Jaden (St. Sebastians Quartet #1) (6 page)

The gate was open, so Chris pulled in.

The state of the property within the gate was even worse than he remembered. The grass was overgrown and there were weeds everywhere. The flagstone path was broken in places, with weeds growing up through cracks and fissures. He knew there was a maze on the property, and he shuddered to think what it would take to get it back in shape. But then he saw the house. It loomed ahead, at the end of the driveway. While the rest of the property was in disrepair, the house continued to look regal and stately. Sure, there were things that would need to be fixed and updated, but from where he was sitting, the house was incredible. It was two stories, but it flowed with the land it was built on, curving off toward the backyard on the right side of the house. The left side of the house was bookended by a patio. Further left of the patio was the garden and maze, although Kenda couldn't see it from the car.

"Wow!" Kenda said, at last.

"I know. It's a lot of work, but can you imagine the result?"

"If I could buy this place, I'd buy it today."

"You and me both. Oh," Chris pointed out the window. "There she is on the patio."

They parked, then got out and walked to her, Kenda marveling at the beauty of a woman for the second time in two days. Though, he could tell she was much older than Jaden, she was stunning. Her long, dark hair fell to her waist. He'd never seen a woman with hair that long. Though, he wasn't sure of her heritage. She could have been black, Hispanic, or even Middle Eastern. Her features didn't match any one ethnic group. She was dressed in a flowing green dress that fell to a few inches below her knees. And she had on red heels that should have made it difficult for her to maneuver around the overgrown property. But she didn't look winded or out of sorts when they approached her. Rather, her face seemed to glow with good health, and her smile stunned him anew.

"Christopher and Kenda Browning," she announced, approaching them on her stilts and offering a hand. "I'm so pleased to meet you both."

Chris took her hand first, shook. Kenda followed suit.

"Please, call me Chris."

She stood there for a moment, staring from one of them to the other. Nodding, she said so quietly he nearly didn't hear her, "I think they've finally gotten it right." Louder, she announced. "This will do."

"Um..." Chris started, then trailed off. "...You mean..."

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. I want to hire your company."

"Well, there's the matter of—"

"Well of course I plan to show you around first. Don't be so silly." She clapped her hands once and laughed a bit.

Kenda looked at Chris, who looked as befuddled as Kenda felt.

"Cash," she said. "I hope that's all right."

"Well, of course."

"You should know," Kenda began, "that people believe the house is—"

"Haunted. Yes, I know." She turned in place, the smile still fixed to her face. "A good ghost story really adds to the ambiance of the place, don't you think?"

"Well..." Kenda stalled.

"Let me show you around."

They started in the garden. Kenda had a pad with him and a small camera to take pictures. The original garden had been colorful and vibrant. Although everything was dead now, as they walked and she spoke of different flowers that had been planted, he began to get an image in his mind.

"How can you be so sure?" Kenda asked. "I can see the garden is clearly marked, but for most of the plants, there's no way to be sure what was planted here."

"Oh, I didn't tell you?" She swept an arm out, indicating the garden as a whole.

"Tell us what?" Chris asked.

"There's a journal. A garden journal, complete with illustrations of flowers and..." she paused to look at them over her shoulder and smile, "...and the purchase history of domestic flowers and some of the more exotic ones. Mrs. Lancaster loved her flowers. You can see that love in the way she wrote about them. And the care." She stopped walking again. "You do have someone on staff that can restore the garden? And it's to be a restoration, not a new design. I want it to look exactly the way it looked when the Lancaster family was here."

"Of course," Kenda said. "We don't have any gardeners on staff, but we will contract out for this project."

There were a number of overgrown bushes. Kenda imagined they'd originally been placed strategically around the garden. Now they seemed like nothing more than a mass of shrubs. No shape or discernible form, just a blob of green.

There were also water fountains. They were cracked and covered in mold, but at one time he'd bet the entire tableau had been a wonder. Then there was the sound of the ocean. The further they walked, the more he could hear the waves crashing far below. If he looked out into the distance he could see the ocean. This property seemed almost magical.

"You've got a real treasure on your hands," Chris was saying. "Once we return your home to its former glory, it's going to be a showplace."

Off to his left and down an incline, a mass of tall hedges came into view. Branches jutted out in every direction and leaves, long dead, rotted nearby. The hedges towered at least twelve feet high.

"Is that the maze?" he asked.

She looked to where he was pointing, then nodded. "That's the last thing I want you to tackle. It may be the biggest project."

"Can I see it?"

She stared at it for a moment, shook her head. "I don't think today would be good. There's still a path inside, if you can believe that."

"After all these years?"

"Yes, but it's treacherous. The branches are sharp and they cut, and you're not dressed to be wading through an overgrown maze."

"What's that further in? Round and gray? You can see it over the top of the bushes."

She waved this off. "Some kind of sculpture. I'm not sure. I haven't been to the center of the maze, but the journal talks about the construction of a water sculpture to be placed at the center of the maze."

Suddenly, Kenda wanted to see that sculpture. He wanted to see that maze. True, he wasn't dressed for it, but he had other suits. "Are you sure we can't go inside today?"

"No. Another day, when you're dressed properly."

She and Chris continued on, but he lingered where he was. Maybe he could find pictures of it online. There had to be something from when the murders happened.

"Kenda?"

Kenda looked ahead at Chris, who'd called him. Kenda looked at the maze one last time.

*****

The day had been an odd one, to say the least. They had gotten the job to do the Lancaster Mansion remodel without putting forth much effort at all. And the money; Kenda couldn't wrap his head around making so much money on one job.

