair in PA. Pick up anything new?

You got back late. Did you go somewhere else after PA?

Lucy

~•~

To: Lucy Maitland

From: Richard Ashmore

Five calls? FIVE???

At what point did you figure out I didn’t want to talk to you?

As to everything else – MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

Richard

~•~

To: Richard Ashmore

From: Lucy Maitland

Well, someone is certainly in a grumpy mood this evening. One would think you’d be feeling a bit more chipper after a weekend away frolicking among the antiquities. Did you not have a good time?

You might as well tell me. I’ll figure it out sooner or later.

Tom says Di will be served tomorrow night at the tavern. I plan to lie low so she can’t call me.

I haven’t heard from Laura, so I guess she hasn’t gotten the subpoena. Have you talked to her?

Lucy

~•~

To: Lucy Maitland

From: Richard Ashmore

Nothing was wrong with my mood until I got your email.

Laura doesn’t know about the subpoena yet. Let me talk to her first.

I’ll call you tomorrow.

Richard

~•~

To: Richard Ashmore

From: Lucy Maitland

So you and Laura are speaking again?

Lucy

~•~

To: Lucy Maitland

From: Richard Ashmore

Everything is fine with Laura.

Good night. I’ve got work to do.

Richard

~•~

To: Richard Ashmore

From: Lucy Maitland

So you and Laura kissed and made up? When did that happen?

Lucy

~•~

To: Lucy Maitland

From: Richard Ashmore

GO AWAY.

Richard

~•~

To: Richard Ashmore

From: Lucy Maitland

You wish. And you didn’t answer my question.

Lucy

~•~

To: Lucy Maitland

From: Richard Ashmore

You’re right. I didn’t.

GO AWAY.

Richard

~•~

To: Laura St. Bride

From: Mark St. Bride

Laura,

Are you back from your weekend trip? I’ve been worried about you since your call the other night. You must not stay out of touch so long.

We need to talk. Call me as soon as you get this.

Mark

~•~

To: Laura St. Bride

From: Meg St. Bride

Mom,

Are you OK? I really miss you. I’ll call you tomorrow after class, OK?

Your Numero Uno Daughter

~•~

To: Welch Investigative Services

From: Mark St. Bride

Subject: Richard Patrick Ashmore

I need the report by Friday, July 5. I will be out of the country for the next few days, so courier a copy to my office and send a soft copy to the email indicated below.

Please send your invoice to my personal attention and mark as confidential.

Mark St. Bride

CEO, St. Bride Data, Inc.

~•~

To: Laura St. Bride

From: Richard Ashmore

You were sleeping, so I let myself out. Get some rest tonight.

I’d say thank you for a wonderful weekend, but those words don’t come close to expressing what I want to say. Thank you for the omelets, thank you for listening and accepting what I had to say about Francie, thank you for unleashing the lioness, claws and all (especially this afternoon). Or should I thank you for being my mistress?

(I warned you I’d hold that over your head for the next 50 years. Consider this day #1 of #18,264.)

I’ll call you tomorrow. Sleep well.

Richard

PS: Brace yourself. Lucy is nosing around.

~•~

To: [email protected]

From: Spencer Web Investigations

Subject: Results of Web Searches for June 30, 2002

Dear Windy Gomerberg:

Pursuant to your standing request, here are the results of your requested web searches for new items for the period ending June 30, 2002.

Subject: Laura Rose St. Bride

Search results: 0

Subject: Laura Rose Abbott

Search results: 0

Subject: Cat Courtney

Search results: 0

We will run your next report on July 5, 2002.

Thank you for your continued business.

Spencer Web Investigations

Chapter 2: Better Not Tell Her

DIANA WAS LATE
AGAIN
. LUCY HAD told her to meet at the coffee shop at 7:15; Tom had gone in early to prepare for a deposition, so he couldn’t catch her talking with her sister. Diana had promised to be there with bells on, hinting mysteriously at some juicy gossip.

But, as usual, even though Lucy had called and left a reminder on voice mail, Diana couldn’t be bothered to show up on time. Lucy had skimmed the paper, reviewed her schedule, made notes on a contract she was revising, and read the next chapter in her mystery – and Diana still hadn’t waltzed in the door.

