Finding Julian (13 page)

“It’s not that,” I hissed. “Just look at
these.”

She scowled before snatching the papers
from my hand. Mackenzie read through the will. Amazed, she eased up and rested
her back against the headboard.

“What’s this? It’s…different. Where’d
you get it?” her eyes widened as she looked to me for answers.

“Mr. Cornwell’s secretary sent it to me.
She said our father made it a few months before he died.”

Mackenzie dropped her eyes to the will
again. “This can’t be right. It says Seven should get the company. Aunt Bev
isn’t even mentioned here…” she eyed me again.

I sat down in the grey Tafton club chair
next to her bed. “That’s not the only weird shit. Look at the other paper. Mr.
Cornwell left that for his secretary a day before he was murdered.”

Mackenzie placed the will down beside
her and read through Mr. Cornwell’s last words. Her forehead creased. Her face
twisted. Moments later, she slowly lowered her hands onto her lap then spun her
head to face me.

“He didn’t say which Monroe it was. And
how does his secretary even know if it’s really Robert who wrote this and left
it for her to see?”

I didn’t think about that. “She…I don’t
know…but she sent it to the detective working on Mr. Cornwell’s murder. I’m
sure he’s probably going to question Seven and his father, especially since I
already told him Mr. Cornwell mentioned to be his suspicions about our father
being murdered.”

Mackenzie jumped out of bed and hurried
over to her closet. “Do you even know what that letter is saying? Robert’s
basically insinuating someone in this house killed my dad, and that my cousin,
or Uncle, killed
him
. We already know Seven was with you so it
definitely puts my uncle in a bad situation.” She disheveled her hair in
frustration. “None of it makes sense. And what’s that about following you
around in Manhattan?” She hauled on skinny blue jeans and slipped into a plain
tank top. “Geez, Julian. Why didn’t you say something to me sooner?”

I jumped up. “I didn’t know anyone was
following me in Manhattan, much less about Seven or his father doing anything—”

“Not that!” she hissed. “Why didn’t you
tell me Robert told you our father had been killed? That’s not something you
just ignore.”

“He asked me not to say anything. But, didn’t
your mom tell you? They heard about it the day of Mr. Cornwell’s murder because
I told the cops.”

She scoffed, “Seriously? Well, no one
told me. You should have.”

I folded my arms.
If she had treated
me better, we could have talked like sisters
. “I didn’t think I could trust
you. You were more concerned about whether or not I’d give up my inheritance to
you.”

“I would’ve pressed my mom to do an
autopsy,” she pointed to her chest. “
I
would’ve figured this mess out
had you said something.”

“Yeah, right! Would you have even
listened to me?”

Mackenzie went quiet. She parted her
lips to say more when her cell phone rang. She exhaled before walking over to
the end table to answer it.

“What?” She certainly didn’t smooth her
words with anyone.

I went over to Mackenzie’s bed and
grabbed up the papers, nearly jumping out of my skin when her voice soared.

“What! Great…” she eyeballed me. “Okay,
I’ll call my mother and go pick him up. Thanks for calling me.”

She snatched up her clutch and car keys off
the table. “That was Gavin,” she said harshly, heading for the door. “He said
cops showed up at the office and took Seven in for questioning. Looks like
Robert’s stupid secretary really informed that detective.”

Mackenzie dashed out of the bedroom, I hurried
behind her. “What are we going to do?”

“
We
?” she spun on the first step
of the stairs. “
I’m
going to find out what really happened to our father
and clear their names.”

She turned and continued down the
stairs. Her remark stunned me.
Our
father.

Collecting myself, I hurried down behind
her. I hastened out of the house and over to her car, moving around to the
passenger side then hopped in.

“What are you doing?” she snapped,
putting the key in the ignition.

“I’m going with you.”

“No, you’re not. You need to just
leave—”

“I’m a part of this, Mackenzie. I’m not
going anywhere until I find out what really happened to my father and what’s
going on around here.”

She let out a mocking laugh before
finally backing the car out of the driveway. Mackenzie drove as fast as she
could to the police station, jumping out of the car the second she turned the
engine off.

I rushed in beside her as she asked the
officer at the front desk for Seven Monroe. Detective Walters was still
questioning him so we were told to have a seat and wait for the lawyer. Shortly
after, a man in an expensive suit arrived, Marlene in tow.

“Mom,” Mackenzie walked up to her.

Marlene stroked her cheek. “I just
couldn’t believe what you told me. Anyway, Mr. Danton will have them out of
this place in no time.”

“Them?” Mackenzie asked.

Marlene nodded. “They arrested Anthony
as well.”

Just as she said that her lawyer waltzed
up to the front desk and was immediately escorted around back.

I stayed silent, tugging on the fabric
of my jeans while I sat down to wait. For a fraction of a second, I glanced
over to where Marlene and Mackenzie were standing. My stepmother flashed me a
scowl then walked over to me.

“I should tell you, Mr. Danton has dealt
with the will. You’ll be back in Manhattan in no time.”

I was about to tell her the drama
surrounding the will, but Mackenzie beat me to it. “Mom, the will you have
isn’t exactly legit.”

Marlene spun fast and stared at her
daughter. “What do you mean?” She glanced back at me.

Before Mackenzie had the chance to
explain it further, Mr. Danton walked up with Seven and his father behind. Mr.
Monroe looked humiliated.

Marlene rushed into him, wrapping her
arms around her beloved older brother.

“Anthony, are you okay? What did they
say? Do they have anything to charge you with?” her questions were even tiring
me out, so I could only imagine how Mr. Monroe was feeling.

He merely shook his head and mumbled,
“Can we just get out of this place?”

I stood as Seven came to a stop and stared
at me. Mr. Monroe made a low growl as he passed by.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Mr.
Cornwell’s last message?” asked Seven, as everyone else walked off towards the
exit.

