Deception (20 page)

Dan took Jill’s hand. “Hold it,” he whispered as he brought her to a stop.

Instinctively, she moved close to him. “What is it?” she whispered.

“Someone just came out of your father’s house.”

Holding her breath, Jill peered through the trees. Dan was right. A small figure dressed in black was hurrying down the walkway. “Who could it be?” Jill’s heart beet erratically. “And what would they be doing here at this hour?”

“That’s what I’m going to find out. You stay here.” letting go of Jill’s hand, Dan moved quickly toward the ‘nail’ house until he had intercepted the intruder. When he realized who it was, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Nineteen

Looking like a trapped animal, Lilly stared at Dan, then at Jill, who, at the sound of Dan’s exclamation, had rushed over. “What are you two doing here?”

“We came to see Joshua.” Jill’s gaze went to the black purse her aunt held pressed against her chest. “What about you, Aunt Lilly? What are you doing here at this hour?” A feeling of uneasiness spread through her. “How did you get into the house?”

“I borrowed Amanda’s keys.” Lilly’s smile was unnaturally tight. “I lost a valuable pair of earrings the last time I was here and I came back to look for them.” “Did you find them?”

“Yes. As a matter of fact… I did.”

“Why wouldn’t you ask me to look for your earrings?” Jill’s voice was gently persistent. “You know I come up here all the time.”

Lilly didn’t say anything.

Intrigued by the actress’s obvious nervousness, Dan continued to observe her. The possibility that Lilly could somehow be involved in Simon’s murder was not one he had considered, and yet, here she was, looking guilty and frightened. “I wasn’t aware you had a car,” he said, looking around him. “You did drive, didn’t you?”

“Yes, of course.” Lilly nodded toward her left. “It’s in there. A rental. I hid it.”

Following her gaze, Dan saw a midsize sedan pushed into the underbrush. “Why would you hide it?”

“Because I didn’t feel like getting into a long discussion with Joshua. You know how he is. The man guards the house like a rottweiler.” She laughed, a brittle laugh that betrayed her nervousness. “He probably would have shot me on sight.”

It had begun to snow heavily again, thick flakes that settled on Lilly’s dark mink coat like small puffs of cotton.

“Well, you can’t drive back to New York in this weather,” Dan said as he looked up at the dark, snow-laden skies. “So why don’t we all go inside and have something hot to drink. Then we’ll talk.”

“I have to get back-”

Before Lilly could protest further, Dan had claimed her arm and was helping her up the walkway. Jill was right behind them, already searching for her keys.

Once inside the house, Dan went straight to the fireplace to start a fire while Jill busied herself in the kitchen. Within moments she had prepared a pot of tea’ located a tin of shortbread cookies, milk and sugar. Thanks to Joshua, who replenished supplies whenever needed, essential staples were always on hand.

Walking back into the living room, Jill set the tray on the coffee table and threw a quick glance at her aunt. Trembling from what must have been a combination of fear and cold, Lilly had remained huddled in her mink coat and was still holding on to her purse.

Jill’s dismay grew. There was a lot more inside that purse than a valuable pair of earrings. But what? What could Lilly possibly want from this house that she couldn’t get by simply asking?

She filled a cup and handed it to her aunt. “Here, drink this. It’s hot and strong, just the way you like it.”

As she took the cup from Jill, Lilly’s grateful smile went straight to Jill’s heart. She adored her aunt. As a teenager, Jill had often talked of becoming an actress someday and following in her aunt’s famous footsteps. In time that dream had made room for another one-that of becoming an architect—but the close bond between the two women was still there.

“Are you warm yet, Aunt Lilly?” she asked. “Would you like to take off your coat?”

Glancing at the roaring fire, Lilly nodded. “I will, in a minute.” She looked from Jill to Dan, who had come to join them on the sofa. “I guess I didn’t make much sense out there, did I?”

Jill smiled. “Now that you mention it, it wasn’t one of your best performances.”

Lilly put down her cup, and as she started to slip out of her coat, Dan helped her. “Do you trust Jill and I enough to tell us the truth now, Lilly?”

“I know how bad this looks, but I swear to you both that I didn’t kill Simon.”

“I know you didn’t, Aunt Lilly.”

