скачать книгу бесплатно
“By threatening me?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Lara put her hand to her heart. “Good, because you have the answers I need, so I won’t fall for any tricks. I’ll see you at the gala.” She let out a breath. “And please quit making hang-up calls. It’s juvenile.”
“Is that all you have to say after all this time, Lara?”
“Yes. Good night.”
Lara moved around the room, turning off lamps, her hands trembling. She kept going back over the day’s activities, wondering how that package had gotten past security. And wondering how he had found her private cell number.
Putting her unwanted guest out of her mind for now, Lara regrouped and looked at her day-planner. Today had been busy, but tomorrow would be jam-packed. And she’d have Gabriel Murdock trailing her with every task. Was she really ready for that kind of up-close scrutiny? And by a man who seemed to read her like a book and look through her carefully controlled facade to see her deepest, darkest fears and secrets?
She thought about the man who’d just called her. It had been a long time since she’d seen him or heard from him. And she’d been biding her time until she could see him once again. “I can do this,” she whispered. “I have to do this.”
A shudder tiptoed down her spine.
“Remain calm and carry on,” she repeated. That used to be a joke between Theo and her. It was the mantra of a great queen and it did apply to the average commoner, too.
“That’s me,” Lara whispered as she climbed in bed and tugged at the last light. The room went dark on her fears and worries. She’d been a commoner, but a wealthy, well-heeled one at that. Money and prestige could open a lot of doors. Having a social pedigree that went back to the founding fathers didn’t hurt, either. But even so, when the announcement of her marriage had been made, she’d been analyzed, studied, prodded and trained in everything from etiquette to speaking in public to greeting people to writing a proper thank-you card, all of which her mother had already trained her on anyway.
Being a princess was much harder than being a woman.
Right now, however, she mentally pushed her princess away and, being a woman, thought about the fascinating man with whom she’d shared her dinner. And wondered why she’d invited him to stay for a meal. That hadn’t been on the agenda.
But then, neither had receiving that hideous gift. The voodoo doll only brought back bad memories of other times when she’d been afraid and full of doubts. Maybe this had nothing to do with that. Or it could have everything to do with that and the phone call she’d just received. She missed Theo, but she was determined to live life on her own terms. And she was determined to find answers to the questions that had haunted her since Theo’s death.
Obviously, after receiving that cryptic call, she understood the little voodoo doll had something to do with her nosing around where she shouldn’t.
Lara punched her pillow, hating this time of the day when she felt so alone, so lonely, so unsure of anything but how much she missed her husband. Telling herself to get a grip, she pushed out of her mind that image of the little grinning doll with the pin stabbed through her heart.
“You can’t pierce my heart,” she whispered to the night. “My heart has already been broken.”
But she intended to find the man who’d killed Theo. And she intended to do that here in New Orleans, with the world watching.
She drifted off to sleep thinking of her husband and Gabriel Murdock. Trying to hold one close in her memories and trying to push the other one back into a proper place, she finally went from being awake to being in a dream that ran through her head like a vivid movie, complete with voodoo and warnings from Deidre and Malcolm and with a man standing in the shadows, holding a camera.
The man called to her and Lara tried to reach him. He threw down the camera and reached out a hand. But she couldn’t quite grasp his fingers.
She woke up near dawn thinking of her husband.
But the man in the dream had been Gabriel Murdock.
Lara lay there pushing at the covers, her body still exhausted from running through that mist, her memories as wild and colorful as the images in her mind.
A piercing scream sounded through the night, bringing her up and out of her bed. Grabbing her robe, Lara rushed to her door and followed the hallway to the sound of the scream.
Deidre’s room.
But before Lara could open the door, Malcolm and two bodyguards were there with guns drawn.
“Step back, Your Highness,” Malcolm said, his beefy arm blocking her way. “It might not be safe.”
He knocked and called out. “Deidre?”
No answer.
“Go and check on her,” Lara demanded, impatient with the head of security.
Malcolm motioned to the two guards. They were about to break the door down when Deidre opened it and ran straight into Lara’s arms.
“What happened?” Lara asked, holding the younger woman.
