Ring of Lies (30 page)

She
gave him a sidelong glance.
‘
What did you say?
’

Jack kept his eyes on the road.
‘
Nothing.
’

The town of Boca
Grande could be summed up in two
wo
rds—
small and quaint.
Grace counted two real estate offices, a post office and a couple of clothing
stores, as well as a restaurant housed in what appeared to be an old railroad station.
Down one of the side streets she spotted
a
sign for the island bakery.
Directly outside stood a pink gas pump.
Nearly everyone they passed on the road dro
ve
a golf cart rather than
an
expensive,
gas-guzzling car.

‘
I feel as if I’ve stepped back in time
,
’
Grace said, as she climbed out of the
car
.
‘
It’s like that TV show
they
’re
always repeating
on British
t
elevision
—
The Prisoner
.
I half expect a big white balloon to come rolling down the street
.
’

Jack grinned
, took her arm, and steered her toward the restaurant
.
‘
I saw the re-runs of that show on the Sci-Fi channel.
The guy was a spy and
continually
tr
ied
to escape.
Charlotte, my sister, had a crush on the
star
,
whatever his name was.
He was in
Secret Agent
and
a couple of movies
, too
.
Her bedroom walls were plastered with his
pictures
.
I used to tease
her
until she got so mad, she’d throw
shoes
at me.
Did I ever tell you high heels make painful weapons?
’

‘
No, you didn’t.
Is that a joke?
’

‘
A
very bad one, I guess.
’

Grace sighed.
‘
Do you want to eat inside or out?
’

‘
Inside.
Now that the sun has
set, the
temperature
ha
s drop
ped by a few degrees
.
It can get mighty chilly all of a sudden on islands like this.
’

They passed a
party
of
noisy teenagers
sat under one of the many umbrellas shading the tables in front and found a table in the corner of the dining room.
The menu wasn’t extensive but if the number of diners crowded into the small room was anything to go by,
the food was
excellent
.

‘
I didn’t know you had a sister
,
’
Grace said after the waitress had taken their order.

‘
There’s a lot you don’t know about me.
Charlotte
’s
older by eight years
.
’

‘
And
I’m
five years
older than
Catherine
.
She was still at school when our parents died.
I gave up university and took a job to support her.
’

‘
Is that where you met
Daniel
,
at
university
?
’

Grace shook her head
.
B
ronze-gold curls glistened in the glow from the overhead light.
‘
No, I’d left by then and
was working as a secretary
for
a firm of accountants when Daniel joined the compa
ny
as an associate
.
We dated
for
three
months
before
he
proposed
.
We we’re married two months later.
A year after that, Daniel and Shaun set up their own
practice
.
’

‘
Did you go work for them
?
Y
ou’d have been a natural, managing the office.
’

Grace shook her head.
‘
I offered, but
Daniel insisted
I give up work as soon as we were married.
’

‘
That’s a shame.
I can see you keeping things going.
’

Grace winced.
‘
He said I wasn’t
cut out for it.
I don’t have the level of business
acumen Daniel needs…
Daniel needed.
’

Jack just let it slide.
‘
Are Daniel’s parents alive? Did he have any siblings?
’

‘
His parents died before we met
and he was an only child.
’

‘
What about
Catherine
?
She’d have been what,
fif
teen
when you and Daniel married
?
’

‘
Sixteen.
She
’d
just
finished
taking her GCSE’s and wanted to study for her ‘A’ levels so that she could go on to university
.
I didn’t have
it
in my heart to deny her the chance of further education.
Daniel agreed to help
with
the fees
if
she
studied hard and
got the necessary grades
.
’

‘
I hope she appreciates all you’ve done for her
.
’

Grace
’s smile faded.
She
looked away.
Catherine
was demanding
.
Rarely said ‘thank you’ no matter how small the
favo
u
r
, and more often than not,
placed her needs above those of others.

‘
I can’t exactly say.
Catherine
is—
’

‘
Selfish
?
’

‘
What makes you say that?
’

‘
Well, it’s obvious.
She’d be with you now
,
if she wasn’t.
’

‘
Catherine
has a high profile career
.
She’s rarely in the office and spends most of her time on the road.
’

‘
Did she and Daniel get along?
’
Jack asked
,
as their server approached the table
with their
order
.

Grace regarded him with a speculative gaze.
‘
Why the
sudden
interest in
my sister
?
’

‘
I’m just trying to get a picture of Daniel’s life
and that of the people around him
, that’s all.
’

‘
Daniel and
Catherine
got along fine.
He
said
she was the sister he’d always wanted, but never had.
Once she started
university
she
rarely
came home during term time.
When
she graduated, she
and a friend
rented
a flat
in Clapham
.
E
ight months ago she bought a place
of her own.
’

‘
Unless things are different, p
roperty in
the city
is
pretty
expensive.
How did she afford to buy an apartment?
’