Murder in Nice (39 page)

Jem squealed at the sight of a squirrel and
pointed excitedly. Maggie bounced him on her knee to distract
him.

“
We had a fight that
morning when you and Laurent were gone and it came out,” Ben said.
“I was totally freaked. I had no idea she was that…that…. Anyway,
then when you came home and accused me of it, I thought…I don’t
know.”

“
You thought this was your
chance to be a hero.”

“
Thank you for making it
sound so lame. I figured I was heading to prison anyway and this
was what I should do. What Dad would do. Step in and fix
it.”

“
How did it go down with
Haley and Lanie? It’ll be years before I get the facts from the
police.”

Ben sighed heavily and rubbed his face with
a large hand. “It was stupid. And all my fault.”

“
I’m listening.”

“
You already know I hooked
up with Lanie in the girls’ bathroom at the school
reunion.”

“
Really charming, by the
way.”

“
I haven’t been punished
enough?”

“
Do you think you have? Are
you feeling sorry for yourself?”

“
Never mind.”

“
Continue. And Haley found
out?”

“
No, I confessed. Told you
it was stupid. But she forgave me. Or seemed to. And I had so much
on my plate with this damn Ordeur mess—”

“
What with needing to come
over here and extort Laurent’s livelihood out of him.”

“
I can only tell one story
at a time, Maggie. Which one do you want to hear?”

“
The murder.”

He grimaced at her bald statement, but
before he could respond Jem reached out and grabbed at Ben’s shirt
and laughed. Maggie was surprised and began to pull him away when
Ben held out his hands.

“
May I?” he
asked.

“
Are you serious?” But she
handed the baby to him and watched her brother as he tucked Jem
into the crook of his arm and smoothed down the baby’s
hair.

“
You know how many times I
looked at this little guy and thought of what might have
been?”

“
You mean with Lanie’s
baby?”

Ben nodded miserably. “I had no idea she
would be on the tour. That was a serious shock, but worse was the
text message I got from her as soon as I arrived telling me she was
pregnant and wanted money.”

“
I’ll bet.”

Ben turned to glance at her. “You’re going
to think I’m crazy, but I didn’t think it was the worse thing that
could happen. I really didn’t.”

“
Getting a one-night-stand
pregnant when you’re married?”

He shrugged. “Alright. It was bad.”

“
Another confession to
Haley?”

He shook his head. “No. I was pretty sure
she couldn’t handle it. We’d been trying so hard to get pregnant.
But she stumbled onto the text that Lanie sent me.” He grimaced.
“Thank you, Cloud.”

“
Oh, snap.”

“
I guess when she saw that
I was still in contact with Lanie—and worse, that she was
pregnant—she just cracked.”

“
How did she get in Lanie’s
room?”

“
Lanie had given me a key.
Haley found it, used it, then slipped it under Olivier’s door when
she…when she was finished. He must have found it and put it in his
wallet thinking Lanie had slipped it under the door.”

“
That’s the main reason
Olivier was arrested,” Maggie said. “The cops pinpointed it
was
that
keycard
used at the time of the murder.”

“
I know.”

“
And by slipping it under
his door it shows Haley deliberately tried to pin it on
Olivier.”

“
She’s sick,
Maggie.”

“
And Lanie’s
dead.”

“
I’m not saying it’s fair.
It’s a damn mess is what it is.”

“
Okay, now you can tell me
about Laurent.”

“
He hasn’t told
you?”

“
I want to hear it from
you.”

“
Ordeur hired me because
they knew I was in trouble. They helped me dig in a little deeper,
not that I’m trying to dodge the blame. I did it to myself. But
then they offered me a way out: go to France and convince Laurent
Dernier—by any means necessary—to fall in step with the rest of the
vintners in the co-op they’d just purchased.”

“
And they knew they could
ask you because they’d specifically recruited someone who knew
Laurent’s family.”

“
Yes.”

“
And because you
didn’t
really
know
Laurent, it wasn’t that hard for you to lie to him and try to
manipulate him.”

“
It was never not hard,
Maggie.”

