Garden of Secrets (3 page)

“This is crazy,” she muttered. “What do you think happened?”

“Too soon to tell.”

“Who would rob her in the middle of a party? It’s so bold.”

“And personal,” he said, thinking about what kind of thief he was dealing with.

“Like a friend?”

“Obviously not a very good one.” He tilted his head to the side, giving her a thoughtful look. “Did you see anything? I saw you come down the stairs just before the housekeeper screamed.”

“No, I didn’t see a thing,” she said, stumbling a bit. “The lights went off, and it was pitch black.”

“Did you hear a scream? An argument? Anyone call for help?”

“I heard a lot of screams when everything went dark. But nothing that sounded like someone was in trouble.”

“What were you doing up here, Charlotte?”

“Looking for a bathroom,” she said, not quite meeting his gaze.

He didn’t know what to make of her evasiveness. Charlotte wouldn’t hurt anyone. She was a kind, generous person who went out of her way to help people, but there was something she wasn’t telling him.

Before he could probe further, he saw the housekeeper hovering in the doorway.

“Mrs. Monroe is still alive?” she asked, taking a few tentative steps into the room. She wore a black dress with dark stockings and flat shoes. Her black hair was streaked with gray and pulled back in a tight bun, no evidence of makeup on her rather plain face.

“Yes,” he said. “They’re going to take her to the hospital.”

“Thank God.” She made the sign of the cross on her chest. “I was worried. She was so still. And there was so much blood.”

“What’s your name?”

“Constance Garcia,” she said a bit warily.

“You found her, Constance?” the mayor interrupted, stepping into the bedroom as the paramedics put Theresa on a stretcher.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Did you see anyone else near this room?” Joe asked. “In the hallway or on the stairs?”

The maid hesitated for a moment, her gaze darting from him to the mayor and then to Charlotte. She lifted her hand, pointing right at Charlotte. “I saw her.”

“Charlotte?” Robert asked in surprise. “What were you doing up here?”

Charlotte stiffened, obviously hearing the accusation in the mayor’s voice. “I was looking for a bathroom. I was in the hall when the lights went out. I didn’t see Theresa.”

“Are you sure? You never liked her,” Robert said, suspicion edging his voice.

“That’s not true,” Charlotte said, paling under his harsh words.

“Theresa didn’t want to invite you, but she felt she had to because her grandmother and your mother are friends. She said you’d been horrible to her sister. That you’d always been jealous of them.” His voice rose as he took a step forward.

Joe moved quickly between them. “You need to
go to the hospital with your wife. Let us take care of the investigation.”

Robert hesitated, then said through tight lips, “You find out who did this, Silveira. I want to know who almost killed Theresa.”

“I will.”

Charlotte let out a breath as the room cleared. Her eyes were worried. “Joe, you don’t think I had anything to do with this, do you? I’m not a thief, and I would never attack someone.”

“Is there bad blood between you and Theresa?” he asked curiously. He had never heard of anyone not liking Charlotte.

“Her sister, Pamela, and I didn’t get along in high school, but that was a dozen years ago. Theresa and I aren’t best friends, but we’re civil to each other. She did invite me to the party. I think she wanted to show off her house and her diamonds, but that’s just who she is. I doubt half the people here are really her friends.”

He knew Theresa well enough to agree with Charlotte’s assessment. While he’d managed to maintain a good working relationship with the mayor, he was very aware that while the Monroes thought they ran the place, there were many people who thought they should be run out of town. Unfortunately, the only person in the vicinity of the attack, according to the maid’s recollection, was Charlotte.

“Why did you lie about your reason for coming upstairs?” he asked.

She bristled at his words. “I didn’t lie.”

“You’re hiding something. What is it?”

She gave him an irritated look. “Fine. I wanted to leave the house before midnight, but there were too many people between me and the front door when the countdown started. So I came up the stairs, thinking I’d find a bathroom and wait for a few minutes and then go.”

“It’s a New Year’s Eve party. Why would you leave before midnight?”

Her cheeks grew warmer. “I had my reasons.”

“I need a better answer.”

“That’s all I have.”

He gave her a long look. “Who were you running away from, Charlotte?”

