Chapter 38
CHAPTER 38
SMOKING GUN
Jules
Despite that hiccup at the beginning, Omar’s plan worked incredibly well. I circled the block once to give him and Noah time to leave and just pulled back up to the house. I park my car in the back where it appears the house staff parks and hope no one notices one odd car out of the dozen sitting there.
Houston’s River Oaks neighborhood, where the Royales live, is masterplanned, just like Rivers Wilde but with an entirely different vision. This is not a place where everyone is welcome. The mansions that line River Oaks Blvd are modern renditions of the sprawling estates England is famous for. The Royales’ home is right off the main street and the biggest home I’ve ever been inside of.
The family clearly has a lot of faith in their neighbors and the distance of the house from the street, because the front door is unlocked. I walk right in and book it up the stairs and am already on the landing when I hear a man’s voice call for someone. Dina’s intel said she was cloistered in a suite at the end of the hall. I hurry toward the door, my heart racing, my skin slick with sweat, and the recorder on my phone on.
I knock lightly on the door, and a woman calls, “Come on in, Trixi.”
I don’t know who Trixi is, but I’m not going to walk away now. Not when I am so close to something I hadn’t imagined possible. I step into the dark, cavernous room. All the curtains are drawn, and but for a small light on the side of the bed, it might as well be evening.
“You’re very early today, but I’m glad of it. This book Silas bought me is a—Who are you?” Her almost lazy drawl turns into a sharp, urgent bark. She sits up and reaches over on her bedside.
“Please don’t call anyone. I’m not here to hurt you. My name is Crown Jewel Hayford, and I think you knew my father.”
Her hand freezes, hovering over the phone beside the bed. “What did you say?”
I repeat myself, and she deflates, falling back on the bed. “How did you find me? I thought…you were in prison.” Her voice loses all of its energy.
My heart stutters. “You… How do you know who I am?” I’m shocked.
“I knew your father. I’ve seen your picture.”
“Can I please turn on a light so I can see?”
“Nora?” a man’s voice calls from outside the door.
“Get in there,” she hisses and points at a door to the left of her bed.
“Why?”
“If he finds you here, he’ll call the police. Go, hurry,” she orders, her reed thin arm pointing toward the door.
I do as I’m told. As soon as I shut the door, she calls, “Come on in, Silas.”
I press my ear to the door. “I’m running late to meet Noah and a potential investor. I wanted to make sure you had everything you need.”
“I’m fine, honey. Thank you.”
“Are you sure, sweetheart? You look a little pale.”
“I’m tired. I was drifting off when you knocked.”
“Well, you rest now, my dear. Want me to pick you up something from Ousie’s?”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I love you. I’ll see you later.”
“Tell Noah hi for me,” she calls.
I wait until I hear the door close before I walk back out. She’s out of bed drawing the curtains open, and light floods the room. It’s decorated in a sea of white and gold. But I don’t look around at the details. I watch the woman who might have had my father killed for any sign of recognition. She’s olive-skinned and dark-haired. Even dressed in her loose-fitting pajamas, I can see that she’s as slight as a bird.
“Sit,” she orders, pointing to one of the chairs by the window.
“Did you have my father killed?” I ask the only thing I care to know.
“What?” She gasps and sits down in one of the chairs herself, crossing her legs and leaning back as if she’d been pushed. “I thought you killed him. What in the world are you talking about?”
“You…you were sending him money and then he wrote, threatening you for more, and then he was dead.”
She shakes her head in disbelief. “Is that what you think? That’s why you’re here?” She could be lying, but the shock in her voice sounds genuine. And she knows who I am. “Why else would I be here? I don’t know you from Adam.”
“Sit down, please, Jewel. Please,” she adds in a softly pleading voice when I hesitate. I’m too devastated to argue. I can’t believe this isn’t the smoking gun I hoped for.
“What was going on between you and my father?”
“We had an affair. A long time ago. And when it was over, I came back to my husband and never saw him or set foot in England again.”
“What were you paying him for?” I shake my head in despair. “Who are you?”
She watches me with her eyes narrowed and her chest heaving. “I’m sorry you found me. You weren’t meant to. But he wasn’t supposed to die, either.”
“What do you mean? Who are you?”
“I loved your father, Jewel. And I’m so sorry for what happened to him. It broke my heart when he died and even more so because it was at your hand.”
“I didn’t do it. And if you loved him, why have I never heard of you?”
“Because I paid him not to tell you.”
“Why?”
She stares down at her hands for a full minute, and I have to restrain myself from grabbing her by the collar and shaking her until she tells me.
She lifts her head and looks me dead in the eye. “Because I am your mother.”
My slack jaw falls down to my chest, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up. “My mother died giving birth to me.”
“That’s what he told you.”
“He wouldn’t lie to me.”
“He did, but only because I asked him to. And provided for you. And my husband and children don’t know you exist. And I never want them to.”
The words are a punch to my gut. “Why?” I hear myself ask.
And she answers me. By the time she’s done, I’m sorry I asked.
My ears are ringing, my pulse is out of control, and I’m lightheaded.
“I’m sorry I bothered you,” I mutter, and without looking at her, I stand.
I hear her call my name, but I don’t look back.
I put one foot in front of the other, retracing my steps until I’m back in my car. I make it all the way down the drive and onto the main street before I completely unravel.
I pull over, my head on my steering board, trying to catch my breath. I replay what she said, fighting my tears with everything I have. She’s not worth them.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been sitting here when the scream of close-by sirens makes my head snap up. I flinch and lift my hands to shield my eyes from the flashing lights of three police cruisers that have completely surrounded my car. I go from numb to reeling in the space of one heartbeat. Oh my God. She called the police? I keep my hands on the steering wheel and use my phone’s voice command to call Omar and let him know I’m in trouble.