“I only found out this morning.” I
reached my hand out to touch his but he eased away.

“I would never hurt your father. You
have to believe that.”

“I do.”

I wasn’t sure why, but a sarcastic grin
formed on his face. “You don’t look so sure.”

Without muttering another word, he
continued past me and towards the exit behind his father and the others.

It was as if I didn’t matter. I felt out
of place, all over again, the only one walking slowly behind the family I still
didn’t belong to.

Chapter Twenty

I was surprised Mackenzie
even bothered to offer me a ride back. I refused, but she didn’t want me to be
a nuisance to anyone else. When we got to the house, Mr. Danton looked over
both copies of the wills. He said it wasn’t clear which was accurate, so he’d
have to look into the matter some more.

Seven walked over to the main house with
his aunt and father, Mackenzie followed behind. They really needed to hear what
the police asked both father and son.

I started to head for the guesthouse,
only to halt in my steps because Marlene wanted me to come inside as well. She
said I needed to explain to them exactly what I’d discussed with Mr. Cornwell’s
secretary.

“Obviously, I’m not a suspect in Mr.
Cornwell’s murder, since I was in the café with Julian at the time he was
killed.” Seven plopped down on the sofa. “But because of what he wrote, the
cops are accusing me of killing the man that’s been more like a father to me
than my own.”

“Give me a break,” Mr. Monroe
sneered.        

Seven balled his hands into fists. “Oh,
really? And where were
you
, Dad?”

We all gazed at Mr. Monroe, standing
behind the armchair. He kept his eyes on the floor while he cracked his
knuckles in nervousness.

“Anthony?” Marlene pressed, folding her
arms.

Then he walked over and sat down in the
upholster armchair, looking across the room at her.

“I was with someone…a friend.”

“Which friend?” asked Mackenzie. “Where
were you guys? Maybe you can get some witnesses to swear for you—”

“I was with Claire Watson,” he admitted,
hesitantly gazing at Seven.

Mackenzie sat down on the sofa, holding
her cousin’s hand. Marlene had a petrified look on her face. I wondered what
upset her more: Mr. Monroe having an affair, or that he was having an affair
with the hired help.

“Beverly’s
housekeeper
?” she
confirmed, making Claire sound as if she was far beneath her.

“We’d spent the night together, in
Boston. Then we drove back early so she could start her work at the guesthouse
on time,” Mr. Monroe explained.

Seven’s eyes were seething with fury. I
wanted to comfort him so bad.

The room went still for a moment.
Heaving a sigh, Marlene went and sat cross-legged on the sofa next to Seven.

“What did Ms. Vaughn say to you,
Julian?” she asked me, dismissing her brother’s confession for the time
being.    

“Yeah, we can’t even be sure that
message was really left by Robert either,” added Mackenzie.

With the exception of Seven, they all
shot daggers at me. There was so much resentment coming from them that I
couldn’t take it anymore.

“What’s your problem?” I snapped,
directing my question at Marlene.

She snorted. “Do you really need me to
reiterate? Firstly,” she started to count off her fingers, “you’re the daughter
of my husband’s lover. Secondly, he left his estate to you, twice. So whichever
will is legit, you still get it all. And last but not least, since you’ve been
here everything seems to be going downhill. Why can’t you just leave already?
Wasn’t it you who said you’d be gone right after the funeral?”

Leaning forward, her blue eyes narrowed
with anger as she stared intently at me. “I can have Mr. Danton send every last
piece of detail to you by mail or fax to make it easier for you. You
don’t
have
to stay here.”

I glanced over at Seven. He turned his
head away. This time, he wasn’t coming to my defense, and that stung greatly.
Truth be told, I was really staying because of him. The inheritance and working
on the project with Aunt Bev were only excuses I wanted to believe kept me in
Narragansett, when my real reason was Seven. And it hurt that there wasn’t any
way to establish some sort of relationship with my half-sister.

To hell with it
.

It was time for me to return the same
treatment. The ball was in my court anyway. I had something they all wanted.

Getting up from the sofa across from
them, I pressed my eyes shut to build up some courage. Taking a deep, long
breath, I opened my eyes again and spoke with confidence.

“I’ll leave once I find out if my father
was really murdered, and if he was, I want to know who killed him. As for the
estate, I’ve decided not to turn it over. I’m putting it on the market.”

They all gasped in astonishment as I
stormed out the front door. I’d reached the side of the house when Mackenzie
came running after me. She yanked my arm back, stopping me at the top of the
marble steps.

“I knew it,” she fumed, tears welling up
in her eyes. “The money’s too good to give up, isn’t it? You had this in mind
from the moment you heard he’d given everything to you.”

Not sure why but I held my hand up in
defense. “You have a condo and all the money in the world. What’s it matter?—”

“This is my home!” she yelled, tears
started to flow, pain etched across her face. “It’s the only thing I have,” she
whimpered. “You had his heart. At least let me keep this place.”  

Even though she’d not once ever been
nice to me, I did the only thing I could: I wrapped my arms around her. My move
shocked us both. I only knew she was suffering, and I wanted to comfort her. In
this moment, she was my sister.

Breathing heavily, Mackenzie rested her
head on my shoulder and lifted her hands to slowly hug me back. Then as if
snapping back to reality, she quickly shoved me off of her. Knocked off
balance, I staggered backwards, slipping off the top step.

I reached for Mackenzie, my fingers
barely grazing hers as she stretched her hand out to catch me. When I landed at
the bottom of the steps, my head hit the concrete with a resounding thud. I
cried out as sharp pain shot through my body. Mackenzie’s panic-filled voice
echoed in my throbbing head seconds before I blacked out.

“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m sorry.”