“Murdered him?” Sara finished for him. He didn’t answer as his eyes went to the doorway. Young Teddy, her arm looped through her grandfather’s, was there. She had on a slinky red dress with nothing on under it. You could see the indentation of her navel.
Clive gave a low whistle. “How old is she?”
“She was born six months after the party when her father disappeared.” Quickly, Sara turned away. She wouldn’t have dropped such news on Clive if there wasn’t a mirror over the fireplace. If she’d been looking at him, he might have controlled his expression, but with her back to him, he didn’t need to. Sara saw his look of shock—and it appeared to be genuine.
Cautiously, she greeted Mr. Howland, and he seemed to be back in the present.
“Lovely what they’ve done to the place, isn’t it?” he said as they stepped to one side of the room.
Sara was facing him so she could see the others interact. Teddy seemed to be sulking, with her lower lip stuck out. She wasn’t looking directly at her mother, but Sara felt that she wanted to speak to her. Whatever Jack had done, he seemed to have calmed the girl down somewhat.
Mr. Howland was waiting for an answer.
“Sorry. I missed that.”
“I was saying what a splendid job this woman, Isabella, has done. Wish I could meet her. It’s hard to believe that at one time I wanted to own this monstrosity.”
“And Nicky,” she said.
Mr. Howland looked startled, then laughed. “Poor Nicky. Nadine would have made mincemeat out of him.”
“He was more suited to Diana?”
“She was the boss he needed. She ordered him about like the do-nothing he was.” He looked around the room. “Diana would have done this—if she’d had the money.”
“Where was she going to get financing?” Sara asked.
“She was planning to go into breeding horses.”
“Not racing?”
“No. Too much expense. It was a secret, but one of the mares was pregnant by North Star. Ever hear of him?”
“No. ’Fraid not.”
“It was kind of like crossing a Lamborghini with a Ferrari. I don’t know how she managed it.”
“What happened to the mare?”
Mr. Howland shrugged. “No idea. After Thorpe and Diana ran away together, everything stopped.”
“What about Nadine?” she asked softly. “And the baby?”
Pain distorted Mr. Howland’s face. It was like watching a play as Sara saw him change from rational to something feral. He turned toward the others. “Where’s Bertie?” he bellowed. “I want one of his cigars. And I need to tell Nicky I have a car for him. He’ll like it. It’s fast.” He stepped away from Sara.
“Damn!” she muttered. She’d missed the little window of opportunity to find out more of what he knew. Was he there the night Sean and Diana disappeared? What was his opinion of what had happened? Did he—?
She was glad when Jack and Kate appeared in the doorway. They were laughing, probably at one of the many jokes they shared.
“There he is!” came a woman’s voice.
Sara turned to see pretty Teddy looking at Jack. It didn’t take a psychic to see that she was trying to annoy her mother. The sprayed-on dress, the blond hair caressing her face. She was what all mothers told their daughters not to be.
“He’s the man who saved me.” Teddy’s voice filled the big room.
Everyone was mesmerized by her as she slunk across the room, the fabric of her dress clinging indecently.
“My darling hero.” When she reached Jack, she slipped an arm around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth.