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“No hurry. Give it some thought.”
She fell silent as they headed between the emerald slopes of the club’s golf course. Beyond it, atop a steep rise, stood the grand house where she’d grown up. Her father had built it to command a spectacular view.
She missed it, although she was glad Lance Bolding didn’t get to preen himself in the mansion Andrew Marshall had cherished. The house now belonged to Dr. Ray Van Fleet and his socialite wife, Jean, old friends of her parents. They were probably sitting in the ballroom right now, waiting for the wedding to begin.
The wedding. Already, it seemed unreal. Erin had virtually sleepwalked through the past weeks, as if the preparations and the wedding belonged to someone else.
Now she tried to think of a place to go. Although the Marshall Company owned a number of apartments, she didn’t like the notion that Chet could get a key to any of them. A hotel room? Employees could be bribed, she thought.
Joseph had asked who might want to kill her. If that was really a possibility, she needed to be careful. Very careful.
She started to tremble. Everyone in Sundown Valley seemed to pose a threat. Except for Joseph, of course.
As for Tustin, she didn’t want to be fifty miles away if her mother needed her. Besides, she’d been attacked there.
She tightened her grip on her purse. She wasn’t going to get hysterical in front of Joseph. She’d think of somewhere to go.
His next words drove that concern out of her head—and replaced it with a more immediate one.
“Don’t get excited,” Joseph said, “but I think someone’s following us.”
Chapter Four
“What?” When Erin twisted in her seat, her face betrayed her alarm. Joseph disliked upsetting her. The words had slipped out before he’d had time to think.
He’d noticed the luxury sedan in his rearview mirror on the way around the lake. It had shot off Golf Club Lane some distance behind them, speeding away from the country club until it caught up and then slowing to trail a dozen car lengths behind.
“Do you recognize it?” he asked. “I thought maybe it was a friend of yours.”
Erin shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
There were too many curves and trees for him to make the plate, and the car was painted a neutral shade. The driver appeared to be alone, although Joseph didn’t discount the possibility of someone hunkering down.
He wasn’t ready to phone in a report, however. Joseph didn’t want to get the department involved in what might be simply a Marshall family dispute.
“It’s probably nothing,” he said. “Just some golfer going home.”
“If you think he’s following us, he probably is.” Erin’s hands clenched.
“I shouldn’t have mentioned it.”
“Don’t treat me like an invalid! Even if I am one, sort of.”
“I won’t. But it was premature to say anything.” Joseph hadn’t intended to make his friend any more paranoid than she already was. He felt edgy enough himself after those unpleasant scenes at the country club.
They passed Rainbow Lane, which led to the old fishing area where Joseph and some of his high school buddies used to sneak forbidden beers. But the pier had been declared unsafe years ago, and Joseph had given up drinking after alcoholism cost his father his police career. Joseph didn’t intend to run that risk.
When they swung right on Aurora Avenue toward the Marshalls’ property, the luxury car continued on along Via Puesta del Sol. “False alarm,” Joseph said.
“Good.” Erin beamed. He wondered if she had any idea of how appealing she struck him with those lively eyes and a mouth that fit naturally into a curve.
She’d never been vain about her appearance or her social position. Sometimes Joseph used to forget she came from a rich family. It hadn’t mattered so much when they were kids, but he’d learned long ago that it mattered to adults.
They passed a cluster of cottages. Farther along the pavement, a Do Not Enter sign marked the point where the road became private.
They curved past a stand of eucalyptus on the sprawling estate. When the Boldings’ house emerged into view, Joseph didn’t like it any more than he had the first time he saw it six months ago. Maybe less.
He’d arrived the night of Alice’s near drowning to see police spotlights playing across the water and red lights blinking atop a welter of emergency vehicles. The structure sat in a hollow, its jutting roof giving it the appearance of a brooding misanthrope with hunched shoulders.
He wondered again how Lance Bolding had persuaded aristocratic Alice Marshall to give up her palace for this low-slung house on the far side of the lake, away from her friends and the country club. Although the wooden structure, painted tan with brown trim, had its own pier on the glittering lake, he found it depressing.
The place hadn’t grown on Joseph during his investigation. After reading about Erin’s accident, he’d disliked the thought of her staying out here. He found the atmosphere toxic, both literally and figuratively.
