The Witness (11 page)

“Everything okay?”

He sighed. “It will be.”

“You were talking with Sam.”

Susan didn’t know what had absorbed him so much over the last years, but she knew the edges of it. “The trouble’s contained for now at least. How are the steaks?”

“Ready for the grill anytime.”

He heard the doorbell ring. “That will be our guests.”

He rose and joined his sister and went to meet Daniel and Amy’s sister Marie.

Chapter Six

WHAT WAS SHE SUPPOSED TO WEAR to a press conference? Marie knew she was stalling getting ready, but the rebellious part of her wanted an excuse to avoid today. This sunny Friday had one huge obstacle in her path.

“I’ve got a sister who it turns out is only my half sister, a father I met but didn’t know was my dad, a cousin who has read private-detective reports on me … it gets mind-boggling how this day is ending compared to how it began, Luke.”

Her words last night to the chief of police still echoed in her mind. She’d had the nerve to call the man Luke. He’d asked her to, but still… two days ago she would have demurred the invitation and left it at Mr. Granger if she’d dared even go beyond sir. She’d gone a bit mad yesterday: there was no other explanation for just about flirting with a cop who stopped by to check security or finding the nerve to call the chief of police by his first name. There was a reason her gallery was in the recovering part of downtown—she didn’t like the wealthy and powerful as a rule; they made her nervous. Yesterday the nerves had been gone, numbed under the unexpected weight of what had happened. Today the nerves were back to normal and out in full force.

“Mandy, I wish you were here.”

She whispered the words as she chose a dress to wear. If she was going down blushing and stammering before the cameras, at least it would be in one of her best outfits. Mandy had been a natural with crowds, with people, fearless and bold. Tracey would do fine at a news conference too—she liked public speaking. But Marie was glad Tracey was still skiing; there were going to be too many people seeing this news conference for comfort. She couldn’t protect her sister like Mandy could have done, but she would do her best.

God, give me courage. I need to be able to get through this day some-how without falling apart and embarrassing my family
. The whispered words were a plea, one of many since last night, but at least a reassurance she wasn’t facing this entirely alone. She’d thought losing Mandy would destroy her, and for years her relationship with God had been more anger and tears and pain than conversation, but slowly the relationship was rebuilding. God was still with her, even after the losses of the last years. That mattered enough to trust Him as these new events slammed into her. She didn’t know yet what to think of it all—whether this was a good turn or one that she would come to regret in the days ahead.

She brushed out her hair a final time and conceded it was the best she could look. She slipped on her long coat and made a point of locking the apartment door behind her before walking downstairs. Daniel had offered to pick her up, but it was just not in her to be focused and smiling and on as soon as she walked out her front door today. She wanted at least that drive time to get a handle on her nerves.

The street bustled with people on their way to work, several carrying hot coffee cups steaming in the cool air, and she thought about stopping at the deli for a bagel and coffee for herself but changed her mind when her stomach again rebelled at the idea of food. Maybe saltines would stay down. She could stop in at the corner store on the way to her car.

“You look quite lovely this morning.”

Her turn was too fast to be elegant, and her blush already too high in her face to avoid showing her embarrassment. She smiled at Connor because she didn’t have words and wildly wondered what he was doing standing outside her building helping hold up the wall.

He held up keys as he pushed himself away from the wall. “Even if you want to drive yourself to the press conference, there’s no way you’re going to want to drive yourself back. So keep smiling and say yes when I offer to take you.”

She didn’t keep smiling, but she did shift her weight on her moderate high heels and let pleasure take the place of panic. “That’s thoughtful of you, Connor.” He looked good this morning, casually dressed in jeans and a button-down checked shirt. There was less fatigue in his face, she thought, noticing the small changes in a face she still thought she might like to paint. The wind was blowing his dark hair across his forehead and adding another wave to those already naturally there.

“So say yes.”

“I’m supposed to meet the contractor coordinating the security changes at nine-thirty first. Daniel arranged it.”

“I know. Peter Towns; he does good work. I just sent him off to get me a coffee. Got extra keys for him? And a list of anything else you thought of?”

She pulled a key ring out of her pocket. “Gallery, apartment, storage rooms—the works. And the list Daniel faxed me this morning was already breathtaking. Is there anything you didn’t recommend changing?”

“I really liked that doorbell you’ve got—the screaming screech. That isn’t changing.”

“It does that because it’s broken; it has been for as long as I’ve lived here.”

“So maybe we’ll compromise, and he can just fix it.” Connor slipped his hand under her arm and turned her without making a big deal of it toward the deli. “We’ll drop the keys off in passing. I’m parked that way anyway. You’ll have new keys for everything tonight, by the way, and a couple extra sets.”

“The contractors will be done today?”

“Sounds like it. The toughest job is the windows, but Peter brought along a full crew of guys. Four hours, five if the doorframes turn out to need to be rebuilt, and you’ll have both security and comfort. No more getting surprised to find a guy lurking outside your front door.”

She laughed at that, because the thought of a cop lurking struck her as funny. Anything would strike her as funny this morning, but he smiled with her laugh, and she let herself relax a bit more. “Is that the only reason you’re picking me up this morning, because I might not want to drive myself home later?”

“Granger did mention he thought you might like someone absolutely normal around today. And I can do a really good bad-cop routine when the occasion demands it if the reporters should happen to get pushy.”

He opened the door to the deli. “Peter’s the guy in the red jacket. He likes to stand out in a crowd.”

The man in the red jacket stepped away from the counter carrying a tray. “I’m not hard of hearing yet, Connor, stand out in a crowd indeed. I had them put skim milk in yours; you’ve been gaining weight again.”

