Secrets of the Rose

“Very well.” Russ stepped back. “This is my opinion. The person who took Aimee knew exactly what he was doing. It was a professional job by someone who knew your routine, the house, the grounds, the security code, everything. Our ‘ghost’ left nothing to chance.”

Shelby tamped down the questions.

“If you know, tell me!” she demanded. “Who did it?”

“I do not know that. Yet.” He glanced up through his black lashes at Daniel. “But I believe it was someone close to you.”

“You’re hinting at me? This is ludicrous! Pure supposition with no facts on which to base it.” Daniel turned his back and strode to the door. “I do need to speak to you, Shel. But I can wait until tomorrow.” He twisted to look at Russ. “I suggest you wait till then also. In the meantime, find something solid on which to base your ideas.”

He walked out, slamming the door behind him. Shelby turned on Russ.

“Daniel did not do this, Russ. I can’t believe you would think he did. You, he and Grant were friends not very long ago.”

“Yes.” Russ held her gaze. “We were friends. Once. But things change. The person who stole your daughter had personal knowledge of things an ordinary thief wouldn’t know. He left nothing to chance, not even his footprints in the garden. Either he or someone helping him knew the freshly worked ground would imprint and was prepared to cover those tracks.”

“And you believe that person was Daniel?”

“I do not say exactly that. I say merely that you must be wary of whom you trust. I will keep digging, but you must be alert. These are people who wish you harm, Shelby. Be very careful.”

While she stared after him, Russ walked out of the room, leaving her door ajar. A moment later she heard the elevator doors whoosh close.

She stood alone in her office, staring out the windows into the blackness while the sounds around her magnified a thousandfold.

The words of the Psalm she’d repeated over and over in the wee hours of the morning now echoed through her mind. She couldn’t remember all of it, but one line sang through, sharper, more poignant than the rest.

“May He grant your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans.”

Her heart’s desire was known to Him. He alone could help Aimee now.

FOUR

Tim wandered through the house he’d rented for the past nine months, pausing beside the windows from time to time to see if Shelby was home yet. One hand absently rubbed the keloids forming on his face, an unpleasant reminder of the burns he’d suffered and of yet another operation the doctors had insisted he have—soon.

Like a looming cloak, the reminders of past operations hung suspended in the shadows of his mind—black timeless moments when he first came out of the anesthetic and the pain was too real, too piercing to be controlled. That space before the morphine kicked in, that was when the specters of what should have been threatened to tear his heart from his body.

No! He wouldn’t go back there now, would never allow himself to dwell in that black pit of despair when he could stop it. They were gone, why think about what could have been? He thought of Aimee, sweet innocent Aimee, who had pushed against his self-imposed barriers, insisted he accept that life went on in spite of great tragedies. He missed her sweet giggle, her charming laugh and the tender way she touched his scars, as if they were somehow precious.

From the corner of his eye he saw Natalie, the police investigator, walk through Shelby’s rose garden, pull out a cell phone and speak on it. Moments later she clipped it closed and returned to the house. Something about her had bothered him from the moment he’d laid eyes on her, but Tim had no justification for those feelings. In the past eighteen hours she hadn’t left her post or handed over the assignment to another—which should have garnered her some Brownie points. Instead an irritating niggle at the back of his brain wouldn’t be silenced. Something wasn’t right.

Finally Shelby arrived. He watched her plain black car roll up the driveway. Even at this distance he could tell from the slump of her shoulders that she’d found nothing new, learned no more than she’d known when she left this morning. Inside he felt a flood of awareness when she stepped out of the car.

She was so beautiful. Her hair flowed out behind her like a golden burnished cape, tousled curls dancing in the freshening wind, tall and slim yet still elegant, even after her ordeal.

She might have been any other businesswoman returning from a day at the office except that three men protected her from the cameras and microphones shoved into her face. Looking for another headline, no doubt. He glanced down at the newspaper he’d tossed to the floor in a fit of anger. Rumor, speculation—they had no facts. Why did they need to hound her so?

Her protectors shuffled her inside the house, physically pushing aside those who would stop them. Tim already knew they were policemen, charged with protecting the scene from nosy newshounds until the police were ready to release what they knew. Knowing that didn’t make him any less jealous. He wanted to be there, to help, to do something. Instead he was on the outside looking in, the neighbor nobody noticed.

