Framed: A Psychological Thriller (Boston's Crimes of Passion Book 2) (26 page)

Riley sat in the living room of what once had been her grandmother’s home…that once had been her home. But no more.

The place had been sold. The moment she had left Boston, Walter had put it on the market. The house sold the first day it listed. The closing was at the end of the month.

Strange being in the house, knowing it was hers no longer. It really never had been, but yet she had wanted it to be…hoped.

She supposed it had always been that way: hoping…wishing…her family would accept her…love her, much like her daddy had done before her.

The Ashcrofts had left casualties of their affection littered over the decades. The cycle had continued with Freddy and Olivia. She was determined not to become one.

Freddy had woken from his coma, but the doctors feared he suffered brain damage. Only time would tell. At the very least, he had a long recovery in front of him. But there again, it could have been worse. Poor Olivia was dead.

The Ashcrofts seemed to magnify their weaknesses. Her daddy’s loyalty to his family had been his undoing; Walter, his greed. Donald had been the only one seemingly untouched by the Ashcroft’s curse…seemingly.

In the foyer, she heard the door squeak open. A moment later, high heels clicked over the marble flooring. The dim lights cast a long shadow of her figure standing in the doorway. She had come.

“Good evening, Vivian. Come in and have a seat.”

Riley’s heart raced, but never had she been more resolute. The past had to be settled. It would be done tonight—one way or the other.

“I would rather not.” Vivian sauntered into the room; she looked one way and then the other. “I’m not going to be long.”

Vivian was dressed immaculately as always. She wore a black pantsuit with a white line accenting the collar. Her black heels indicated that she wasn’t planning on running away, but her casual demeanor didn’t fool Riley.

The woman had come with a purpose.

Riley smiled. “That’s good to know. I will make this quick. As much as it pains me to deal with the devil, I believe the two of us need to make a bargain. Beneficial, you understand, to both of us.”

“Why on earth would I make a bargain with you?”

“Because I know that you helped Ellis set up Harrison.” Riley gestured to Vivian. “I do believe you need to sit for this.”

“I’m afraid you are quite confused, my dear.”

“Sit. I assure you I’m not,” Riley demanded. “I had quite the conversation with Ellis before I killed him.”

Vivian hesitated for a moment and then rounded the chair across from Riley. She sat.

“I suppose you have a gun or you wouldn’t be acting so confident.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Shrugging slightly, Riley placed her gun on the end table beside her. “Oh, I suppose I should tell you that the gun you have in your purse…it’s a dud. Go ahead and check.”

Immediately, Vivian clutched her purse. Opening it, she pulled out a Ruger 9mm. Expertly, she clicked back the gun and looked in the chamber. Immediately, she popped the magazine. Her face fell.

“How? What did you do?” Vivian’s eyes burned into Riley.

Riley laughed. “How stupid do you think I am? Didn’t I tell you I had a long talk with Ellis? I wouldn’t have asked you to come by just for you to shoot me.

“I stopped by the townhouse today and visited with Aunt Cora to see how Freddy was doing. Before I left, I went down to the garage and replaced your gun with what they call in the movie business a function gun. Looks and feels real, doesn’t it?” Riley smirked. Shrugging slightly, she went on, “I had thought about a blank gun, but it shoots blanks. Blanks can hurt. I think I made the right choice. Don’t you?”

“Little bitch!” Vivian whispered under her breath. “So are you going to do the same thing you did to Ellis—shoot me?”

“Get a grip,” Riley retorted. “And calm down. I told you I want to make a deal with you.”

“What kind of deal do you think I would make with you?”

A smug, irritating grin emerged on Riley’s face. “You think I want to make a deal with a devil? But I don’t think either of us has a choice.”

Vivian’s mouth tightened. “What do you think I can do for you?”

“I want Harrison out of prison,” Riley said forcibly. “Ellis confessed to me that you both set him up for killing a cop. I don’t have proof other than my word. Hearsay is what they call it. Doesn’t do Harrison any good.