Lilly looked at Dan, as if expecting him to echo Jill’s statement. He didn’t. “What’s in the purse, Lilly?” he asked gently.

An awkward silence fell over the room. Lilly’s beautiful expressive face was taut with tension as she stared into the distance. After a while, she lowered her gaze to her purse, then, as if finally making up her mind, she opened the clasp and pulled out a white, business-size envelope.

She handed it to Jill. “You’ll find the answer to that question in here. Go ahead,” she said as Jill hesitated. “Take a look. You, too,

Somewhat apprehensively, Jill opened the envelope. Inside was a newspaper clipping dating back to November 30, 1986. It had been taken from the Weekly Gazette, a British tabloid that printed only the most sensational, outrageous stories, from royal gossip to imminent UFO invasions.

A paparazzo had apparently photographed Lilly in the arms of a man whose face Jill recognized instantly. His name was Yussef Abrahim and he was suspected of having masterminded the bombing of several Parisian restaurants in the fall of ‘86, killing sixteen people.

Because of the man’s wealth and powerful connections, French law enforcement agencies, as well as Interpol, were never able to charge him. He had died in a helicopter crash in 1993.

The headline spoke volumes: Blood Money.

Sitting side by side, Jill and Dan read the short article together.

American stage actress Lilly Grant was seen cruising the Greek Isles this week in the company of Yussef Abrahim. A well-informed source reveals that Abrahim, one of Libya’s richest men,

and a known terrorist, will finance Ms. Grant’s new play A Rose on My Pillow, due to open in London in December of this year.

Dan looked up. “Is that true, Lilly? Abrahim financed your play?”

She nodded.

“But why?” Jill asked. “You had to know who he was, what he had done.”

“I did.” Lilly’s eyes remained downcast. “But I hadn’t had a decent part in more than two years. I thought my career was over. Then one night, while I was appearing in a small play in London, my agent told me that Yussef was in the audience and wanted to meet me.

“In spite of his reputation, which he swore was grossly exaggerated, the man was an absolute charmer. He told me he loved the theater and that he was a great admirer of mine. One thing led to another and two days later, he had made the necessary arrangements for me to star in this wonderful new play.” She looked up. “The same play, which, as you know, put my career back on track.”

“Did the producers know who he was?”

“The producers were all friends of his, people whose plays he had financed before and who didn’t care where the money came from.”

Jill glanced back at the clipping. “Why didn’t we hear about you and that man here in the

U.S.?”

“I’m sure you would have, but as I said, Yussefs influence extended far and wide. He stopped the story from going any farther. if he hadn’t, my career would have been over. I even doubt I would have had the courage to return to the United States.”

Dan glanced at the article again. “How did that clipping end up in Simon’s house?”

Lilly sighed dramatically. “He had me investigated.”

Jill gaped at her aunt. “Investigated? Why?”

Lilly gave an adamant shake of her head. “There’s no need to go into that. You wanted to know what I was doing here and now you know. Let’s leave it at that.” “No, let’s not.” Jill dropped the envelope on the table. “You’re making it sound as if my father was blackmailing you, and if he was, I want to know why.” “It will only cause you pain-”

Jill’s tone turned bitter. “I’m getting used to pain, Aunt Lilly, so please, don’t let that stop you.”

“Very well.” This time Lilly met her niece’s gaze without flinching. “Simon called that clipping ‘insurance,” a guarantee that I’d keep my mouth shut.” “About what?”

“About something I wasn’t supposed to have seen.” She took a deep breath. “Earlier this year, I think it was late spring, I was having dinner with a gentleman friend in a secluded but famous inn on the Chesapeake Bay. To my surprise, Simon was there, having dinner with a woman”

Jill looked at Dan, then back at her aunt. “Did he see you? Did you talk to him?”

“He saw me, but we didn’t talk. I just went about my business as if I hadn’t seen a thing, but he knew I had. When I got back to New York a couple of days later, there was a message on my machine. It was from Simon. He wanted to see me.

“At first, he tried to make light of the situation, claiming the woman was a business acquaintance. When he realized I didn’t believe him, he asked me not to tell Amanda.”

“And you never did?”

“of course not. It would have destroyed her. But Simon didn’t trust me, so he hired a private investigator. He figured actors were bound to have a few skeletons in their closets, and in this case, he was right.”

