Page 228 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

Tate? She felt cold. She never would have suspected him.

She couldn’t bear to look at the hideous thing. She shut the doors. Two drawers were below. She pulled open the first drawer and found a shoebox inside. She pulled it out and opened the lid.

Inside was a mishmash of pictures and papers. Rummaging through them, she found one of her parents when they were first married. They looked so young and utterly happy. Her mother was staring up at her father with an adoring expression that brought a lump to her throat. No matter what anyone said, she found it impossible to believe her mother could have betrayed her father.

She sat on the edge of the bed and began to look through the papers. It looked like old love letters from her parents to one another. The missives were tattered and yellow with age.

She read several, smiling at the sentiment in them. Her father had been quite eloquent, more than she would have imagined. About halfway down, she opened a newer letterwritten on stationery that still held a hint of perfume. She didn’t recognize the handwriting.

Nick. We have to move quickly. Meet me at our spot tonight at midnight. Be ready for anything. Our future hinges on what we must do tonight. Shayna

Nick and Shayna. Why had she never seen it before? Shayna’s jealousy when Nick had shown too much attention to other women had seemed merely a beautiful woman piqued at attention paid to another.

Becca reread the note. What did they have to move quickly on? Could it have anything to do with her parents’ accident? The note was too cryptic to understand. Maybe there was more in the box. She rummaged through more love letters then found the same stationery near the bottom of the box.

Nick. We have one more obstacle in our way. I’ve been going through pictures for that scrapbook for Gram and recognized Rebecca when we were introduced. We have to make sure Gram never realizes who she is. I’ve destroyed the letter from Will to Suzanne that proves she’s Will’s child. And I have a plan. Meet me tonight. Shayna

She was Will’s child. Gram was right. She was the only child of Gram’s oldest son. No wonder Nick and Shayna saw her as an obstacle. Gram was adamant about giving her the lion’s share of the estate, just as she’d been determined to give Mason the same until he’d been killed.

Shayna must have thought Tate would still get the estate once Mason was out of the way, and then when Becca showed up, Shayna had suspected what Gram would do if it ever came to light that she was Will’s child.

An envelope lay under the letter, and she pulled it out. An account book and a paper with access codes for a Swiss bank account. They’d taken Gram’s money as well and tried to frame her with it.

It made sense. They knew the theft would be discovered, and Becca would be disgraced. Since so far they’d failed to kill her, she would be discredited.

She finally the answers. Her parents were murdered, and Shayna and Nick wanted her dead as well. But something still didn’t make sense. Why would Nick be involved? It was Tate who would get the lion’s share if Becca were dead. She swallowed hard as she tried to figure it out.

Shayna wouldn’t get the house or much of the estate if she divorced Tate and married Nick. Becca chewed on her lower lip. But would Shayna divorce him? If she’d murdered once, she might again. As Tate’s widow, she would inherit all of it.

Though she had no proof, she knew she’d stumbled on the truth. Not only her life was in danger, but Tate’s as well. She heard a sound behind her and whirled.

“I see you found my little love nest.” Nick stood smiling benignly in the doorway.

Becca jumped and put a hand over her thudding heart. The box dropped on the floor. She stooped to pick up the jumbled papers.

“Leave them.” Nick’s tone stayed amiable.

“How do you plan to kill Tate?” she blurted before she could stop herself.

Nick’s smile faded. “What are you talking about?”

“It makes sense. You have nothing to gain with him still alive.” Becca stood and glanced out of the corner of her eye for a weapon.

Nick casually pulled a small revolver from his pocket. “Don’t move, Becca.”

“Good, you got here in time.” Shayna joined Nick in the doorway.

Two against one. Becca prayed for strength as she grabbed a broken stool and sprang toward them.

CHAPTER TWENTY

“You were wrong, Max,” Gram said.

The same thought had been going through Max’s head for the past hour. He’d jumped to conclusions, and now that he’d had time to cool off, he knew the Becca he loved wouldn’t have done what he’d assumed she did.

“I should go look for her,” he said.

“You’re finally saying something smart,” Gram said. “Though I’m not sure she’ll accept your apology.”

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