Taken (7 page)

The conversation at the table ended abruptly when one of the women spotted them. “Charlotte,” she said. “You have company.”

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Her grandmother turned her head, her blue eyes surprised but sparkling. Her cheeks were flushed, and her hair looked blonder, shorter; she must have gotten it cut recently. She was different, Kayla thought, younger, prettier, and definitely livelier than she’d been in the past two years. Why hadn’t she noticed the changes before? Had she been so caught up in her own problems?

“Kayla,” Charlotte said. “I didn’t know you were coming over. This is my granddaughter, girls.” She set her cards down and stood up. She was taller than Kayla, about five-foot-eight, and she moved across the room with energy and grace. She gave Kayla a hug and a kiss on the cheek before turning an inquisitive gaze on Nick.

“Have we met?”

“No. I’m —”

“Grandma — what is all this?” Kayla asked, cutting him off. She didn’t want him to say his name until she was ready.

“It’s Friday-night poker,” Charlotte replied. “The girls and I have a weekly game now. We’re very good at Texas Hold ’Em. When we get better, we’re going to take a bus trip to Tahoe and win some money.”

“What happened to bridge?” Kayla wasn’t sure she liked this new rendition of her grandmother.

“Bridge is an old lady’s game,” Charlotte replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Meet my friends. That’s Bernice in the yellow. She lives next door.”

“I remember. Hi, Bernice.”

“And next to her is Donna from church, and Kathleen, who has a condo a couple doors down.”

“Hello,” Kayla said as the women waved to her.

“Since Kayla hasn’t introduced us, I’m Charlotte Hirsch,” she said to Nick. “And you are . . . ?”

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“Nick Granville,” he said, shooting Kayla a pointed look that told her that if she wasn’t going to get on with it, he would.

“I was going to tell her,” Kayla said defensively.

“She asked; I answered,” he replied.

“I don’t understand. What’s going on?” Charlotte asked. “This isn’t Nick.”

“Actually, it is.” Kayla searched for the right way to begin, but what could she say that would make a confusing situation understandable? “I wish there were an easy way to tell you this, Grandma, but there isn’t, so I’m just going to say it. The man I married is not who he said he was. He took on Nick’s identity as a cover. His real name is Evan Chadwick.” She let the words sink in, then continued. “He lied to me about everything, and it appears that he’s not just a liar but also a thief. While Evan was living at Nick’s house, he stole his money, got into his bank accounts, and basically took over his life.”

Her grandmother’s jaw dropped in amazement. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, dear. You must be so upset, Kayla.”

“I’ve had better days.”

Charlotte nodded. “We need to talk.” She turned back to her friends, who were listening with avid curiosity.

“Ladies, if you’ll excuse me for a few minutes . . .”

“Take your time,” Bernice replied. “We’ll have a drink while you’re gone.”

Her grandmother led them into a small room off the living room where she did her sewing and reading.

She sat down with Kayla on the love seat while Nick hovered in the doorway. Kayla had a feeling none of them
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would be going anywhere until he had the answers he wanted.

“Now tell me again what’s happened,” Charlotte encouraged. “I’m not sure I heard it right.”

“You did. It’s just as unbelievable as it sounds,” Kayla replied. “I went by Nick’s house tonight, thinking I’d check to see if he was home, the way I’ve done every night for the last few weeks.” She waved her hand toward the man standing in the doorway. “This Nick answered the door. I was shocked to see him, and I didn’t want to believe that he was Nick Granville, but he proved to me that that is, in fact, the case.”

“Oh, my,” Charlotte said, her expression growing more disturbed by the moment. “You’re sure?” She sent Nick a wary look.

“I can show you my ID,” he said.

“I’m sure,” Kayla said. “I checked it out, Grandma.

Everything matches.”

“What happened to your husband then?”

“I don’t know. That’s what I need to figure out.”

“What a shocking story,” Charlotte said. “I can’t believe it.”

“Me either, but the facts are too real to ignore. Nick says that the man I married is someone he used to know, someone he went to school with. His real name is Evan Chadwick, and he’s a con artist.”