Tim moved to the side window of the kitchen and waited. After a while Shelby emerged in a pair of jeans and a loose shirt and a bright red quilted jacket. She carried a cup which he knew would be brimming with mint tea. Shelby loved mint tea. She found a chair and sat down, her face pensive.

Tim grabbed his own mug of cold coffee. He might be an outsider, but he intended to be there if she needed him. He walked through the hedge that abutted her property, pausing at the corner of the house when he heard someone speaking.

“I could not say this at the office, Shelby, but I can be silent no longer. I must tell you to watch out for Daniel. He has been acting very strange.”

“Strange?” Shelby’s voice carried to Tim, clear and filled with puzzlement. “What do you mean strange, Russ?”

“I mean this—he hides things. He comes back late at night when everyone has gone home. The next day I hear something is missing from the warehouse. I ask Daniel but he will not explain. I do not like to say it, but I think Daniel is in trouble. What other reason can there be to keep so many secrets?”

“Secrets?” She stared at him, a frown marring her beauty. “What secrets does Daniel have?”

“I have no secrets from you, Shelby. You can ask me anything.”

Tim peeked around the corner, saw the man he’d met this morning standing in the doorway, his lean body erect, his face glowering. Russ and Daniel glared at each other like tigers.

Though Tim thought it would probably be prudent for him to leave and return when Shelby’s guests were gone, walking across the pebbled area would disturb them and reveal he’d been listening. Judging by the anger resonating through both men’s voices, Tim also had a feeling that he might be called upon to intervene. He decided to wait.

“Why are you bothering Shelby again, Russ? If it’s merely to blacken my name, can’t it wait?” Daniel strode forward, his thin face tight with anger. “I have done nothing wrong and I have nothing to hide. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when Grant needed me, but all I can do now is run the company the best way possible. I told you I knew about the warehouse thefts and that I had implemented special security measures to track the thief. What more do you want?”

“To know about these ‘special’ measures.”

“I’m not prepared to discuss that with you, Russ. It’s a matter of company security. As I told you before.” Daniel glanced at Shelby, then back at Russ. “Perhaps I should come back another time.”

Tim didn’t like his tone. According to Shelby the two friends had previously enjoyed a good relationship. What Tim didn’t understand was why they seemed enemies now.

“There’s no reason in the world you should have to drive back out here to see me,” Shelby murmured. “You look tired, Daniel. You should get some rest.”

“I’ll rest when Aimee is back at home with you,” he murmured.

“So sincere,” Russ sneered. “I wonder—can we know what lies behind such a voice?”

“I don’t like your tone. Why don’t you say what you really mean?” Daniel stood directly in front of Russ. The two glared at each other menacingly. The situation was descending from bad to worse and Shelby was paying the price.

“Good evening.” Tim stepped around the corner, feeling tension land on him like a thick blanket. “Have I come at a bad time?” He scrutinized each man in turn then looked to Shelby for direction. “Perhaps I should go?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, her lips pinched tightly together. “Russ and Daniel seem to have some personal differences which I was not aware of.”

“But I’m sure neither of them would want to hamper the investigation into Aimee’s disappearance.” He glared at both of them, saw the flush of shame wash over Daniel’s face. Russ merely clenched his fists. “There are media everywhere, gentlemen. They’re looking for something to splash all over tonight’s news. Unless you both want to be tomorrow’s front-page story, with an accompanying article describing how Shelby’s friends make her life miserable, it might be prudent to present a united front. Otherwise Shelby’s company is going to suffer.”

He watched two quite different reactions to his chiding.

“He’s right. Finders, Inc. has a lot of wealthy clients who don’t want to be known. If they see us in the media, arguing, we’re not going to look very professional. Forgive me, Shelby. I’m afraid I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

Daniel’s swift apology relieved Tim. He had no right to preach to these two, but he was concerned about Shelby. He noted that Russ also covered his angry look, managed to seem chastened.

“I must also apologize. I do not wish to upset you. I will leave now, but I think not through the front. A woman waits there to talk to me and I do not like her questions. If I may use your hedge?” Russ inclined his head toward Tim, barely waited for his nod of approval.

“Of course. Go ahead.” Tim stopped. Russ had already disappeared.

“I need to show you this, Shel. I have prepared a statement for the press. If you’d like to look over it first, I’d appreciate that. Then I’ll go out and read it to them.”