He halted on the turnaround. A covered porch the width of the house supported a glider seat and small table. “This place reminds me of a Louisiana plantation gone to seed.”
“It is gloomy, isn’t it?” Erin made no move to get out. “But the lake’s pretty.”
“That depends.” He decided not to make any further reference to her mother’s close call. “You’ve got a key, I hope?”
“Yes.” Erin reached into her purse. Joseph came around to escort her.
As she emerged, sunlight picked out the blue-white clarity of the diamonds in her tiara and choker. “You’d better leave those behind unless they belong to you,” he said. “I wouldn’t put it past Lance to file a theft report.”
“Actually, they were a wedding present from Chet.”
“Chet makes that kind of money?” He stopped short of asking how much they’d cost. Maybe they were artificial, but he doubted it.
“We pay our CEO well,” Erin told him. “I’ll send them back, of course.”
When they entered the house, the smell that hit Joseph was a mixture of furniture polish and stale air heavy with moisture from the lake. Drawn curtains plunged the living room into semi-gloom.
At least Alice had brought with her the beautiful antique furnishings from her former home. Chosen with taste, the curving divan and beveled-glass china cabinet retained a lightness that brought to mind happier times. Inside the cabinet, row after row of charming bells—glass and ceramic and metal, lovingly collected over many years—sat silent.
He knew from his investigation that no servants lived on the property, and the only full-time staff was the housekeeper. Even so, Joseph called out “Hello?” a couple of times and listened to his voice echo through the rooms. No one answered.
“Wait while I check it out,” he told Erin.
She frowned in confusion. “There’s nobody here.”
“Humor me.” Drawing his gun, he moved quickly from room to room. It wasn’t a proper search. He would never go through a house alone if he believed there was someone lying in wait. But it reassured him that they weren’t likely to meet any surprises.
“Go ahead,” he told Erin on returning to the front room.
“I have to change,” she said. “I’ll work as fast as I can.”
“Need any help?”
“Changing?” She started to smile. “That’s quite an offer.”
“I didn’t mean…” Joseph ducked his head. “I was thinking your dress must be complicated. But you wouldn’t want me fumbling with it. I’ve got butterfingers.” And a tongue tied in knots, he thought in embarrassment.
When she was amused, Erin glowed. It should happen more often, he thought. “You don’t have to tell me! Remember that Santa Claus costume? When you first put it on, you had a beard growing out of your ear.”
“I did not!”
“Yes, you did. It was cute.” Her face tilted toward him. For a moment, she became again a laughing girl of fifteen and he was seventeen, so much in love he couldn’t see straight. He had to kiss her.
Joseph stopped. He wasn’t a kid, and besides, he’d come here to protect Erin, not indulge himself. “Better hurry. We don’t want to be here when your parents get back.”
“Oh.” With a visible effort, she recovered her poise. “I won’t be long.” She whisked away, leaving a floral scent in her wake.
Since he considered himself to be on an investigation despite the chief’s orders, Joseph scanned the area. In violent households, one might expect to find a broken lamp or a dent in the wall. He saw none.
Moving to the lake side of the house, he glanced into the sunroom. Through a wall of windows, daylight gleamed across enough wedding presents to stock a department store. Despite the brevity of the engagement, friends had showered the bridal couple with heaps of silver, crystal and china.
After checking through a front window to make sure no cars had pulled in, Joseph paced the living room as the minutes ticked by. Finally Erin rejoined him, toting a suitcase and an overnight bag. She’d swapped the wedding gown and diamonds for a pair of jeans, a pink sweater and a simple pearl necklace.
“I hope I didn’t take too long.” She glanced past him to the table covered with gifts. “Oh, my! Those all have to be returned. I should write notes to the guests, too.”
“Unless you plan to hire a moving van, I suggest you let your mother take care of it,” Joseph said. “Besides, no one expects you to write notes in your condition.”
“But it’s my responsibility.”
“Who appointed you the world’s only perfect person?” It was a phrase he’d used often when they were teenagers.
“I’m being Little Goody Two Shoes again. You’re right. Without your healthy corrupting influence, I slipped right back into the role,” she teased.