Charlotte turned her attention to Nick. “How do you know that?”

“I recognized Evan from Kayla’s wedding photo,” he replied. “I have no idea why he appeared now, or why he chose to impersonate me to your granddaughter.”

“He seemed like such a nice man,” Charlotte muttered,
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a troubled look in her eyes. “He had beautiful manners, and he was so charming.”

“That’s what I thought, too,” Kayla said, “but I was wrong. I screwed up, Grandma. I made a huge mistake. I married a man I didn’t really know, and look what happened.”

“Oh, honey, you didn’t do anything wrong; you just fell in love,” Charlotte said with a sympathetic smile.

“With the wrong guy.”

“Sometimes that happens.”

“Now I need to figure out why this Evan Chadwick married me and where he is,” Kayla said.

Her grandmother nodded in agreement. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Actually there is,” Nick cut in. “Kayla told me that she gave Evan a watch right before he disappeared, an old pocket watch that belonged to your husband.”

“You gave him your grandfather’s watch?” Charlotte asked in surprise. “Why? Why would you do that?”

Kayla was taken aback by her grandmother’s vehement response. She seemed far more upset by this piece of information than by any other. “You . . . you said to give it to the man I loved. Don’t you remember?”

“But . . .” Charlotte swallowed back the rest of her sentence. “Of course I told you that. I just didn’t realize you gave it to him before he disappeared. Why didn’t you tell me that before?”

“I didn’t think it was important. I forgot about it until now. I was worried about my husband’s safety. I wasn’t thinking about the watch. I’m sorry.” Kayla paused. “Was it valuable?”

Charlotte hesitated, her lips pressed together in a tight line. “It wasn’t valuable. It was just important to me. I
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guess it doesn’t matter now. I gave it to you. It was yours to do with as you wanted. I just didn’t realize that you’d given it away so quickly.”

“I never thought he would take it and disappear the way he did,” Kayla said.

“I know you didn’t. Well, it’s done. I guess that’s that.”

Charlotte stood up. “I should get back to my guests.”

Kayla was startled by the abrupt change in conversation. “All right.”

“It’s not done,” Nick interjected, barring the doorway.

“If Evan wanted that watch, he had a reason. According to Kayla, it’s the only thing he took from her. It has to be worth something. Can you describe it to me? Was it gold, silver? Is there any kind of history attached to it?”

“It was just an ordinary silver pocket watch. I have no idea of its history or where my husband got it. It was just something he treasured.” Charlotte turned back to Kayla.

“I think the best thing to do now is just go on with your life. The watch is gone. So is the man you married. Your relationship is over. It’s time to move on.”

Kayla had never suspected her grandmother could sound so callous, so dismissive, so cold. Charlotte was clearly angry that the watch was gone, but Kayla still wasn’t sure why. “I can’t move on until I find Evan,” she said. “I have to know why he did what he did. And I want to get that watch back for you. It obviously means more than I realized.”

Charlotte gave a quick, decisive shake of her head.

“No, the watch isn’t important anymore. Forget about it.”

“But it
is
important,” Kayla said. “You’re upset; I can see that.”

“I’m worried about you,” Charlotte replied. “Evan’s explanations won’t change anything. You made a misTA K E N

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take, Kayla. Just move forward. Trust me. Looking back is never a good idea.”

“Kayla might be able to move forward, but I can’t,”

Nick said, interrupting them once again. “Evan took a great deal more from me than a watch. He stole thousands of dollars, and God knows what else he did using my name.”

“I’m sorry for your losses, but they don’t have anything to do with Kayla,” Charlotte said sharply.

“She was with him the entire time Evan was impersonating me,” Nick replied.

“You can’t believe she was stealing from you.”

“At the moment, I’m willing to believe she was an un-witting victim, but I think that watch is the key to Evan’s game. So if there’s anything you can tell me about it, I hope you will.”

Charlotte looked Nick straight in the eye. “There’s really nothing else I can say. Now if you’ll excuse me . . .”

Nick reluctantly moved away from the door. “If you think of anything, you’ll let Kayla know?”