Marie met a man close to being her grandfather’s age as he handed the cop with her the second coffee on the tray. “For you, Marie, I got hot chocolate. Even if you don’t want to drink it, holding something warm will mean he can’t go reaching for your hand like a young courting man.”

She bubbled in laughter because he winked at her.

“I built that building you’re now occupying, laid a good number of those bricks when my hands were still too soft to have calluses. I figure I can fix it up for you while you’re off being questioned by those reporters. Anything you want to add to the boy’s list?”

She swallowed hard at the thought of Connor as a boy but gamely bobbed her head. “It’s a good starting list, and you can feel free to add whatever else you think he has missed to it.”

“Good answer.”

Connor held out her key ring. “I do, however, like the doorbell.”

“Old screech? Sure, I thought you might. I put that in for the grandkids that used to spend their Saturdays pushing the button and darting away down the sidewalk. Now get going before you’re late, and drive her nice, Connor. No sirens and speed just because you’ve got the toys.”

Connor leaned over and kissed the man’s cheek. “Yeah. Bye, Gramps. She’ll be back sometime this afternoon.”

Marie kept her hands firmly around the cup of hot chocolate and didn’t try to come up with a good-bye as Connor steered her out of the deli. “That’s your grandfather?” she whispered.

“On my mother’s side—when he claims me.”

“I like him.”

Connor grinned at her. “So now you’ve met two people who aren’t going to care that you are rich. Think you’ll meet a few more today?”

“Probably not.”

“Then I’m in exclusive company. I like that, and Gramps is too old to do much more than flirt.”

She laughed so hard she nearly bobbled her hot chocolate. “Thank you, Connor.”

“Nerves gone?”

“Entirely.”

He nodded, satisfied. “We aim to please. The car’s over this way.”

“Do you plan to challenge the will and the fact more was left to a nephew than his own daughters?”

Marie struggled against the lights to know which direction she should face to answer that question. The reporter who asked it had already shot four zingers her way, and she could feel the anger turning her stomach into knots. “No, the will provisions are fine. Next question?”

“Will the charity work you spoke about be concentrated in this community?”

“We’ll coordinate with the already generous giving Daniel has announced and see what else we might do together, mainly in the area of literacy and the arts for youth.” She smiled at the reporter she could see off to the right of the bright lights. “Yes, your question?”

“What’s the
T
stand for? Your middle name?”

“I could say my mother never told me, and I think I wisely never asked; but I’ll simply say it’s not worth repeating.”

Low laughter told her she’d at least made one clean answer. “Yes?” She nodded to the man beside Daniel.

“Would you characterize your reaction as grateful, stunned, surprised? How’s it feel to be told you have a rich father?”

“I already have a very rich father in God; this just closes a loophole I wasn’t aware of here on earth. And it is nice to know the man I met through the gallery was also the man my mother loved many years ago.”

Daniel was moving toward the podium now, and she was relieved to have only a couple more questions to go in her self-imposed fifteen minutes of fame. “Yes?”

“Are you planning to settle in this area or are you going to travel the world for a while and choose somewhere more, say … warm and sunny … as the place you’ll reside?”

Laughter met the reporter’s question.

“While Hawaii has its appeal for the next month, this is home. I’m comfortable we’ll stay in this area.”

“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.” Daniel took over the podium with an ease she could only envy, one hand sliding into his pocket and the other resting against her lower back to keep her from immediately turning for the privacy of the hall. “As you’ve asked many times for more details on the trust and will arrangements of my uncle’s estate, and given they will be public knowledge once signed by the judge, I’ve arranged for copies to be available today; please see my assistant, and she’ll be able to provide them for you. On behalf of the family I’d like to caution again that interview requests should come through the Benton Group if you want to have any chance of hearing a yes. We’ll be coordinating several over the course of the next two weeks. I thank you for your time and your patience; that concludes the press conference.”

He nodded toward the back, and the technician killed the microphone. Daniel offered a smile and whispered, “You just survived your first trip into the lions’ den.” He shook his head at the reporters beginning to crowd forward and gestured toward the side door. “What do you say to a few minutes of walking through the roses to relax?”

He had her through the crowd before she realized he’d maneuvered them through. Once out of the small auditorium she took her first deep breath and smiled at him. “Thank you, Daniel. I couldn’t have done that without you.”

“You did great.”

“Better than great,” Connor added, and she turned to see him behind her. “Security needs you out front, Daniel, something about a legal filing?”

“The tender offer was arriving today; thanks, Connor. Keep Marie company? I won’t be a minute.”

“Not a problem at all.”

Marie smiled at Connor and took the soda can he held out. “So I did okay?”

“Massacred them, Marie; though I thought that question about your dress was going to throw you.”

“She’s the fashion editor for the paper. I saw her early on and had prepared for that one. She’s one of the few reporters I at least knew by name.”

“Well, they all know yours now. I imagine there won’t be many quiet walks to the deli for coffee in the next few weeks without someone asking you a question about something.”

She drank her soda and just smiled at him. “That’s tomorrow’s problem.”

“Your nerves are gone again. I like that. My company seems to work wonders.”

“I think it’s called relief. I heard via the grapevine that it’s your day off. Why did you stay? I know you were going to give me a ride home, but Daniel could do that.”

Connor laughed. “And miss the biggest news event of the day?” He let her off the hook with a shift in the question. “As for the day off—I decided to spend it flirting with you. My grandfather is so far my only serious competition; I think I can take him.”