He didn’t bother to ask how a corrupting influence could be healthy. He understood what she meant.
On a message pad, Erin wrote a message to her mother. “Okay, how’s this? I’m asking her to return the gifts and give the diamonds to Chet. She can leave them with Betsy—she’s the board secretary at the office.”
“Sounds good.” Joseph was glad she didn’t insist on handing them to Chet herself. No matter what the etiquette books said, as far as he was concerned, the less contact between them, the better.
“Well, that’s that.” Erin signed the note. “Mom can reach me on my cell phone.”
“Have you decided where you’re going?” Taking the suitcase, Joseph led her onto the porch.
“Not yet.” After locking up, she dropped the key through the mail slot. Joseph would have advised her to hold on to it in case of emergency, but she’d beaten him to the punch. “Before I know what I can afford, I need to consult Stanley Rogers at the company. In addition to being the chief financial officer, he manages my trust fund. Until he gets in on Monday, I don’t have much money with me.”
“Excuse me?” A multimillionaire, and she made it sound as if she were broke!
“I’m not trying to plead poverty. It’s kind of complicated.” Erin beat him to the car and let herself inside. But once there, she sank back as if she’d expended most of her energy. She must have been operating on adrenaline, Joseph reflected as he stowed her possessions in the trunk.
When he got in, Erin resumed her explanation. “The fund makes a quarterly deposit in my account, and I turn it over to the Friend of a Friend Foundation. That’s confidential, by the way.”
“You’re behind the Friend of a Friend Foundation?” The organization had made a generous grant to the after-school tutoring program founded by his mother and a close friend of hers, a teacher.
“Even Tina doesn’t know that.”
“Obviously not.” Tina volunteered at The Homework Center, and she’d been as mystified as anyone about who was behind the donation.
“I’ve been living on what I earn at my job,” Erin said. “Believe me, that doesn’t go far. My bank account in Orange County has a couple of hundred dollars at most. Of course, there’s always my credit card.”
“Card, singular?”
“I told you, I’ve been living on my income,” she said. “I’m not sure when the next quarterly payment is due, but maybe I can get an advance.”
“You could call this financial guy at home.”
“I’m not that desperate,” Erin said. “I don’t think it’s right to force an employee to go into the office on his day off just to suit my convenience.”
As he drove, Joseph reflected on the contradictions in her attitude. On the one hand, she saw herself as an owner with an obligation not to abuse her authority. On the other hand, she seemed to doubt her ability even to tap into her resources for a small advance. She owned a half interest in the Marshall Company, for heaven’s sake!
Well, these decisions belonged to her, not him. What she needed from her old friend, he mused, was emotional support and physical protection.
He knew he tempted fate by getting involved where no one except Erin wanted him, and he wasn’t entirely sure how she felt. Perversely, the prospect of defying the rest of the world appealed to him. If he ever stopped leaping before he looked, life could get awfully boring.
“Well, if you still haven’t decided where to stay, I’m taking you to my house,” he said.
Erin didn’t answer.
“If that’s all right,” Joseph added.
She gave him one of those sweet, enigmatic expressions that made him want to kiss her and poke her in the ribs at the same time.
“Or I could drop you at the mall,” he said with mock solemnity. “Considering that you more or less own it.”
“There’s a tempting thought. I could pitch a sleeping bag in the food court.” She made a face.
“Well?”
“I’d love to go to your place, but I don’t want to get you in trouble,” Erin said. “You worked hard to get where you are.” She might not know the details, but she obviously suspected the hurdles he’d had to leap to get hired on the force, not to mention making detective so quickly. After what had happened to his father, some people had been waiting for him to fail. They still were.
“It’s only for the weekend.” Joseph negotiated the curving side streets toward Old Lake Highway, the most direct route into town. “It’s too isolated for you to stay there next week while I’m at work.”
“Where exactly do you live?” she asked.
“In the woods.”
“You always said you wanted to be close to nature,” Erin recalled. “If I remember right, at one point you talked about becoming a forest ranger.”
“I’m too stubborn for that,” Joseph said.
“Too stubborn?” After a moment, Erin answered her own question. “You mean, if you left town, everybody would think you were running away.”
“Exactly.”
“You gave up your dream to prove a point?” she demanded.