Deidre lifted up, her dark eyes wide, her hair unbound and curly around her face. “I heard a noise on the upstairs balcony, ma’am. Someone walking, I’m sure. Then I saw a shadow near my window.”
Lara held tight to the frightened girl. “Are you sure?”
Deidre bobbed her head, her words shaky. “Very sure. A man was standing there.”
Malcolm put his big arms across his chest. “So you screamed?”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t answer when we came to the door.”
“I was still frightened.”
He motioned again to the two men. “Search the balcony and the grounds.”
Lara took Deidre by the arm, her own jitters making her shaky. “Come with me. We’ll sit awhile and I’ll make us some chamomile tea.”
Deidre looked mortified. “Ma’am, you don’t need to wait on me. I’m...okay.”
“You are not okay,” Lara countered. “Malcolm, we’re going down to the kitchen. Could you make sure a guard is nearby while we brew our tea?”
“Certainly, Your Highness. But please let us secure the house before you wander around.”
Lara nodded. “Deidre, let’s get you a robe from your room.”
The girl followed Lara into the room and stood by the door, staring out into the night. “I saw a man there, Miss Lara. I promise.”
“I believe you,” Lara replied. She helped Deidre with her robe. “Did the man try to get into your room?”
“No. He just stood there. When I screamed, he ran away.”
Lara took in the information but said nothing. She wouldn’t allow Deidre to see her fears. That might put the girl over the edge.
But when they were turning to leave the room, something caught Lara’s eye. “Just a moment, Deidre. Stay there by the door, please.”
Deidre nodded. Lara walked to the open door that led out onto the balcony, careful to stay on the edge of the sheer lace curtains. Peeking around the lace, she saw something through the moonlight, lying there on the planked floor. The guards had rushed right past it. Another package, this one bigger than the first one.
Another delivery. But how in the world had the intruder planned to get that box inside? And what if he’d been looking for her room instead of Deidre’s?
THREE
Gabriel knew something was wrong the minute he rounded the corner the next morning. He’d taken the streetcar to RWN magazine and then walked the rest of the way to the Kincade estate since it was such a gorgeous spring day.
But that notion ended when he saw two NOPD cruisers parked inside the gated driveway and a whole passel of reporters and onlookers stationed outside the closed gate. Pulling out the smaller of his two cameras and his phone, he dialed Deidre’s cell so she could open the gate for him. He held the phone to one ear, clicked away and got some one-handed shots of the cruisers and the growing crowd at the gate.
But Deidre didn’t answer. A male voice greeted him. “Hello?”
“Uh, I was looking for Deidre Wilder. I’m Gabriel Murdock. I have an appointment with Princess Lara this morning.”
“Hold on.” He heard shuffling and voices. “You’re clear. Someone will come and escort you inside.”
“Uh, thanks.”
Gabriel shifted his equipment pack and bypassed the other photographers gathered beyond the gate, then waited where he could see the entryway. When a uniformed officer came out and punched in the code for the walk-through gate next to the driveway, there was a rush of people behind Gabriel.
The officer held up his hand. “Sorry, no one else allowed. This man has special clearance.”
Moans and groans and foul language ensued behind Gabriel, followed by desperate questions: “Was anything stolen last night? Is the princess safe in New Orleans? Why are you here? Was anyone arrested? Will the princess make a statement to the press?”
Gathering that there had been a break-in attempt last night, Gabriel hurried through the gate and didn’t look back at the agitated crowd. He’d been in worse jams. And he did have an official pass, which he flashed at the officer just for good measure.
But getting special treatment had stirred up the paparazzi. He’d probably hear about this in the news later.
“What happened?” he asked the stoic officer, hoping to verify what he’d heard from the reporters at the gate.
“An intruder last night.”
And that would be all he’d get from that one. “Thanks.”
He made his way behind the policeman into the side entrance, where a small porch was tucked behind a heavy canopy of banana fronds. This entryway led to the mudroom and kitchen.
And that was where he found Lara sitting with Deidre.
“Good morning,” he said, glancing around at the guards and police officers. “Brunch?”