She stared back at him. “Do you really want to know?”

Joe’s gut clenched.
Did
he want to know? He’d been walking a fine line with her for a long time.

On his way to the party, he’d been thinking about changing that. Soon he would be officially divorced, single for the first time in more than ten years. It was both terrifying and exhilarating to know that he couldn’t possibly predict what would happen next.

Charlotte cleared her throat. “Never mind. You wouldn’t understand.” She glanced around the room. “It looks like someone searched the room. Do you think the thief took more than what Theresa was wearing?”

“Quite possibly,” he said shortly. This wasn’t the time to think about his personal life. “Why don’t we go into the hall?” He led her into the corridor, careful not to touch anything. He needed to preserve the crime scene.

“What happens now?” she asked.

“We’ll take names, statements, fingerprints, and
search the guests before they leave. Everyone who was here at the time the lights went off is a suspect.”

“Even you?”

“Even me.”

“Well, I’m glad to know I’m not alone.” An odd look flashed through her eyes. “Someone passed me in the hall after the lights went out. They brushed against my arm.”

His pulse quickened. “Man or woman?”

“I’m not sure. The only thought I had at the time was that they seemed to be moving awfully fast in the dark, as if they knew where they were going. I wonder if Theresa saw who hit her.”

“That would be helpful. Tell me more about your problems with Theresa.”

She sighed. “My grievance was only with her younger sister. And it’s ancient history.”

“What happened?”

Frowning, she asked, “Do we really have to get into it, Joe?”

“Since the mayor has brought it up, yes. I need to know what he knows.”

“Andrew cheated on me with Pamela in our senior year of high school. In return, I called her few names, which she deserved.”

“You blamed her, not Andrew?” He never understood why scorned women always seemed to give their boyfriends the benefit of the doubt while laying the blame on the other woman.

A spark of anger lit up Charlotte’s eyes. “Of course I blamed Andrew. He betrayed me, broke my
trust, and hurt me more than I had thought possible. But Pamela threw their relationship in my face every chance she got. And stealing Andrew wasn’t her first offense; she went after a lot of boyfriends. I wasn’t the only one who disliked her.”

“No, but you were the only one in this hallway tonight.”

“But Pamela wasn’t attacked. I have no reason to assault Theresa. And where on earth would I even hide a diamond necklace in this dress?”

The form-fitting dress hugged her body like a second skin, which he very much appreciated. Charlotte had full breasts and sweet hips, curves just made for a man’s hands.

“Okay, stop undressing me,” she ordered, a slight flush reddening her cheeks.

He couldn’t help smiling. “You look beautiful tonight, Charlotte.”

Her tension eased slightly. “Thank you. So what now?”

“I’ll wait here until my officers can seal the room and run forensics.”

“The new year isn’t off to a very good start, is it?”

“I certainly wasn’t anticipating this on my first day back in town.”

“How’s your father doing?”

“Much better now. I didn’t want to leave L.A. until I felt confident he was out of the woods. He still has some rehab ahead of him, but he’s a fighter. He won’t give up.”

“I’m glad. You’re close to him, aren’t you?”

“We haven’t spent much time together in the past few years, but he was a good father to me. Tough, fair, a big believer in doing things the right way. He taught me a lot.”

“Now I know who you take after.”

He smiled. “I try.”

“Did Isabella come back with you?”

“He nodded. “My sister is officially staying at my house, but I doubt I’ll see much of her. She and Nick Hartley are spending a lot of time together these days. He came down to L.A. with his daughter over the holidays so he could meet the family.”

“Sounds like they’re getting serious.”

“It looks that way.”

He needed to send Charlotte downstairs. He needed to go back into the bedroom and look around. He needed to do a half-dozen other things besides talk to her. None of them involved moving closer to Charlotte—but that’s exactly what he did, because it was New Year’s Eve and after midnight, and they were alone.

She backed up a step, giving him a wary look. “What are you doing?”

“I came here tonight for one reason.” His gaze moved to her soft, pretty pink lips. “A New Year’s Eve kiss.”

“It’s past midnight now.”