“Especially after Kincaid revealed my failed scheme. Nobody is going to believe me.” Riley frowned. “Matter of fact, the more I insisted, the more I got the distinct impression that they wanted to charge me for killing Ellis. I don’t think they took kindly to my efforts to free a man they consider a cop killer.”

“That’s your problem.”

Riley ran her tongue over her teeth, her brow pulled into a deep furrow. “No, Vivian, it’s yours. While I don’t have any proof of your connection to the killing, Ellis told me something interesting that
can
be proved.

“I know you’re not Vivian Elliott. Never were. You’re Julia Stanford. That would mean you’re not really married to Uncle Donald…legally, I mean. Kinda question whether Noah is Donald’s son, too. My guess is he’s Ellis’s.”

If looks could kill, Riley realized she wouldn’t be standing. A shudder ran up Riley’s spine as she truly recognized the presence of evil in the room.

“Don’t bother to deny it. I told you I had quite the talk with Ellis.” Riley pressed on. “Now, I have a quandary. Last week, I was met by Detective Brophy at the airport. You remember him? He’s frustrated. He believes Ellis had an accomplice and wants me to help him continue to investigate Helen and Olivia’s murders.

“You wouldn’t know if Ellis had a partner?” Riley laughed coldly. Her voice turned serious. “Just kidding. I know it was you.”

Sitting perfectly still, Vivian skewered her with a hard look with all the wrath of the years of pent-up hatred. She spat, “You know nothing!”

“I know enough,” Riley snapped. “But I’m willing to tell the authorities that Ellis said he took pride in working by himself, alleviating you of the worry that they will connect you to your lover…and also keeping your secret.”

“If I do what?”

“I want evidence that connects Ellis to the killing of the cop. I have faith that you can do that.”

“You choose to come to me instead of taking up Detective Brophy’s offer?” Her voice was riddled with suspicion.

Leaning back in her chair, Riley said in a low, determined voice, “I learned a long time ago that life’s not fair. Harrison is an innocent man. I’ve tried for years to go through the legal system. It has got me absolutely nowhere.

“When Detective Brophy came to me, at first I thought, yeah, I could help him…then I hesitated. I think I would be better off making a deal with you…a deal, for once, that I would have a semblance of control.”

“What makes you think I would have anything to help you?”

“Because you wouldn’t have split from Ellis without keeping some sort of security for all the god-awful things the two of you did. Just in case he accused you of helping him. My God, Vivian, you tried to kill the man with antifreeze.

“He told me. Boy, he hated you. Filling Gatorade with antifreeze. Don’t have an original bone in your body. You know, he fed it to the birds…they died. He ran.

“Ellis seemed awfully desperate, but he would have come after you eventually. You should really thank me. I did you a favor. Now, do one for me.”

“Seems I don’t have a choice.” Vivian stood up, but seemed to catch her heel on the Persian rug. Tripping, she lunged forward at Riley.

Riley saw her intent and reached for her gun, but Vivian was quicker. She sidestepped Riley, sending her onto the floor.

The next moment, Vivian had Riley’s gun in her hand and aimed straight at Riley’s head. “Now, my dear, we’ll talk.”

* * * *

“Stupid, stupid girl—now look what you’ve done.”

Crawling over to the wall, Riley inched upward. “Doesn’t change a thing. You wouldn’t dare harm me, not with the police swarming the entire family. They know your every move.”

“Really?” Vivian’s eyebrow rose. “See, my dear, you’re right. I didn’t take
my
car. According to Donald and Brenda, my maid, I’m at home right now sleeping. So, it seems I have nothing better to do than get rid of this annoying gnat flying around my head.”

Vivian waved the gun at Riley.

Placing both her hands in front of her, Riley shouted, “Don’t! For God’s sake!”

“Don’t grovel! Show some dignity!”

“Why? Why have you done all of this? What have I ever done to you? My family…my family loved you…why Nana…!”

