Page 55 of Dangerous Temptation
She read the article carefully, but the story was just as vague as all the ones that had come before it. A man matching Wolfe’s description had gone into a bank to exchange a large amount of American money for Belizean dollars. It was a short piece that the reporter had lengthened by tying it to the story of Alex’s release. How nice for him to bring the attention back to Wolfe Manor.
She took another bite of French toast and chewed mechanically. She didn’t see anything unique in the piece. Nothing stood out as either a hoax or the truth.
She glanced across the breakfast bar. Marta was wiping down the counter adjacent to the stove.
‘Did you work here when Alex’s grandfather was around?’ she asked as innocently as she could.
The woman turned, her gaze going to the newspaper. ‘I did.’
Elena waited.
Marta glanced to see if anyone was about. ‘Horrible old man,’ she whispered conspiratorially. ‘Sullen and self-centred. He’d keep dinner waiting for hours and then be unhappy when it wasn’t perfect.’
Elena frowned. ‘Do you think he’s really in Belize?’
‘He could be anywhere.’ The cook shrugged. ‘As long as he doesn’t come back here, I’m happy. Master Alex is much better to work for.’
Come back. That possibility hadn’t even occurred to Elena. He wouldn’t dare, would he?
She was hiding here and nobody had found her.
She swirled a piece of toast in the puddle of syrup on her plate. ‘It would be too big of a risk for him to come back, even if he is still in the country.’
‘True. Although if he does, his room is ready and waiting.’ Marta nibbled her lower lip. ‘Come to think of it, I should make sure it’s dusted.’
Elena’s chin snapped up. ‘His room?’
‘It’s right upstairs.’ The cook pointed overhead. ‘Above the kitchen, in fact.’
‘His things haven’t been packed up?’
‘Oh, no,’ Marta said, shaking her head. ‘Master Alex told us to leave everything just the way it was. For the investigators.’
It had been a year and a half since Alex had gone to prison. It had to be more than two years since Bartholomew had last been seen. For real. He’d gone on the run right about the time her dad had died.
Elena’s fork clanked against the fine china. She wasn’t going to go there.
She scurried off the high stool. Her head was spinning so fast, she nearly forgot Marta was in the room. ‘Thank you,’ she called over her shoulder.
‘Are you done, dear?’
She was already in the hallway, heading for the staircase.
‘Oh, dear,’ Marta mumbled behind her. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have told you about that.’
The room wasn’t hard to find. It was at the opposite end of the hallway from Alex’s room – and the only one on the floor with the door closed. Elena approached it determinedly with her fists clenched and her jaw set. She reached out and grabbed the handle. She was surprised when it offered no resistance. The room wasn’t locked.
She pushed the door open but hesitated on the threshold.
The place was musty. It was the first thing that hit her. The stale air made her nose wrinkle, although the room was clean as a whistle. There wasn’t a thing out of place, but it was a scene stuck in time. A suit jacket was draped across the back of a chair. A book lay on the nightstand, along with a set of gold cufflinks. It looked as if an old man had just stepped out.
The floor creaked when she entered.
Her heart was pounding. She didn’t like the feel of the room, but she supposed it only reflected her feelings about the man. She moved to his desk. It was the messiest place in the room.
She thought of the investigators who must have gone through every piece of paper in the house. Had they found anything here? Had they taken it away as evidence? She didn’t know what she was looking for, but there had to besomething.
Something to explain why. Something to show how.