Feeling almost dizzy from the shock, Jill kept shaking her head. They couldn’t possibly be talking about the father she had known and loved all her life, the father who was turning into a stranger, a man who had schemed and deceived and even blackmailed a member of his own family.

“I’m sorry, Jill,” Lilly said softly. “I didn’t want you to find out.”

“I thought he loved her,” Jill murmured to no one in particular. “I thought they had the most perfect marriage in the world.”

“He did love Amanda, darling. That’s why he didn’t want her to know.”

Jill found no comfort in those words. Her father was an adulterer, a common, vulgar skirt-chaser who had committed the ultimate betrayal, apparently more than once, unless, of course, the woman Lilly had seen him with was Vivian Mulligan. “Do you know who the woman was?” she asked.

“Can you at least describe her?” Dan asked.

Lilly shrugged. “Not very well, I’m afraid. The restaurant had no overhead lighting, only candles on each table, so I wasn’t able to have a good look at her. But I could tell she was beautiful with very long blond hair, and well dressed. The only thing I can’t be sure of is her age. in such flattering lighting, she could have been anywhere between twenty and forty.”

Lilly’s small, delicate hand touched Jill’s. “You believe me, don’t you, darling? You believe I had nothing to do with your father’s death.”

“Of course I believe you, and I’m sorry Daddy put you through this hell. I…” Despite her determination not to cry, a tear ran down her cheek. “I don’t know why he.. why he did all those things.”

Dan, who hadn’t yet spoken, finally did. “I’m curious, Lilly. How did you know the clipping was here?”

“I didn’t. After Simon died, I searched the town house as best as I could with Henry and Amanda always there. When I didn’t find it, I figured the damn thing had to be here.” Her cheeks colored slightly. “Earlier today, I took Amanda’s keys, knowing she wouldn’t miss them, and came here. I didn’t dare turn the lights on for fear Joshua would see them, so I used a flashlight.”

Her hands tightened into fists. “If only I had found that envelope sooner, I would have missed you and you would have never known.”

Feeling sick and cold, Jill rose and moved to the window. The snow was coming down harder now. Soon the narrow mountain roads would be impassable. Behind her, Dan had come to the same conclusion.

“We’ll spend the night here,” he said, laying his hands on her shoulders. “Okay?”

Not trusting her voice, Jill nodded. She heard Dan ask Lilly if she was okay to stay the night. Her aunt quietly agreed.

Dan gave Jill’s shoulders a gentle squeeze. “Everything’s going to be all right, Jill. You’ll see.”

She wished she could share his optimism, but with all she had learned in the last while, she felt as though nothing would ever be the same again. Her father was not the man she thought he was, her favorite aunt had shared the bed of a terrorist and her mother was still keeping secrets from her.

Was one of those secrets her husband’s affair? It had to be. No matter how discreet a man was, how many precautions he took, there were signs a woman never failed to recognize.

When Jill finally turned away from the window, the room was empty. Only the dying embers were left in the fireplace and a Good Samaritan had cleared away the tea tray.

Jill smiled. Dan hadn’t lost his touch. He still knew when she needed comfort and when she needed to be alone.

Walking over to the single lamp he had left burning, she turned off the switch and went upstairs.

Twenty

By seven o’clock the following morning, Dan was up, showered and dressed. Outside his window, snow had blanketed the landscape and he could already hear the rumble of busy snowplows as they made their way up and down Johnston Road.

Jill was already downstairs, sitting on the sofa and staring at the dark fireplace. He was glad to see that her cheeks had regained their healthy glow and that her eyes no longer had that haunted look about them.

In a gesture that seemed as natural as breathing, he sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Slept okay?”

“Oddly enough, yes. It took me a while, but once I closed my eyes, I never reopened them until I heard the first plow.”

“Wally claims it’s the mountain air.”

She laughed, a sound that warmed his heart. “Wally thinks his mountains can cure anything.”

“Would you like to put his claim to the test and stay here awhile longer? It’s Saturday.”

“Can’t. I have tons of work.” She leaned into him. “Maybe we could come again, do some skiing? With a little advance planning, I might be able to arrange it.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

There was a long silence, but not an awkward one, rather the kind of silence friends understood. “Did you have any idea my father was so different from the man we knew?”