His Brother's Bride

“And if it is, we’re responsible for whatever happened to William Byrd,” Clint added. “We can’t risk any more lives.”

Scott stood, arms crossed, rubbing his lip with the back of his forefinger. “If Nevil is behind this, then he already has his victim. Maybe two of them.”

Clint nodded.

Maureen looked from her brother to Scott. “If Nevil is behind this, any one of our guests could be next.”

“She’s right,” Clint agreed, fingers in the front pockets of his slacks.

“I wouldn’t cancel any reservations just yet,” Scott said. “As soon as you do, you’ll be confirming that there’s a problem here and you stand to lose all your fall bookings.”

“We aren’t going to put our financial concerns above the welfare of innocent people,” Clint protested.

“I don’t think you will be,” Scott told them. “If Owen and Carl Nevil are behind this, they aren’t going to be stupid enough to do anything else right away. Not while everyone’s watching the place so closely. Besides, there’s no point. They haven’t gotten the full benefit from their first hit yet. No need to waste another.”

Maureen had to know that as well as he. She was probably just too spooked at the moment to be thinking objectively.

She was frowning. “How convinced are you that Owen’s behind this?” she asked Scott. “On a scale of one to ten.”

“Two, maybe three, but only because he’s not available for questioning.”

She nodded. “Then I guess we just sit and wait.”

Scott was going to do everything he could to make that excruciating period of waiting as short as possible for her.

* * *

THE DRIVE ACROSS THE STATE of Massachusetts was a beautiful one. The first hints of gold and red appeared in the dark green canopy of trees that shaded the highway, and the brilliant colors of the distant meadows had deepened, sure signs of the approaching fall.

For the first part of the drive, Laurel and Scott reviewed the evidence they had so far, this time with Laurel’s tape recorder running. They ended up right where they’d been the day before—desperately needing to know more.

If William and Cecilia’s disap

pearance had nothing to do with their reason for meeting, then where were they? Could it be that someone was after one of them and got two in the bargain? And why had the Renwicks’ names been whited out on that birth certificate?

When Scott’s cell phone rang about half an hour after they’d left Cooper’s Corner, Laurel hoped for good news, until she saw the disappointment cross Scott’s face.

“The fingerprints lifted from Byrd’s room were inconclusive,” he said, ending the call.

“If we’re working with a professional, they would be,” Laurel said, voicing what they both already knew.

“There also just might not have been any clear prints because there weren’t any clear prints.”

She supposed, but too many things were adding up to keep pointing to simple happenstance.

“You know, rather than a random crime, someone could easily be after Cecilia. She’s worth a bundle.”

“Which explains the security level at her house,” Scott added.

“The guy could have been waiting at her house for her to arrive.”

“Though I hope you’re wrong, the explanation fits.”

She’d been hoping Scott would find a hole in her logic. Watching as the Massachusetts landscape whizzed past her window, Laurel tried to find the optimism she’d held on to for the past couple of days. But her heart filled with dread as she thought of the older man, now missing for four days. If something bad had happened to him, if he’d suffered...

“What reason are we going to give Ms. Renwick for showing up at her home?” Laurel asked, needing a different track for her thoughts.

She’d done some laundry at Twin Oaks and was wearing her white slacks again with her favorite black short-sleeved sweater, but wished she’d chosen something else. The day was turning out to be very hot.