fallen into a snake pit.
Rebecca Lynn refused to accept defeat. “But she wasn’t her mother, was she?”
Her stepmother’s high-handed tone finally managed to arouse Silver’s ire. “If my mother wants to come, she can come,” the child-star-turned-pop-diva spat out.
Rebecca Lynn glared at her stepdaughter, barely refraining from a bevy of ripe words. She knew she was outnumbered, but refused to admit she was outmaneuvered. Turning to Harold, she delivered her ultimatum with a dramatic toss of her head. Flaming red hair undulated all around her.
“If that woman comes to the service, Harold, then I won’t.”
“And miss a chance to be photographed by the paparazzi?” Natalie asked, feigned surprise. The look on her face told her stepmother that she was as transparent as a glass of water. “I sincerely doubt that, but the choice,” she said pleasantly, “is yours.”
Furious, Rebecca Lynn stormed out of the room, cursing them all to several levels of hell, each hotter than the last.
Harold merely shook his head. Though he was still under her thumb, his new wife had lost much of her charm for him. “You really shouldn’t antagonize her like that, Natalie.”
In response, Natalie smiled at him. “Rebecca Lynn makes it much too easy, and I have such few simple pleasures.”
Harold didn’t bother commenting. Instead, he asked, “How’s the investigation going?”
As she started to answer, Natalie noticed Jenna edging closer, as if afraid she might miss something. That was a surprise, she thought. She would have expected that from Silver, who, thanks to Candace’s deceptive machinations, thought of Candace as her friend.
With five years between them, Jenna and Candace had never known a close moment—again, thanks mainly to Candace. But then, Natalie reflected, maybe she’d misjudged her younger sister.
It wouldn’t have been the first time her judgment had failed her, Natalie reminded herself.
Her father was looking at her expectantly. Did he think she was some kind of a magician? “It’s only been a day, Dad. I’m still following leads.”
An impatient sound escaped his lips. “And you’ll tell me when you find out who?”
When, not if. He either had a lot of faith in her or was playing the guilt card. Most likely the latter, Natalie decided.
A spasmodic smile came and went from her lips. “You’ll be the first to know.”
“Do you have any, you know, suspects?” Jenna asked.
The immediate male population. Out loud, Natalie said, “Someone the camera caught Candace smiling at.”
Jenna’s eyes widened. Natalie thought she heard her stop breathing. “Who?”
“Unfortunately, the person was off camera, so we don’t know. But I’m doing my best to try to piece it all together.”
“If anyone can do it, my money’s on you, Nat,” Jenna said.
Natalie said nothing. She only wished she had half the confidence that Jenna had.
Natalie remained at the mansion another hour or so after her sister’s departure. Her father detained her with his incessant questions about the murder investigation, while stressing how crucial it was to locate the mystical ring that was all but a third party in all this. Finally disentangling herself from him, she went home to see if she could make any more headway with the copies of the tapes that Matt had given her.
It took a little doing before she could pull them up on her own computer. The computer, she had long ago decided, was not her friend.
But she did what she could and made progress using baby steps.
Engrossed, Natalie didn’t hear the doorbell at first. And then, when the repeated noise finally penetrated her consciousness, she decided to ignore it.
But whoever was ringing the doorbell patently refused to be ignored. It went on pealing, setting her teeth on edge.
With a sigh, Natalie rose from her desk and crossed to the front door.
She paused only long enough to get her service revolver.
In her experience, it was never a given who was on the other side of the door, and she had to admit that her father had looked spooked enough about this curse business to at least make her take a small measure of precaution. And even if she didn’t believe in curses, as a police detective she knew that she was a living, breathing target for some wacko looking to even some imaginary score.
“Who is it?” she called out as she approached the door.
“Delivery boy.”
Was that—?
No, it couldn’t be. It couldn’t be Matt. He didn’t know where she lived. She’d sold the condo where they’d been together, bought this place and took strict care to remain unlisted and off everyone’s radar. This was just her imagination, working overtime.
Reaching the door, she said, “I didn’t order anything.”
“Look, lady, all I know is that your name’s on this bill.”
Definitely Matt. She’d know his voice anywhere. But what was he doing here?
Still holding her weapon, its safety off, Natalie opened the door.
The gun was the first thing Matt noticed. “You can put that away,” he told her. Opening his jacket with one hand, he held the side out for her inspection. “I’m unarmed.”
After a long pause, she finally put up her weapon. But she still held the door ajar and made no move to get out of the way. “What are you doing here, Matt?” she wanted to know.
“Bringing you the dinner you abandoned earlier.” He held up the pristine white bag. The Janus’s logo was on the side. “Knowing you, I figured you didn’t take the time to stop and eat.”
Her eyes narrowed. I’m not the person I used to be. The one whose heart you stomped on. “You don’t know me,” she informed him tersely.
He looked as if he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. “Did you stop to eat?”
She realized she could lie and be done with it, sending him on his way. Why she didn’t was beyond her. “No, I didn’t.”
His mouth curved. “I rest my case. And I’d like to rest this—” he indicated the large bag he was holding “—because it’s getting hot.”
She frowned, then stepped back, opening the door wider. “I can’t help feeling like I’ve just opened my door to the Trojan horse.”
Walking in, Matt grinned at her. Her stomach tightened instantly. “Don’t worry, there’re no tiny men wearing armor in the bag.”
It wasn’t tiny men in