Lara got up, her expression as serene as ever, her hair back in its chignon, her light blue linen pantsuit not daring to wrinkle. “We had a scare last night. Deidre saw someone on one of the upstairs balconies, out by her window.” She glanced around, then lowered her voice. “He left another package.”
Not good news. “What was in the package?”
She shrugged, gathered her arms against her stomach. “It’s another oddity.” Motioning toward the breakfast table, she walked him over. “Sit down and I’ll get you some coffee and explain.”
Deidre, looking drawn and unkempt, jumped up. “Let me do that, ma’am.”
Lara nodded, then sank into a cushioned chair. Gabriel sat down across from her. In the bright sunlight coming through the wall-to-wall bay windows that gave a full view of the back garden, she looked tired and...lost. Still lovely, but at least now he knew she was fairly normal. Wasn’t everyone tired and lost anyway?
“The box, Lara?”
She sent a quick glance toward the swarm of men roaming up and down the stairs. “We can’t go up to see it. They’re taking photos and logging it as evidence. And they don’t want us to disturb the scene—which really is only the balcony and the package.”
“So the package is still where someone found it?”
“I saw it after I heard Deidre screaming. It was left on the balcony outside her room.”
She waited until Deidre brought him coffee and a plate with muffins and cheese. The fidgety girl took her own dishes to the sink and busied herself with cleaning the kitchen. Lara continued, “It’s a replica of one of the art pieces I showed you last night. The Benoit.” She stopped, shook her head.
“But?”
She blinked, looked away to the right. “But it’s not really the same portrait. I know it looks familiar but I can’t place it. It’s as if someone is trying to copy the Benoit’s style.”
Gabriel’s instincts kicked in and he got that coiling knot inside his stomach, the knot he always got when he was onto something no one had been expecting. “Did anyone else see this intruder?”
“No. Deidre saw a shadow. The person ran when she screamed.”
“Do you know if Deidre talked to Herbert about the first package?”
Looking surprised, she shook her head. “Deidre mentioned that this morning, but no. He didn’t answer her calls or messages.”
Deidre had brought her the first package last night. No one else had seen that one delivered. And Deidre hadn’t been able to get in touch with the chef last night to see what he might know.
Now Deidre had seen an intruder who’d conveniently left yet another package near her room? Coincidence or carefully planned attack?
Gabriel didn’t believe in coincidences.
No wonder the girl scurried and jumped like a squirrel. She was obviously in on this gig. But why?
“So this replica—what is it? What’s it about?”
Lara leaned forward. “It’s another Arcadian dream. A group of Arcadians gathered by a large boat. The boat is sailing away through clouds and cherubs. Shepherds are watching from the sky. It’s a sad portrait of the hardship the Arcadians had to endure, wrapped inside a beautiful dream.”
He nodded. “Yes. So someone obviously knows you own a Benoit. And that it’s worth close to a million dollars.”
She lifted her chin in acknowledgment. “Yes. This one reminds me of that. Same technique, same dreamlike Arcadia backdrop with the Louisiana Arcadians featured. A pretty good representation but—”
“But what?” Gabriel felt the hairs on the back of his neck rising. A sure sign that this was bigger than just following around a princess. Suddenly, he had a real story going. But this wasn’t supposed to be complicated. He wasn’t ready for complicated again. Not yet.
“Oh, my.” She got up, paced the floor, cast several covert glances over her shoulder.
He followed her. “Lara, tell me so I can help.”
“Back in the early sixties, it was discovered that there was a set of three Benoit paintings in a quaint little museum in the Quarter. No one knew the value, not even the museum curator. A patron discovered them and he and the curator quietly called in an art expert to appraise them. But word got out and everyone wanted to own them. Or take them. The one on my parlor wall was hidden away, but someone stole the other two before the appraisal—and murdered the museum curator. Years later, after hearing the story, an associate of Theo’s bid on his behalf for the remaining Benoit at a private auction and paid a hefty price for it.
“Theo told me this story when he presented the painting to me. But no one has ever found the two missing paintings, so some think that was just a hoax to bring attention to the one I own. But if there are two more paintings out there, they now have an estimated worth of over a million dollars each.”
Gabriel did a low whistle. “So all three together...”
