Borrowed Identity (14 page)

“And you’ll do the same?”

“Of course.”

Not.

Her eyes met his with such trust, such innocence. He
would sacrifice almost anything to be able to tell her the truth. Being able to see the danger looming over her like the shadow of an ax was a heavy burden to bear. Sometimes he took a deep breath, the confession on his lips, but rigorous training and years of experience kept the secret locked deep inside of his mind and his heart.

Telling Kelly would be a big mistake.

He knew her well enough to know she would toss him out on his butt. She wouldn’t want anything from him, least of all his help.

There wouldn’t be anything Michael could do about it from outside the house. He needed to stay with her, by her side. If he had to be her fiancé for a while longer, then so be it. He’d played many parts in his lifetime, pretending to be engaged to the beautiful Kelly Hall wouldn’t be a hardship.

“After we’re finished,” he said, “we’ll compare notes.”

Kelly nodded and stepped out of the room. Ill at ease, Michael watched her go downstairs. Maybe he shouldn’t let her search alone. He didn’t like the idea of her being out of his sight. Not even for a few seconds. Too many strange things had happened since his arrival at Moore House.

He couldn’t search thoroughly with her hovering over him, however. If he found another piece of evidence like the picture of the dead neighbor, Kelly might see it, too. He was treading a fine line. He wanted her to be afraid enough to make her cautious, but he didn’t want her scared out of her mind.

With a sigh, Michael moved on to the next room. The sooner he finished with his search, the sooner he would get back to Kelly.

I
T TOOK
K
ELLY
half an hour to realize Michael had agreed to let her look for clues on her own because he knew she wouldn’t find anything. Once the epiphany hit, she decided
to raid the refrigerator. Fear had increased her appetite tenfold. She made herself a huge sandwich and a tall glass of iced tea.

It didn’t escape her notice that food was missing. She had just made a fresh pitcher of iced tea two days ago, and now it was gone. Michael had probably finished it off. Being a man, it wouldn’t occur to him to make more or to let her know so she could fix another pitcherful.

She sat down at the kitchen table and thought about offering to fix some food for Michael. But he had two hands. He could make it himself if he was hungry.

She was midway through her sandwich when the phone rang, startling her.

The telephone was mounted on the wall behind her, an old-fashioned faux wood box with a brass bell. She stood next to it and stared at it as if it were a poisonous snake. The thought of answering it filled her with dread. A sixth sense born out of necessity warned her not to accept the call, but curiosity got the better of her.

Elvin Grant’s unmistakable nasal voice reached out to her. “My boss wants me to make one last offer to you,” he said. “The price has been upped ten thousand dollars.”

At first Elvin Grant had chilled her heart with a cold fear she hadn’t experienced before. Not during her mother’s psychotic episodes. Not even when Kelly had realized she would carry the scars on her arms for life.

The fear had slowly turned to anger. The man had no right to frighten her or threaten her. She took a deep breath, trying to rein in her temper. She had enough to deal with now without this nut making demands for his infamous “boss.”

“This is the last time I’m going to tell you. I am not selling. I don’t care what the price is. I am not selling my home! Got it?”

“That’s not a wise decision,” Elvin Grant snarled. “You may not live to regret it.”

“Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are? I’m going to call the police and report you!”

“No,” he said. “You won’t. Because you don’t know who my boss is. The name I gave you on the signed check was just one of my boss’s aliases. It could be anybody, and my boss would be extremely upset to see a faithful employee get into trouble with the law.”

Kelly decided to try a different tack. “I don’t live alone,” she reminded him. “You met my fiancé, Michael. He wouldn’t take your threats lightly. If you come here again, he’ll deal with you.”

“Who said anything about me going to your house? My boss employs other people besides myself. A small army could be put together, in fact. I doubt
Michael
could handle all of them by himself.”

Kelly shivered. She didn’t want to see Michael injured because of her. It was only a house. Part of her wanted to give in, sell it to the awful man’s boss. It wasn’t worth anyone’s life. Besides, she was beginning to despise the place.