Kenda stepped into his house and headed for the kitchen. One thing was for sure, he'd been so focused on gathering everything that was needed for a remodel that he hadn't had a minute to think about his beautiful new neighbor. But now that he was home, he realized he'd be seeing her in just a few hours.

"If she goes for Chris, or Tyler, or Nico, no big deal," he told himself. He reached in his fridge and got out a bottle of water. "It's happened before, it'll happen again. No biggie."

But he thought he just might feel differently this time around, if this one edged toward one of the other guys. He actually wanted this one. So he had to do his best not to blend in like wallpaper. He had to make sure she noticed him somehow, he had to be more engaging than them.

"Right," he said, then took a swig of water. "That'll be the day."

CHAPTER SIX

Jaden couldn't believe how quickly the day had flown by. She'd split her day between the historical society and the St. Sebastians Museum. She hadn't learned anything. Sure, she knew how St. Sebastians had come to be a town, and when it had become a town, but there'd been nothing in the pages and pages of documents, and letters, and newspaper clippings that gave her a clue as to why the Man in White would want her out of this town. Now it was close to six, and she hadn't even started getting ready. She'd come home around three, sat on the bed for a minute to rest her legs, and had promptly fallen asleep.

By the time she got to the gallery it was close to eight and a small line had formed at the entrance.

Jaden had never seen an art gallery quite like this. As Hayley had said, the St. Sebastians Downtown Mall wasn't really a mall. It was a boardwalk. All of the shops looked out onto the ocean. Some shop keepers had put benches out in front of their shop, while others had set up ornate, wrought iron tables and chairs. It was all very pretty and picturesque. Again, the thought came to her that being in St. Sebastians was like living in a fairy tale.

Hayley had told her to go around back and knock. Was it too late to do that? Only one way to find out.

She had to walk to the end of the block, turn left, then walked until she could find a side street that would take her down behind the buildings. There was a narrow alley, large enough for a van, behind all of the shops. Jaden supposed this was the only way for shop owners to easily get items into or out of their shops. Not to mention park. It was a bit narrow for delivery trucks, but she supposed they managed.

She walked down the alley, looking at the backs of the shops. Incredibly, the rear entries were nearly as nice as the front. There was a line of parking spaces against a tall, black fence that bordered the alley. She didn't see many cars. Probably in a place like this, people walked or rode bikes everywhere.

It didn't take her long to get to the gallery. She was pleased to find there wasn't a line out back. She knocked softly at the door. Almost immediately she heard Hayley's voice.

"Jaden, is that you? You're late."

The door opened to reveal Hayley. She was gorgeous. She'd slicked her hair back and held it in place with a simple black clip at the nape of her neck. Instead of the bright pastels Jaden had been expecting, Hayley had dressed simply in a black, sleeveless sheath that came to just above her knees. The only bit of whimsy were her open toe sandals. She wasn't overly dressy, but not casual either. The look was stunning.

"Wow," Jaden said. "You clean up nice."

"You're not too bad yourself."

Jaden had worn the beige dress with spaghetti straps and high-heeled sandals Jaden had picked out for her that afternoon. The dress was shorter than she typically would have worn, but the cut made her look thin. As soon as she'd put it on she'd felt a bit like maybe she did belong in St. Sebastians.

"Come in. What do you want to drink?"

"Riesling."

"Whiskey," Hayley looked at Jaden over her shoulder and grinned. "You're going to have a good time tonight."

"I don't drink hard liquor." Except after I have nightmares about my ghost and wake up with bruises on my face, she thought.

"Just one glass. That's all you'll need."

Hayley paused in the back hall and pointed to the left. "That's the door to my office and my private bathroom. If you have to go, go here."

Jaden laughed. "Thanks."

In a few steps they were in the main gallery. Jaden scanned the room quickly and located a bar at the far end of the room. It had been set up for the occasion, but it had been tastefully done. It didn't clash with the art. There was also a register, and a jazz quartet in a corner of the gallery. As galleries went, this one was nice. The walls were stark white, as were the floor and ceiling. It would have seemed sterile if not for the bar and band. Then she saw the art. Jaden crossed the gallery, staring at the paintings. She hadn't known what she'd been expecting, but it wasn't this. This was dark. There was misery in the paintings. Misery and suffering. This was the stuff of nightmares.

She focused in on one of the paintings as she walked. The reds and blacks played out against the faces of the people on the canvass. Their mouths were open, as though they were screaming. That they were screaming and not singing was obvious. Their eyes were furrowed. Their bodies were bent, as if they were in physical pain. But the most disturbing aspect of the painting was the shadow of a broad figure. A man? The shadow loomed over the people, barely visible, but unmistakable.

It was like her nightmare of the Red World.

"Who did this?" Jaden asked.

Hayley shrugged. "Guess."

"I can't guess. I don't know anybody here except—this is yours? You're the artist? You did this?" Jaden hadn't meant to sound so accusatory, but she couldn't help it. The paintings were shocking.

If Hayley had taken offense, she didn't give an indication. She simply smiled and nodded. "What's the fun of owning a gallery if you can't display your own work. This is my first show."

"But where did the inspiration come from?"

Hayley tapped a finger against her temple. "It's all up here."

"I'd never guess this was in your head." Jaden realized how that had sounded. "Not that there's anything wrong with this."

Hayley nudged the side of the painting with a finger, "I understand. It's very dark. People don't see me that way. But there's darkness in all of us. Don't you think?"