Blind Faith (17 page)

Victoria
shook her head. "I don't know," she murmured. Kelly couldn't tell whether she was relieved or disappointed. "It's not a very good picture."

"No, it's not," Templeton agreed. "Let's see if I can improve it a little." He turned a knob but the picture was only marginally improved.

"I suppose it could be Jonathan."
Victoria
's eyes remained riveted to the screen. "I've never seen him wearing a hat before, though. Not that kind anyway. And the trench coat doesn't help because I can't see what he's wearing underneath."

"Did he have a trench coat that day?" Nick asked.

"No. His is at home, but he keeps a spare one in the car, for emergencies, and that's gone." She looked at the frozen image again.

"The way he holds his hand ... it's almost as if he was trying to hide his face."

Kelly nodded. "I was just thinking the same thing."

Nick gave Templeton a signal and the security chief fast-forwarded again. This time, Jonathan was at the counter, taking money out of his pocket. "How about this shot?"

Victoria
shook her head. "I don't know. There are so many similarities and yet ..." She inched closer and waved toward the screen. "Wait a minute! There at his feet. That's Jonathan's briefcase!"

"Positive. I bought it for him when he was promoted to VP of the
Chenonceau
. He never goes anywhere without it."

"I recognize it, too," Kelly said. "Victoria and I were together when she bought it."

As if unable to watch the tape another second,
Victoria
stood up, and addressed Nick. "I just don't know. He looks like Jonathan, the briefcase is Jonathan's, but if you asked me to swear under oath that the man on that tape is my husband, I couldn't do it."

Victoria
hardly said a word during the trip back to her Bryn
Mawr
house, but once inside, she fell apart. "Aunt Cecily is right," she said, collapsing into a living-room chair. "Jonathan meant to leave me all along and he didn't have the courage to tell me to my face."

Kelly was beside her in an instant. "
Victoria
, that's crazy. If he wanted to leave you he would never do it in such a despicable way. Not Jonathan."

"It still doesn't prove he left you. Why would he do that?" She took
Victoria
's hands in hers. They were cold. "You and Phoebe are all he lives for."

Victoria
snatched her hands away. "Don't forget
Magdalena
," she said bitterly.

Kelly didn't know what to say to that. She had run out of excuses for Jonathan and was relieved when the phone on the little console by the window rang.

Victoria
sprung out of her chair to answer it. "Hello?" she said breathlessly.

Almost immediately the blood drained from her face. She gripped the phone with both hands. "Jonathan?"

Nineteen.

Kelly's head shot up.
Victoria
's face was ashen, her knuckles white against the receiver.

"Jonathan!" she cried. "Is that you?" There was a short silence during which
Victoria
held her breath. Then
came
another anguished cry.

"You can't mean that. Jonathan, wait! Please don't hang up. I love you."

But the conversation was over.
Victoria
sank into a chair and let the phone slip from her hands.
"Oh, Jonathan."
She covered her face with her hands and wept quietly.

While Kelly rushed to
Victoria
's side.
Nick picked up the phone and spoke into it. "Bowman, are you there?" A short oath followed and he slammed the phone down.

"Was that really Jonathan?" Kelly crouched in front of
Victoria
.

Victoria
nodded and continued to cry.

"Here." Nick handed her a folded white handkerchief. "I'll go find some water." He was back within seconds, holding a glass of water, which he placed between
Victoria
's hands. "Drink slowly."

Like an obedient child,
Victoria
drank, taking small sips. Every now and then a dry sob sent a tremor through her entire body.

When Kelly felt
Victoria
was sufficiently calmed down, she took the glass from her hands. "What did he say?" she asked.

"To stop looking for him.
He said that ... that he loved someone else and wasn't ... coming back."

Kelly threw a questioning look at Nick but he was watching
Victoria
. "Is that it?"

Victoria
nodded and pressed Nick's handkerchief to her eyes. "I heard what he said, every word, but I can't make myself believe it."

Nick sat on a tasseled hassock the same frosty blue as the rest of the room. "Are you absolutely sure it was him?" he asked.

Victoria
gave a vigorous nod.

But Kelly was just as suspicious as Nick. "Think carefully,
Victoria
.

Often, over the phone,
a voice can
sound--"

Victoria
wrenched her arm free and sprang out of her chair. "Don't talk to me as if I were a child, Kelly! I know my own husband's voice." She ran out of the room, leaving Kelly momentarily stunned.

Mumbling a quick apology, she ran after her friend. She found
Victoria
sprawled on her bed, facedown, soaking the green satin spread with her tears. Kelly sat down
beside
her, stroking her hair, murmuring words she knew weren't helping.

After a while, the sobs subsided and
Victoria
sat up. Her face was blotchy and her eyes filled with a misery that brought tears to Kelly's own eyes. "Why don't you try to get some rest," she suggested. "You're exhausted."

"I can't. I have to pick up Phoebe at noon. Today's only a half day."

"I'll pick her up, and take her to
San
Remo
. She loves it there, with my mother and Benny. It'll be a nice change for her. What do you say?"