But deep in her stubborn heart she knew she couldn’t sell no matter what. Moore House had been in her family for three generations. She was not going to be terrorized into giving up something this important to her. To her family.

“I’m not selling,” she repeated in a less than certain voice. “Please leave us alone. If you kill me, you won’t get the house, anyway.”

“You’re right,” he said. “Maybe I should kill Michael instead. Maybe you would be more accepting of my offer then.”

“No. You can’t. Please.”

“You’re going to wind up just like your nutty mother,” Grant said in a nasty little voice.

“No!” she cried. “Please go away. Leave us alone.”

Michael grabbed the phone. She hadn’t heard him enter the kitchen, but he was suddenly there, standing behind her. He lifted the receiver to his ear, his face stiff.

“Who is this?” His dark eyes settled on her face as he spoke harshly into the line. “Hello?”

A few moments later Michael hung the phone up.

“What did he say?” She asked the question although she was sure she didn’t want to hear the answer. “Did he say something to you?”

“All I heard was a dial tone,” Michael said. “Who was it? What did he want?”

“It was Elvin Grant.”

“More threats?” Michael didn’t wait for a reply. He swore beneath his breath and stormed to the other side of the room, as if he was going to explode and wanted distance between them so she wouldn’t be hurt. His hands were balled into fists. The muscles in his back were solid rock.

“Yes,” she said in a small voice, worried what his reaction might be. “His boss obviously wants this house very badly.”

“Don’t worry about him. I’ll put a stop to it.”

“How?” What did he think he was going to do— Threaten the man himself? Beat Elvin Grant up? “He promised there were more people on the payroll. If we could figure out who his boss is, we could end it.”

Michael nodded absently, but she knew he hadn’t heard her at all.

“Why did you come downstairs? Are you finished?” she asked.

“I wanted to check on you,” he admitted. “I’m on my way up to the third floor now.”

“You’ll need the key to the attic then.”

“It’s not—” He stopped talking abruptly. When she glanced at him expectantly, waiting for him to finish his
sentence, he said, “I mean, yes, I was going to ask you where the key’s at.”

“I’ll get it for you.”

Kelly hurried down the hallway to the study. Michael knew damn well where the key was kept. Why was he pretending he didn’t? What was wrong with him?

She entered the study. A shocking sight was waiting to greet her. She screamed into her hands, muffling the sound.

An old rag doll with bright red hair and black button eyes swung from a rope over the mahogany desk. She recognized the doll as one from a box in the corner of the attic. It had belonged to her grandmother. A noose had been fashioned for it out of an old rope.

There was a note pinned to the front of the doll’s dress. “You’re next.”

Her first inclination was to yell for Michael, but a niggling doubt stopped her. What if he had left the doll for her to find? It hadn’t been in the room earlier when she’d searched it. What if Michael was behind all the strange events?

Her mind pored over the facts as she knew them, and her inner voice argued with itself. Logic and instinct went head-to-head in a violent battle.

Michael had sent her to the study even though he knew where the key was hidden. He’d had opportunity. But what about motive? She couldn’t imagine why he would want to make her think she was losing her mind.

She knew nothing about him except for the few things he’d shared with her, and those could have been fictitious. As for what he hoped to gain—ten million dollars in diamonds was enough to tempt the most devout saint to temporarily lose his halo.

Kelly suspected Michael had lied to her about at least one thing: their wedding. She remembered the small pearls she’d held in her hand, the same pearls that had later vanished.
Michael could have taken them from her room easily enough.

She hated doubting him.

Michael was her last and only chance at having a family. If she lost him, her dreams would melt away forever. She wanted children, wanted a normal semblance of a life. But if she was losing her mind, a life with Michael would be impossible.

She needed the truth, no matter how awful it turned out to be. With a plan firmly in mind, she stepped out the study door. Covering her ears, she screamed as loudly as she could.

Immediately, footsteps rushed toward her.

She raced to meet them, running in the direction of the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?” Michael grasped her shoulders, holding them steady. “Why did you scream?”

