“Trey graduated from college. I think she’s shopping for a job for him,” Declan said, mentioning Courtney’s youngest son.
“Am I supposed to know what that means?”
“It means, she’s trying to buy his way into a company. It looks like Atlanta is where she’s looking.”
Cara was stunned. “Why Atlanta? How do you know about it? Are you spying on her?”
“I keep myself informed. I know the three of you think I’m being paranoid. I have more information now. I’m going to prove she killed our father.”
“Declan,” she breathed; chill bumps rose on her arms. “Dad was sick—”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it. You don’t need to be involved.”
“He was my father, too! If you’ve found something, you have to tell me. I have a right to know!”
Declan’s frustration was palpable over the phone, and a knot formed in her stomach. Luke and James thought Declan was obsessed with their stepmother and refused to discuss the possibility that their father died of anything other than natural causes. But Cara had always thought Declan might be right. The way Courtney had behaved during his illness and the extreme conditions of the willweresuspicious.
“I had lunch with Mrs. Woodson.”
“Our Mrs. Woodson?”
“Yes.
“You had lunch with Mrs. Woodson? Dad’s housekeeper?”
“Are you going to repeat everything I say?” Declan snapped.
“Sorry.”
“I’ve been meeting her for lunch every few months.”
Cara’s eyebrows flew to her hairline. She knew Declan was fond of the woman. She had worked at the Rhode Island estate for as long as Cara could remember, but the idea that Declan and the elderly woman went out to lunch somehow surprised her.
“That’s nice of you.”
“We owe her.”
Cara and her siblings weren’t the only ones who had suffered under the new will. All of her father’s long-term employees, with the exception of Vince Menardi, head of security, had been excluded. Declan had personally given settlements to each of the staff that had been promised a bequest in the previous will.
“You offered her a job, Dec.”
“She’s worked enough. Taking her out to lunch is the least I can do.” His voice was gruff, and she could tell he was embarrassed.
“What happened at lunch with Mrs. Woodson?”
“She told me that, in the last months of his life, our father suspected he was being poisoned.”
Cara’s heart fell into her stomach, and a chill swept over her. “What are you talking about?”
“I tried to talk to her about Dad’s death before, but she always became so upset. I didn’t press. Yesterday, it was all she wanted to talk about. We compared notes, and I’m now more convinced than ever. I think, given time, she’ll remember more about what was happening in the house.”
“Compared notes?”
“I’ve gone over his medical records, but there’s nothing there. I can’t find any neglect, and Dr. Keller seems to have ordered the tests one would expect.”
“How in the world did you get his medical records?” Cara frowned. “And why does she think that’s what he believed? Did he tell her? If Dad thought someone was poisoning him, he would have done something about it. He wouldn’t have just let himself be murdered!”
“I don’t think Mrs. Woodson took him seriously at the time. He didn’t tell her explicitly, but now that we’ve been talking, she’s remembering certain things. Like how fast he declined. Almost from one day to the next.”