The customer in the next booth was drinking such strong coffee that Lucy was starting to feel sick. Sick was good, she reminded herself. The waistband on her skirt digging into her skin was good. Crying over
Titanic
with Julie Saturday night was good. But the coffee – if Diana didn’t get here soon, her anxiety was going to ensure that the coffee was not good.

Five minutes before the deadline she’d given herself for leaving, Diana came rushing in.

“I know I’m late, Luce, I’m sorry.” How many times had she heard this in her life? Diana looked flushed this morning, but not as hung over as usual for Monday, and she slid into the booth with more energy than Lucy had seen her exhibit in a long time. “How are you doing this morning? Things okay? You sounded so secretive last night—”

Lucy reached out, took her sister’s hand, and shoved Diana’s jacket sleeve away from her wrist.

Silence between them. She must have sliced herself up royally; the bandage covered more area than the last time. Well, that explained Richard’s cryptic requirement for the negotiations. He’d known already that Diana had tried to kill herself again, so this must have happened before he’d left with his mystery woman on Friday night.

She stared at her sister. Diana stared back until her lashes flickered, and she pulled her hand away and reached for a menu.

“What happened?” Lucy couldn’t believe how calm her voice was. She felt anything but calm. Richard had known. Tom must have known. Certainly Diana had known! And not one of them had bothered to tell her. She was getting tired of everyone sheltering her as if she were made of glass. Diana was
her
problem to deal with. “When?”

“Friday,” muttered Diana. “Will it make you sick if I get fried eggs?”

“Yes,” said Lucy. “When Friday?”

Diana was studying the menu religiously. “I’m thinking pancakes then, or waffles. Those shouldn’t bother you. And OJ instead of coffee—”

Lucy jerked the menu away from her. “Forget food, Di. What happened?”

“Oh, honestly!” Diana yanked the menu back. “Stop obsessing about it! Friday, okay? I was at Daddy’s with Laurie, and—”

Lucy felt herself about to become seriously unglued. “What do you mean,
Laurie?
What was she doing over there?”

“Waffles and OJ,” Diana said to the waitress. “And a side of bacon and biscuits. Thanks.” She made a production of putting the menu back in its holder while Lucy sat there fuming. Then she settled back against the seat, clasped her hands in front of her, and gave Lucy a look that promised to be open and honest and was anything but. “She came over to help me clean. Oh, did I tell you, we found those checks you’ve been looking for?”

“Great, but—”

“So, anyway, we started talking. We tried on Mama’s old dresses, and – oh, I’m trading the dresses for the cottage, Laurie agreed, she doesn’t want it, in fact she seemed sort of weird about it—”

“Get to the point.”

“Don’t be so pushy! I
am
getting to the point, if you’ll let me. Things were fine, we were getting along great, except thanks a lot, Luce, she asked me to sing for her, I know damn well you put her up to that. But then she had to bring up Francie, and – well, I got upset, and Lucy, that’s what I want to talk to you about, because our little sister has not exactly been truthful with us—”

“Hold it – hold it – hold it.” Lucy held up her hand before Diana started off on another tangent. She nodded towards Diana’s wrist. “Laura knows about this?”

“Of course.” Diana sounded impatient. “She’s the reason it happened. She – well, she sort of grabbed the glass away from me. Then she punched me on the jaw – see that bruise? hurts like the devil, that girl can throw a punch – and she drove me to the hospital. I was going to call you, but she said she’d rip the phone out of the wall if I tried, and then she ransacked my place while I was asleep.”

Lucy sat completely still.

She’d come here to beg her older sister to withdraw the subpoena. She was walking a fine line, but she thought she could ethically talk to Diana as long as she did not give her legal advice or apply undue influence. Sitting here, she wasn’t Richard’s lawyer; she was Diana’s sister. She’d come to protect her niece and the sister who had become mother to another sister’s child; she’d come to preserve her family. And instead, she found Diana with her wrist sliced open again, and Laura mixed up in it up to her eyeballs, and the whole family ranged against her in a silent conspiracy.