Page 34 of Compelling Urges

A middle-aged woman flung open the door with an eager smile on her face, but her happiness disappeared and her expression turned guarded when she noticed all of their solemn faces. Her large blue eyes were eerily identical to Blair’s, and she was also tall and blonde. Puffy shadows under her eyes and deep frown lines kept her from being pretty, but she may have been once. Time had not been kind to this lady.

“Lauren Henry?” Bodhi asked.

“Yes. And you would be…?” Her raspy voice suggested years of cigarette smoking.

“I’m Bodhi Monaghan, and these are my fr—”

He didn’t have a chance to finish his introductions because Lauren flung her arms around Bodhi’s neck and cried happily, “Bodhi, darling!” Bodhi cringed as she kissed his cheek. “Come in, come in, son!” She appeared confused as she stepped back to let them in. “Who are these lovely people and where is my beautiful Blair? Why isn’t she with you all? I’m so glad to meet you! You’resohandsome, Bodhi! No wonder Blair fell for you. I’ve heard so much about your fancy wedding in London! That naughty daughter of mine promised photos and never sent any. I wanted to be there for it so badly, but I just didn’t have the money for the trip, especially after I was burglarized.” She prattled on and on with a machine-gun speed of delivery, barely pausing to take a breath. All Bodhi could think was that he was happy the house was air-conditioned, but this was worse than he’d feared.

Bodhi tried again. “Mrs. Henry—”

“Oh, silly! Call me Mom, darling!” Lauren interrupted, squeezing his arm.

“No thank you, ma’am. I think it’s best if we all sit down, Mrs. Henry.” Despite the ice-cold air, Bodhi felt a trickle of sweat dribble down his back. After she sat and they all found places in her crowded living room, he began again. “These are my friends Ivy Chambers and Cooper Houston. They were also fr… acquaintances of Blair’s. We all live together.”

“Where is she, son?”

“Please, ma’am, don’t call me that. I’m sorry to have to tell you that your daughter passed away recently.”

Lauren gasped. Her eyes filled and she shook her head in denial.

Bodhi forced himself to keep going. “I didn’t know your whereabouts until just a couple of days ago and had no way to contact you. It wasn’t even until this morning that we found your actual address. I’m so sorry about your daughter.”

After some dramatic chest grabbing, face-pulling, and lots of blinking until she produced some tears that trickled down her cheeks, Lauren choked out, “Was it the cancer? Did it take her?”

Bodhi’s eyes narrowed. This was Blair’s mother; he knew she had to be devastated by his news, but her reaction felt forced and dishonest. He didn’t get it. He’d just told her that her daughter had died, and what he saw looked like bad acting.

Lauren continued in the hushed tone one often hears at a funeral, “I thought she said the doctor in London had cured her, and she was so excited to be getting married now that she was healthy. You must be devastated. Is that why you didn’t get married? But wait… Blair said youdidget married, so…?” She furrowed her brows at Bodhi.

Ivy spotted a box of tissues nearby and set them down in front of Lauren before taking her seat again silently.

Bodhi looked at Ivy and Cooper as if to judge just how truthful to be, and they gave him understanding smiles. So, he went on, “Blair was not cured of her cancer, and she and I never married—no matter what she told you. It wasn’t because she was sick. It was because I didn’t love her or even know her very well. I quit my job in London and left—not knowing she was even ill. I never had plans to see her again, but she found me and followed me back to where I live in California. Apparently, she thought she could use me to buy her medical insurance.”

“I don’t understand. Why would she lie to me?” Her blue eyes grew even larger.

“I don’t know, ma’am. Maybe to spare you from worrying?”

“Well, it was nice of you to pay her way to see that doctor in London. I know she wanted to be part of his study.” Her voice cracked. “I have to thank you for giving her the money to get there.”

Bodhi looked down at his feet and rubbed his forehead. This was clearly not going well. “Why,” he began, looking at her finally, “did you think I paid her way to London?”

“She told me so!”

“I didn’t meet Blair until she was already in London, and even then, I barely knew her. She wormed her way into my life and pretended to everyone that we were going to get married. I have good reason to believe she drugged me to get into my apartment and my bed, and then later she drugged me a second time to get her way.”

Anger took the place of the sadness on Lauren’s face as she spluttered, “That’s a horrible accusation, young man! My Blair was a beautiful, talented young woman who was dealt a bad lot in life and came down with a terrible disease. And you’re bad-mouthing her? How dare you!”

Bodhi looked like he was getting ready to say something awful, so Cooper took that moment to derail her outburst and asked, “Mrs. Henry, didn’t you say you’d been burglarized? Were you possibly missing some jewelry?”

Her head snapped toward Cooper, and she answered, “Yes. A couple of years ago, I inherited my mother’s entire collection of estate jewels. She was from a very well-to-do family, you know. And here I thought she’d disowned me.” She gave a weak smile and dabbed at her eyes. “It was such a surprise to hear from her lawyer. But what does that have to do with anything? And what happened to my darling Blair?”

“Could you describe some of the jewelry, please?” asked Cooper in a soft, polite voice.

Frowning slightly, Lauren said, “Mother had some lovely pieces. Some antique jet earrings… Well, and other earrings too, but I just loved those. Several cocktail rings—my favorite was a large opal surrounded by diamonds. It was quite valuable, you know. There was a Cartier watch, a topaz and garnet brooch, and a wonderful necklace and bracelet set that was twenty-two karat gold and had a gorgeous pendant of a bird that was encrusted with rubies, sapphires, diamonds, and emeralds. It was breathtaking, and it killed me to have it stolen. I could never afford any insurance for it all.”

Bodhi nodded knowingly and explained, “I have some good news and some bad news for you. First of all, you weren’t burglarized at all, and I have some of your jewelry for you.” Lauren’s eyes widened at him. “But the bad news is that it was Blair who stole from you—probably to fund her own trip to the study in London. I don’t have everything you mentioned, so some of it must have been pawned or sold.” He reached into the shopping bag and produced a baggie filled with the pieces he’d found in Blair’s purse.

“Oh! My birdie!” cried Lauren as she snatched the bag to her bosom. She sounded like a child. Bodhi cringed inwardly and looked away. He was beginning to see how Blair could have been a little messed up. This woman didn’t exactly seem like she had both oars in the water.

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