“
Poor you.”

“
I was desperate. I’m glad
for you, little sister, if you’ve never felt like that
before.”

“
I’ve felt in fear for my
life and for the life of my child. Does that count?”

“
I’ll never be able to make
that up to you. Never.”

“
You’re right.”

He looked at her as she reached over and
took Jemmy back.

“
And then when you couldn’t
trick Laurent into signing, you pulled out the big
guns.”

“
That was all Haley,” Ben
said. “She’d started obsessing about you last winter when Jem was
born.”

“
It
wasn’t
all Haley,” Maggie said,
smoothing Jemmy’s hair and licking a finger to force his cowlick in
place. “You knew where she kept the documents—”

“
Yes, alright. I suck. I
don’t deserve your forgiveness.”

“
Do you want
it?”

He looked at her in surprise. “What? Of
course I do. I’ve apologized to Laurent and he seems ready to move
past it.”

“
So that just leaves
me.”

“
Yeah. Just
you.”

“
Aside from what your crazy
wife did, you tried to sabotage my life and put my husband in
prison.”

“
As I said, I’m aware I
don’t deserve your forgiveness.”

They didn’t speak for a moment.

“
I need to get back,”
Maggie said, standing. “When does your train come? Are you flying
out of Marseille?”

“
I won’t stop trying to get
it,” he said quietly. “I am so, so sorry, Maggie. I beg you to
forgive me, no matter how long it takes. And if you never do, I
swear I’ll understand.”

“
Okay, well, I do forgive
you, Ben.”

“
You do?”

“
Of course. I have to.
You’re my only brother and I love you. I’d just as soon not see you
for a while though, which I imagine won’t be tricky since you’re
always a no-show at family gatherings.”

“
I’ll be at Mom and Dad’s
this Thanksgiving,” he said. “And Christmas too,” he added
quickly.

“
Oh. Well, that will be
nice for them. I’m afraid I can’t make it this year, but you going
is a step in the right direction.”

“
Thank you,
Maggie.”

“
You’re welcome,
Ben.”

Jemmy fell asleep the minute Maggie buckled
him into his car seat for the drive back to Domaine St-Buvard. She
found a soothing classic musical station on the radio and relaxed
in the driver’s seat as she pulled onto the entrance ramp of the
D17 toward home.

As
far as closure went, she had to admit the afternoon had been a very
good idea.
Whoever’s
idea it was, she decided with a smile, she fully intended to
reward her big, handsome husband for its happy outcome.

As she accelerated, she heard her cell phone
vibrating in the console and glanced at the screen. It was
Laurent.

“
Hi, lover,” she said into
the speaker. “I’m on my way home right now.”

“
Bon
. Everything okay?”

“
Good as gold, darling. Are
you cooking tonight?”

“
Bien
sûr
. Nothing big, just a few
amuse-bouche
. You and
Grace and I will eat later after our guests have gone.”

“
Or not. I still don’t have
all the pregnancy weight off me from Jemmy, Laurent.”

“
I forbid you to
diet.”

“
And I forbid you to use
that word again.”

“
Forbid or
diet?”

“
Both of them, now that I
think of it. Besides, you’re just trying to keep me fat so no one
else will want me.”

“
Impossible. I am beating
your suitors off daily with sticks. Don’t rush back,
chérie
, but get here as
soon as you can. I must now go watch my
gratin dauphinois
.”

“
Of course you must. Oh,
wait, Laurent, I’ve been meaning to ask you something, and with our
new policy of total disclosure I thought this would be a good
time.”

“
Oui,
chérie
?” he said impatiently.

“
Did you really have half a
million euros when I met you?”

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About the
Author

Susan Kiernan-Lewis lives
in Ponte Vedra, Florida and writes about Europe, mysteries and
romance. Like many authors, Susan depends on the reviews and word
of mouth referrals of her readers. If you enjoyed
Murder in Nice
, please
consider leaving a review saying so on Goodreads.com or your
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Check out Susan’s website
at susankiernanlewis.com and feel free to contact her at
[email protected]
.