She was as good as her word, and about eight minutes later, she was at the foot of the stairs. The only thing she carried was a handbag. “I assume she has towels.”
He raised an eyebrow that her suit was small enough to fit into the little package. “Shall we go?”
They went in Sara’s car, small and intimate.
At Sara’s big house, he opened the door for her. Inside, she looked around approvingly. “California in Florida.” She meant it as a compliment.
“Bite your tongue! Certainly let no Floridian hear you say that.”
She laughed and he directed her to Sara’s bathroom to change. As for Randal, he had trunks on under his clothes.
In minutes, she returned in her white swimsuit. It was a one-piece retro design that showed off her flat stomach and her beautiful legs.
Randal gave her an appreciative look.
She smiled demurely. “I have a personal trainer.”
“He’s done a very good job.”
“Thank you,” she said, looking at him. “I think your clients must do well.”
He gave a nod of thanks. With their mutual compliments exchanged, they went to Sara’s big pool. For thirty minutes, they swam and showed off and enjoyed themselves.
When they left the pool, they went inside. Barbara put on one of Sara’s robes and sat down on a stool at the kitchen counter. Randal, in shorts and T-shirt—designer, of course—began making their lunch. He was the one to start the conversation. “I have the oddest feeling that you want to ask me a question.” He braced himself forthequestion:What happened to you after the house party?
“I’d like to know about Jack,” she said.
Randal’s eyes widened.
“Not like that!” she said quickly. “He’s Roy’s son. I want to know how he turned out. I know what I’ve seen, but what’s the truth?”
Randal was relieved. “Jack isn’t like Roy. I was told that he was headed that way, but he had to start behaving himself when he was given massive responsibility at a young age. And thanks to Sara, and now Kate, he’s a very good young man.”
“I loved Roy, but he was dangerous. Being with him was like playing with a stick of dynamite. Exciting but not what you want all the time.”
Randal put the pasta in the pot of boiling water. “And your job was exciting enough.”
“Yes!” She paused. “I went to Roy’s funeral. In secret, of course. I was quite dramatic, all in black, with a veil covering my face. Pure Victorian. I didn’t fool his wife. She spit on me. Through my veil.”
“Did she know who you were? I mean your name.”
“No.”
Randal took a breath. He needed to get to the point. “Kate remembered hearing you say that Harry killed a man.”
Her shock couldn’t be concealed. It took a moment for her to compose herself. “So my big secret is revealed.”
“I assume that’s what Derek Oliver was using for blackmail.”
“Yes, but I didn’t know anything about that. Harry didn’t have the courage to tell me the truth before I got here.”
“You told us that you arrived here thinking you were to do battle for justice.”
“Exactly. I didn’t lie when I told that.”
“You just left out the bloody part,” he said. “Like to tell me now?”
She took a breath. “When Harry was eighteen years old, he got drunk, had an argument, and a young man died.”