“Shut up, you fool. I told you—you haven’t a clue what has gone on.” Vivian’s eyes narrowed. “Have you not guessed how much I abhorred you Ashcrofts? I swore on my brother’s grave I would make each and every one of you pay. I’ve kept my word.”

“Your brother? I thought you had no family.”

Vivian laughed, a long, harsh laugh that cut through Riley like a knife.

“Darling Riley, so naïve…so crassly obvious! I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything less from an Ashcroft.” Vivian lifted her head and straightened her shoulders. “I…I have brought down the mighty Ashcrofts…and all that will be left will be my son running their empire. A Stanford will be the head of WSA. Witt Ashcroft would roll over in his grave.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Of course you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t know that your father and uncle killed a man when they were students at Washington Ridge Academy and blamed it on my brother. Oh…there was no conviction. The Ashcrofts are so good at covering their tracks, but my brother was expelled.

“He was never the same…couldn’t get into a good university…couldn’t get a job. The Ashcrofts destroyed him.” She paused, with a sadistic smirk on her face. “And I destroyed the Ashcrofts.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Every move I made, every breath I took, I did so with revenge racing through my veins.” She circled around Riley. “At first, I thought I would just ruin them…Walter, Jack, and Donald. I will admit I tried to get close to Jack at first. Jack was the handsomest of the brothers, the one the other two looked up to.

“Walter was already married to Cora. Not that I couldn’t get Walter in bed. Being he was the pudgy one of the brothers, Walter was always trying to vie for the attention women gave Jack. So, he went to bed with anyone who would spread their legs for him. But I had no intention of being another fling…not for what I had planned.

“At first, it was easy enough integrating into the lives of the Ashcroft brothers. I took a job as a legal assistant at Lincoln and Sullivan, but Jack wouldn’t have anything to do with me. Not his style, I suppose. Got to the point he avoided me. He tried to hide his aversion to me, but I felt it.

“I wasn’t pretty enough for him…especially when poor Miss Anne Carver showed up with that godforsaken booger-nose brat with her. The idiot fell for her ploy…pure and innocent…
such
 a lovely thing…
such 
a brave soul traveling all the way up to Boston to confront the mogul Witt Ashcroft about his bastard.

“I had to switch my attention to that shy introvert, Donald, but to my joy, he was exactly what I needed for my intent. The youngest. The most insecure. Couldn’t make a move without Jack’s permission. I changed all that.

“We were engaged in less than three months. Jack cautioned Donald, more than once. Pressed him to break up with me. I taught him…I called Jack over to our apartment on the pretense that Donald wanted to see him.”

She laughed, almost giggled. “Oh, you should have seen his face when he saw me in a negligee. He couldn’t get out of there fast enough…except I had already arranged for Donald to come home.

“I had called him, all distressed, when Jack rang the buzzer. I told Donald that Jack was trying to rape me. When Donald walked in, I had Jack by the arm with my negligee ripped. Donald thought Jack was trying to hurt me…Donald was enraged.

“It broke the brothers apart,” she said proudly. Then her expression altered; her eyes hardened. “But it didn’t stop Jack from eloping with Anne…that little trollop. She convinced him to move to Charleston and leave it all behind. He did!”

“Daddy loved Momma.” Riley said the words before she thought. She had only angered Vivian more.

“He did? It didn’t last, did it?” Vivian aimed the gun straight at Riley. Lowering it slightly, she pressed her lips tightly together, as if considering her words carefully. “Ellis came into my life after Jack left Boston. He was so angry at Jack for leaving. After all Ellis had done for Jack…to have Jack up and desert him. His anger simmered into hate.”

Which I’m sure you encouraged!
 Riley left the words unspoken and slowly eased along the wall. A cold knot settled in the pit of her stomach.

“Hatred toward Jack gave us a connection…strange… Things I had only dreamed about—he taught me they were a means to an end.” Vivian’s eyes brightened as she remembered.

Riley said nothing. The woman was mad as a rabid dog. She was talking of Ellis as if he were the love of her life…a man she had tried to kill.