He appeared to be concerned.

She took a deep breath and tried hard not to overdo it.

“A doll…hanging…horrible.” She lowered her eyes, hoping he wouldn’t be able to read the deception in them. “The study. Please, come with me.”

Kelly tugged on his hand.

She wanted to enter the study first and turn in time to see his expression. Would there be a cold familiarity in them when he saw the doll? Or would he be as shocked as she had been?

Unfortunately, it was Kelly who got the surprise.

The doll had vanished.

She turned on Michael, studying his unreadable face. He didn’t blink. Part of her was glad the doll was gone. It meant Michael had nothing to do with trying to hurt her. He was in the clear.

Michael stared at her in total silence, and another horrible thought occurred to her. Michael was in the clear, unless…

Unless he had an accomplice.

Chapter Nine

Michael’s eyes had been trained to pick out the smallest detail in his surroundings, but the study appeared unchanged to him. Compared to the library, the study was a compact space, rectangular with two small bookcases facing each other. A deep burgundy carpet lined the floor and the walls were covered with dark paneling that gave the room a sophisticated air. There were two Victorian arm chairs in opposite corners with floor lamps looming over them. The only other piece of furniture was the desk, a large polished wood surface, cluttered with papers and an assortment of odds and ends including an old-fashioned typewriter. Kelly’s distraught gaze was fixed on his face as if she was waiting for him to say something. He didn’t want to disappoint her. He just wished he knew what she wanted to hear.

He glanced down at his watch. He was supposed to have contacted Paddy fifteen minutes ago. If he didn’t get to the phone soon, his colleague might come to the front door to check on him. Michael would really have some explaining to do then. It would be one big mess.

“There.” Kelly pointed to the desk. “There was a doll hanging with a note pinned to it. It was a threat, but now it’s gone. Are you going to tell me it was my imagination?”

No, he wasn’t going to say that. He believed her. Somehow someone was moving around the house without being
seen. Michael wanted to shout in frustration. How did they keep getting past him?

And why wasn’t the dog barking?

“We need to figure out who is doing this and why,” he said. “Is there anyone you can think of who would want to make you think you’re crazy?”

“I lost contact with most people around here years ago. None of them would have any reason to hurt me.”

Seeing her hug herself in that familiar gesture made him want to wrap his own arms around her, to protect and comfort her. But he had to keep his head on straight. He had to focus on the task at hand.

She added, “Wade would never do anything this horrible, and poor Margo is an elderly woman. She wouldn’t have the strength to strangle me, nor would she want to.”

Margo was also dead. However, Michael didn’t want to enlighten Kelly on that point. She had enough to deal with already.

Kelly opened a small drawer on the side of the desk and pulled out a large old-fashioned key made of tarnished brass. She handed it to him, a strange expression in her eyes. She was suspicious of him again. This time he had no idea why. How did he keep screwing up without realizing it?

“Thank you,” he said, taking the key. “I need to make a phone call to a friend back home first. He worries when he doesn’t hear from me. Do you mind if I use the phone in here?”

“You live here. Why would I mind?” She snatched the key back from him before his fingers could tighten around it. “While you’re making your call, I’m going to go up to the attic. It’s rained a few times lately, and I want to check out the ceiling there before it has a chance to snow. I don’t want my grandmother’s things getting damaged.”

He didn’t like the idea of her going to the attic alone. What if the perpetrator was hiding out in there.

“Give me a second,” he said. “I’ll go with you.”

“No need. I’ve been up there a few hundred times. I’ll be fine. Make your call.”

Kelly left the study and Michael didn’t know what to do. His gaze darted between the telephone and the door. If he didn’t call Paddy soon, the Irishman would definitely come looking for him.

Michael grabbed the phone and punched Paddy’s cell phone number.

“It’s about time,” the man said. “I was starting to get nervous.”

“I’m fine. Everything’s under control.”

“The girl? Does she suspect anything?”

“No,” Michael replied. “I don’t think so. She’s been too busy dodging attacks. Someone tried to strangle her last night.”