Chapter 3 #2
I take some deep breaths and concentrate on the present.
I can feel the wood of my dressing table gently touching the tops of my knees, I can smell the coconut body lotion I had applied earlier this morning, and I can taste leftover grapefruit from breakfast. I’m not in the maze, I am here. I am home.
The memories subside, but the guilt does not.
“Hello? Earth to Cora.” I blink, bringing myself back to reality.
“Sorry.” I mutter. “Honestly, this is total chaos. Why could you not make electronic versions of your master plans?”
“Because my parents have access to my cloud account. I have to be careful; if they were to see my search history, they would have me pulled out of University and married to a duke in no time.”
Bella nods in agreement and hands me the newspaper tucked beneath her arm. “Brace yourself, it’s not a pretty headline today.” She mutters as she glances up to the door.
I unfold the paper and read the front page, my stomach lurches as I inhale the information.
Suicide pact?
Police investigation into the deaths of Benjamin Grenville’s fiancée’s parents closes as a public funeral is scheduled.
Police have ruled out foul play and have suggested that Mrs. Garrick took her own life in a suicide pact made with her husband. Mrs. Garrick’s body was found by Frank Garrick Jr, shortly after the tragic roadside accident that led to the death of his father, Frank Garrick Sr.
Frank Garrick Jr has been unavailable for comments as has his illusive younger sister, Lousia Garrick, who announced her engagement to Benjamin Grenville after an assasination attempt was carried out against her.
A source close to the Garrick family claims she is grief stricken and won’t leave the house unless necessary.
Will the wedding of the century be put on hold? More importantly, what will she wear to her parents' funeral?
“This is terrible!” I exclaim, clutching the dry ink to my chest.
“Cora, the deeper we get into this, the weirder it gets. Don’t you think that it’s strange that even though Benjamin Grenville is the richest and most powerful man in the country with every resource at his disposal… Lousia is still missing?”
I chew the inside of my cheek. It’s a theory I’ve considered myself, the one piece in this puzzle that made no sense.
“I agree. He’s been incredibly possessive over her, and he made it clear after Daphne’s murder that they were taking Lou to the manor for her own safety.
I don’t understand how her ex could have broken in and kidnapped her. ”
We sit in silence on the floor of my bedroom, both of us struggling to understand what is missing.
“We need more information about that day.” Bella huffs as she gets back up to her feet. “It’s not like we can ask Benjamin Grenville. He’d probably throw a fit if he knew that we were even attempting to help.”
I nod, putting the newspaper into the top of the box and sliding it back underneath the bed.
Just as I stand up, Bella’s phone chimes. Her eyes widen at the noise as she begins digging through her jacket pocket for it. “What is it?” I ask.
“I set my phone up to give me news updates everytime the name Garrick comes up.”
I’m at her side in an instant, peering over her shoulder as she opens the article.
Inside the Garrick family history. Starting with Frank Garrick Jr.
A recent picture of Frankie is attached to the article. There is no dashing smile across his charming face. Instead his mouth is hidden by a horrible beard, and he’s clearly not washed his clothes in at least a week.
The poor sod probably didn't even know he was being photographed. But now that Louisa is in the spotlight, surely he must understand that he will be too.
“Cora… I think I might have a plan. It’s mad, but it could work.” I turn to my best friend, her face set into concentration as she zooms in on the photograph of Frankie. “Didn’t you say he flirted with you when he visited Grenville?”
A blush creeps up my cheeks and across my nose. “What’s that got to do with anything?” I ask defensively.
“Well, what if you went to Frankie and asked him about what happened that night? Maybe he doesn't realise how powerful the Grenvilles actually are… I’m sure he would help us if we told him that we were worried they're behind the entire thing.”
“Bella, you can’t be serious… I can’t just show up in the middle of Birmingham and?—”
“Yes you can! Go under the guise that you're there to help him with PR or something.”
I take a deep breath in and stare down at the phone, Frankie’s lost and empty face staring back at me. “But, what about my parents? I’m under house arrest, remember?”
Bella smiles coyly, “You’re twenty years old, Cora. They cannot legally keep you here.”
I roll my eyes. “No, they'll just cut me off financially and disown me.” I put my head in my hands as I collapse back onto the bed. My heart races as I try to think of a better solution to help. But I can’t come up with anything…
Louisa murdered someone in cold blood because they had tried to kill me. I had never known a friendship like that. I’d sipped tea and gossiped with many a lady and could count on one hand how many of them would do such a thing were they put in her position.
“Corinthia, the Duke of Devonshire is on his way over. Please hurry so that we may look busy and caught off guard.” I hand Bella her phone back and close the lid on the box as my mother’s shrill instructions ring through the speaker my parents had installed in my room when I was nine.
I draw back and rub my temples, pressing hard to relieve the tension headache I can feel coming on.
“Perhaps I should have put two pills in there.” Bella says, earning a humourless laugh from me.
While I had never rebelled against any of the rules my parents had set, I find myself becoming less and less patient with their demands.
Especially the ones about marriage. With three younger sisters to think about, an advantageous match has been my priority since I made my grand entrance from the womb.
“Fine. I’ll go. But I’m going to need an excuse to get out of this tea with the duke.”
Bella’s grin is wide. “I have five more of those sleeping pills in my bag… Nobody is having tea with that damn duke today.”