“Of course,” she replied. “I’ll see you out.”

Charlotte ushered them directly to the front door.

Kayla had never been kicked out of her grandmother’s house before. It felt very odd. As soon as the watch had been mentioned, her grandmother’s entire demeanor had changed. “I’m sorry we barged in on you,” she said quietly.

“It’s fine. Please just think about letting this go, Kayla.” Charlotte sent her a pleading look. “I really believe it’s for the best.”

“I can’t do that,” Kayla replied as disappointment filled her grandmother’s eyes.

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“I see. Well, good night.” As soon as they’d stepped onto the porch, Charlotte shut the door behind them, sliding the dead bolt into place.

“What the hell was that about?” Nick asked, an annoyed gleam in his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“Your grandmother went a little nuts when we told her the watch was missing. She did not want to help us.”

“She did act a little odd,” Kayla admitted, still not sure exactly why. “I never thought the watch was a big deal.

She never made it sound that important. It was just sentimental.”

“She’s hiding something,” Nick said. “The question is what?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. My grandmother is the most honest person I know,” Kayla defended, but deep down inside she knew her grandmother’s behavior had been off. Something bothered her about the watch being gone, something she hadn’t wanted to tell them.

“We’ll just have to get the information we need somewhere else,” Nick said as they walked back to the car.

“You obviously saw the watch. What did it look like?

Can you describe it?”

She paused by the car door, picturing the watch in her mind. “There was an engraving on the front, the outline of a building, spires, columns, that kind of thing,” she said slowly. “On the back was the phrase ‘of Heaven Await.’ ”

“What does that mean?” Nick asked.

“I don’t know. I guess my grandfather just liked the words. He was a religious man.”

“What else?” Nick asked.

“The watch flipped open like your basic pocket watch.

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It hung on a silver chain.” She bit down on her bottom lip as she thought for a moment. “There were two initials on the inside cover. They were very small. I think maybe the letters were
D
and
R
.”

“Not your grandfather’s initials?”

“No, his name was Edward Hirsch. I assume they belonged to the person who made the watch.”

A light of excitement flashed in his eyes. “Could be.

What else? What about a photograph of the watch? Does one exist?”

“I don’t know. I suppose there could be a picture of my grandfather wearing the watch.”

“Where would the photos be? Please don’t tell me with your grandmother.”

“Actually, no. My grandmother moved out of her house, which is now my house, two years ago, and she left a lot behind. She said she wanted to start fresh some-place new.”

“So if there are photos, those albums would be . . . ?”

“In the attic at my house.”

“Let’s go.” As he opened the car door for Kayla, she looked back at the condo, surprised to see a curtain flutter against the window. Had her grandmother been watching them? Was she simply worried, or was there something more going on? If she couldn’t trust her grandmother, who could she trust?

It was almost ten o’clock that night when Kayla finally led Nick up to the attic of her house. They’d stopped for pizza and wine on the way back from her grandmother’s condo, and after the initial awkwardness, they’d actually managed to converse about neutral topics like movies, books, and the weather, carefully staying away from the
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personal events of the past month. The breather had helped her get her head together. While she wouldn’t say they were comfortable with each other now, she was feeling a lot less tense, although that might have had something to do with the wine.

She would have liked to put off going through the attic until the next day, when she would have had a chance to think about everything she had learned, but Nick was like a runaway train; he couldn’t be stopped. He didn’t seem to understand that she needed more than a few minutes to come to terms with the fact that the man she’d married had lied to her about the very basics of his identity. Nick just wanted her to get on with the task of finding Evan.

And she did want to find Evan, more than she wanted anything. She wasn’t sure that a photograph would tell Nick what he wanted to know, but she suspected he needed something specific to focus on, something that would give him a way to fight back.

She entered the attic with some trepidation. It had been years since she’d come up here, and she vaguely remembered piles and piles of junk. She paused in the doorway to turn on the light, little more than a bare bulb hanging on a chain. The musty, dusty room was even more clut-tered than she remembered, littered with old pieces of furniture stacked on top of one another and dozens of boxes that had accumulated in the last forty or fifty years.