He looked into her beautiful blue eyes. “Were you running away from me, Charlotte?” He was so close he could see her pulse jump, smell the musky scent of her perfume. So close he could almost taste her.

But almost wasn’t good enough. He put his mouth on hers and took what he’d been wanting for so long.

It was even better than he’d imagined. Her lips opened under his, and he explored her warm mouth with rapidly building desire.

When her hands went around his neck, pulling him closer, he pressed against her until there wasn’t an inch of space between them. Her breasts met his chest, her hips cradled his pelvis as their legs tangled together. What had started out as a simple New Year’s Eve kiss had become a full-out assault on the senses.

But it was the wrong place. The wrong time. He could hear voices growing closer.

“Damn,” he muttered, forcing himself to break away.

She looked at him with dazed eyes, as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened. He couldn’t believe it, either. He’d completely lost his head, and that hadn’t happened in a very, very long time.

He stepped back, pushing his hands into his pockets so he wouldn’t be tempted to reach for her again. Charlotte pulled down her dress, which had ridden up her gorgeous thighs, and her breasts moved with each quick breath. How he wished he’d had a chance a touch them, to run his thumbs over her nipples, to hear her gasp with pleasure the way she had when he’d slipped his tongue into her mouth.

“Chief,” Jason Marlow called out as he turned the corner.

He drew a deep breath and pulled himself together.

Marlow had been promoted to detective just before Christmas, and he was about to get his first big case.

“Colin filled me in,” Jason said as he joined them in the corridor. He gave Charlotte a worried look. “Are you all right?” he asked her.

“I’m fine, Jason,” she said quickly. “Joe and I were just talking about who could have done this.”

“Well, I need you to do me a favor. Your mother is refusing to be searched, fingerprinted, or interviewed. She’s starting a mutiny with the other guests. Maybe you could calm her down.”

“I rarely have a calming effect on my mother, but I’ll give it a shot.”

“Don’t follow your mother’s lead, Charlotte,” Joe advised as she moved past him. “Don’t look like you have anything to hide.”

That brought her head around. “I
don’t
have anything to hide. You should know that better than anyone.”

He smiled at her pointed words, then quickly neutralized his expression as Jason gave him a speculative glance. Rumors spread fast in Angel’s Bay, and the last thing he needed was to put his tenuous relationship with Charlotte under a microscope.

“What was that about?” Jason asked as Charlotte moved toward the stairs.

“Nothing. You’ll be in charge of the investigation,
since I was on the property when the crime occurred. I’ll oversee things from a distance.” Although he wasn’t sure how much distance he could keep if the heat was turned up on Charlotte. “With the mayor on the warpath, I don’t have to tell you how much pressure we’re going to be feeling in the next few days. Monroe wants someone to pay for this.”

“I hope that won’t be Charlotte,” Jason replied. “Colin told me she was seen upstairs at the time of the crime.”

“According to the housekeeper.”

“You can’t think she had anything to do with this?”

“No—but we need to find another suspect fast.”

Charlotte was not just shaken from the robbery and the sight of Theresa lying in a pool of blood; she was also reeling from Joe’s kiss. A lot had happened since she’d impulsively bolted upstairs. What a bad move that had been.

She reached the foyer, where the party atmosphere had turned to fear and worry. Sheila, Joe’s assistant and a part-time dispatcher, was patting down female guests, while another officer was taking prints and checking bags on the dining-room table.

Her mother was standing in the living room, speaking quite forcefully with Colin. Kara was also there, a soothing expression on her face, but her mother was clearly not interested in being placated.

Monica Adams was a rail-thin, frosted blonde who had a haughty, unhappy look on her thin face, which was pretty much her usual expression. Her mother had long ago deemed herself the queen of Angel’s Bay, or at least of the congregation that Charlotte’s father had served as minister. While Monica was magnificently generous in her charity work, she was also a tough, critical taskmaster. She had no patience for fools and refused to put up with anything she deemed to be unjust, which at this moment appeared to be the investigation.

Charlotte wondered where her mother’s date was. In the past few weeks, Peter Lawson’s presence had made a definite improvement on her mother’s mood and lifted the depression she’d been wearing like a heavy cloak since Charlotte’s father had passed on.