Victoria
took a tissue from a silver box on the nightstand and blew her nose. "Yes, thank you. I guess it wouldn't be a good idea for her to see me like this."

"Yes."
Victoria
lay down without further argument.

Kelly sat at her friend's bedside until her
deep,
even breathing told her
Victoria
was asleep. Then, quietly, she returned to the living room.

"How's she doing?" Nick, who had been standing at the bay window, turned around.

"She's asleep, for now."

"Are you staying?"

"No. I'm picking up Phoebe at school and taking her to the restaurant.

That should give
Victoria
a few hours to pull herself together."

She joined Nick at the window. "So what do you think?"

"You mean that phone call?" he asked.

Kelly nodded.

"I think it's phony as hell."

She wasn't surprised at his reaction. She had caught his skeptical expression the moment
Victoria
had hung up the phone. "
Victoria
didn't think so."

"
Victoria
is emotionally drained. And ready to believe anything."

"I don't know. Nick. She was rational enough in Templeton's office."

"Maybe the guy on the phone was more convincing. Personally, I'm not buying it, the tape or the phone call."

"Possibly."
Nick walked around the room, stopping every now and then to look at various mementos. When he reached a framed photograph of Jonathan and his little family, he stopped, picked up the snapshot and looked at it for several seconds. "What did you think of that photograph on
Magdalena
's mantel?" he asked.

Kelly shrugged. "I was shocked by it. I never thought Jonathan could look that happy with anyone but
Victoria
."

Nick put the photograph back on the end table. "I think that picture was as phony as Jonathan's phone call a moment ago."

Kelly stared at him. "That's insane. You're implying that
Magdalena
made that story up. How could she? How could she even prepare when she had no idea Detective Quinn would track her down. The picture was already there. He saw it."

"It could have been placed there ahead of time."

"You mean someone anticipated all our moves before they happened?"

"Exactly."

"What about the owner of Salamander? He recognized Jonathan."

Nick shook his head. "That little scenario was just a little too pat for me, too ... rehearsed, practically flawless."

"Even if that's true, there's still the mystery of the snuff bottle to explain."

"I don't have an answer for that yet. But I will, once I know who Magdalena Montoya really is."

"You ordered a background check on her."

He nodded. "I should have it in a day or two."

Kelly was silent for a moment, remembering her own conversation with
Magdalena
, the way she had believed her one moment and doubted
her the
next. If, as Nick believed, Jonathan's phone call was phony and the man on that surveillance tape was a plant, then why couldn't the picture on
Magdalena
's mantel be fictitious as well?

Nick smiled as if he had read her thoughts. "I see that my insane suspicions don't seem so insane anymore."

"Maybe, but you'll need to prove your theory before I totally embrace it."

"I'm working on doing just that. A private detective I know will be helping with some of the ... more sensitive stuff I'm not authorized to do."

Translated, that meant illegal activities such as unlawful entry, wiretapping and stealing of evidence. "Do I know him?"

"I doubt it. His name is Alan Braden. He's a former NYPD detective who's now doing private work out of his
Manhattan
office."

"Watch
Magdalena
's comings and goings for one thing.
Keep track of who she meets or calls. Oh, and I've asked him to have that snapshot analyzed."

"Won't
Magdalena
notice the photo is gone?"

He grinned. "Not if it's still there."

"But how--"

"Alan is very good at what he does. Let's leave it at that."

It was almost time to pick up Phoebe. "You'll let me know what he finds
out?
"

He gave her one of his boyish grins.
"Of course.
We're partners, aren't we?" He didn't wait for an answer but walked briskly to his car.

As he pulled away from the curb, he gave a quick honk of the horn and waved at her through the rearview mirror.

Kelly braced herself as forty pounds of sheer force and energy hurled toward her and into her open arms. "How's my sweetie?" She planted a loud kiss on Phoebe's plump cheek. "Did you have a good morning?"

Her gaze caught Mrs. Goddard standing at a distance and she waved.

Phoebe's teacher responded with a short nod. When
Victoria
had enrolled her daughter at this exclusive
Main Line
school in September, she had taken Cecily and Kelly with her and introduced them to Mrs. Goddard so she would recognize them in the event that one of them had to pick up Phoebe.

"We made paper snowflakes." Phoebe started to
unstrap
her Pocahontas backpack. "You want to see them?"

"I sure do, but let's get you in the car first."

Her little hand cradled in Kelly's, Phoebe looked around her. "Where's Mommy?"

"She had a few errands to run." Kelly opened the
VW's
passenger door and waited until Phoebe had climbed in before securing the seat belt around her. "How would you like to go to
San
Remo
and see Connie?"

Phoebe bounced up and down in her seat. "Can I have some of those Italian chocolates Connie always gives me?"

Kelly smiled.
Gianduias
had been her favorite candy, too. Connie still kept a supply in a big glass jar in her kitchen. "I'm sure she will.
In exchange for a big fat kiss."

"Okay." Phoebe fell silent and watched the traffic for a while. "Aunt Kelly?"