Page 14 of One Last Goodbye

"Veronica is the best-damned secretary the world has ever seen," Frederick informs me.

I’ll bet she is.“It’s a wonderful thing to have good help.”

“You can say that again.”

He beams at her, and miraculously, Veronica has the good sense to feel uncomfortable at his attention. She pulls away and withdraws her arm. “It’s nice to meet you, Mary.”

Sophie announces that dinner is served. I notice that her usual ebullience is gone. This is a formal occasion, whatever Catherine might have said earlier, and she is perfectly proper and servile.

We sit down to the meal. I am somewhat surprised when the children sit on either side of me. I am even more surprised to see that Olivia has returned wearing a very pretty silk gown of her own. She’s even done her hair.

She notices my appreciation and says impudently. “Is this nice enough for dinner?”

I smile at her. “You look very fetching.”

She rolls her eyes, but I catch a small smile from her. Dr. Strauss nods approvingly at me, and I decide I might at least give her the benefit of the doubt before I decide she’s an evil demoness from the darkest pit of Hell, like all therapists.

The food is delicious again, but I hardly taste it. I’m too busy watching the four romantically entangled guests. Interestingly, Hugo and Frederick get along famously, laughing and joking like old friends. It’s the women who show animosity. Catherine glares at Veronica with naked hate, and Veronica ensures that she’s touching a part of Frederick every time Catherine looks their way. His hand, his arm, his shoulder, and even once his thigh.

Catherine is equally affectionate with Hugo, but Frederick doesn’t seem to mind that his wife is flirting with another man. This fact clearly angers Catherine further.

A thought forms in my mind. My first impression is that Catherine doesn’t love her husband. Now I wonder if perhaps it is Frederick who is straying. Sophie said he was a ladies’ man. Perhaps he still is. Sophie and Franz both insist that Fred loves Catherine, but if I had a dollar for every man who cheated on the wife he “loves,” I would be wealthier by far than the Jensens. Perhaps Catherine caught on to his affair and is trying to makehim jealous. Her resentment could be because he doesn’t mind her infidelity. He’s perfectly content to keep her as his trophy at home while sowing his wild oats with the younger Veronica.

It must hurt even more that Veronica is mousy and Catherine is statuesque. Veronica is pretty enough, but Catherine is a head-turner. She has made a career out of being one of the most beautiful women on Earth, and this Girl Friday has stolen her husband’s attentions.

I’m getting ahead of myself. I must not jump to conclusions. With a leap of joy, I remember that I have help now. I don’t need to risk my own neck to learn what I can about my employers. I will call Sean tomorrow and get to the bottom of this mystery. And when I do, I will know what I need to know to help the children heal.

So I tell myself, anyway.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The next morning while the children are completing their schoolwork, I call Sean. He answers wearily. “Hello, Mary. Have you found yet another person for me to snoop on?”

"I have. Two, actually. I need you to look into the possibility of an affair between Frederick and his secretary, Veronica Baines, and between Catherine and one Hugo Van Doren.”

“Well, I can tell you already that Frederick’s boffing his secretary. I have yet to meet a business owner who wasn’t shagging his secretary.”

“What a wonderful way you have with words,” I reply. “And I would like more than your assumptions.”

“Then I would like more than your cheeky comments about paying me well. What do you hope to gain from learning about their sex lives?”

“I have been charged to care for these children, Sean. To do that, I need to know what their parents are hiding.”

“Repeat that sentence to yourself and tell me if you sound as dishonest to you as you do to me.”

Heat climbs my cheeks, but I stand my ground. “These children are suffering, Sean. They are isolated from the world. They have no friends, no acquaintances outside of this estate. Their parents are too involved with themselves to show them any affection, and what’s more, it appears that Frederick is involved in criminal behavior. Now I learn that both parents are embroiled in affairs.”

“That could explain why the children are isolated,” Sean mused. “The parents don’t want the children spilling sensitive details that could be leaked to the public.”

“Whatever the reason, I need to be aware of what they’re hiding. I need to know how to protect the children in case any of this leads to serious trouble.”

“Please don’t lie to me,” Sean says. He sounds exhausted. “I’ll give you that knowing what type of extralegal work Frederick’s involved in might be useful in case any of it involves men in black suits showing up to the estate with guns, but their sex lives? How could knowing that two adults in a mid-life crisis are fucking other people help you care for the children?”

“Will you watch your language? And if you must know, three of the four families I have worked for in the past have hidden murders related to love affairs. If such a murder is imminent here, Imustknow and do everything I can to prevent it.”

He doesn’t reply for a while. When he does, it’s with considerable reluctance. “Fine. I’ll find what details I can. But I’m warning you, Mary. You need to be careful. Frederick Jensen is very well-connected. Aside from Keller’s financial contacts, Jensen manages the wealth of some of the most powerful people in the world.”

My eyes widen at that. “Who?”

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