expecting something to happen! She was scared of something, Aunt Zan. Or someone.”
Alexandra’s breath came out in a soft rush.
“No. Your mom was alone. The detectives found the note, in her raincoat pocket. It was left by the bridge...” Forgive me .
“No way,” said the girl scornfully. Once more, Alexandra caught a glimpse of the young Juliet she remembered.
“The newspapers lied, Aunt Zan. Mom didn’t write that note. She never called me Juliet! It was always Jules - or Jewel, her special name for me. And the note was typed ! Mom hated to type, always insisted she was computer-challenged, remember? She couldn’t figure out how to use her BlackBerry! She recorded her voice on her digital recorder, or wrote everything in long hand. Script .” The last word was thrown down as a gauntlet.
The green eyes staring back at Alexandra were filled with a fierce light. “The ‘one good true thing,’ she called me. Why would she leave me?”
The small voice, so wounded and raw, throbbed in Alexandra’s head. Her niece’s thoughts mirrored her own. There was no way Eve would have left Juliet. Unless she had no choice…
Alexandra leaned toward Juliet. “Your mother’s hiding place. Where is it?”
“Downstairs. In the nursery.”
“Here?” Alexandra’s brows arched with surprise. “Eve came all the way to Cliff House to hide something for me ?”
“Go figure.”
Alexandra shook her head, still unconvinced. “Why didn’t she just mail it to me?”
“She was right, you intellectualize everything!”
“What’s so wrong with being reasonable?” asked Alexandra, stung. “I still don’t understand why you came to Maine alone.”
“Mom had a secret.”
“She kept too damned many secrets. That was her problem.”
“My mother needed help!” Juliet’s glare was icy. “You were too busy.”
“I’m here now. So what about this hiding place?”
“I found something.” The words were low, defiant.
“Where?”
Juliet stared at her aunt. “You really don’t know about the false wall in the doll house?”
“The doll house in the nursery?”
The long wind chime earring swung against Juliet’s cheek. “A narrow space between two walls. Mom showed me when I was little.” There was a hint of pleasure in the words.
Alexandra shook her head in denial. “Surely I would have known...”
The jade eyes were suddenly old in the heart-shaped face. “Did mom tell you everything, Aunt Zan?”
So many secrets.
“Okay, you win. You’ve got my full attention. Show me!”
Juliet hesitated, then rose, like a delicate flower unfolding, and moved toward the door.
A shattering crash sounded from somewhere far below.
“Stay here!” cried Alexandra, running through the doorway as an ear-splitting alarm echoed through the house.
CHAPTER 8
“...darkness Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward...”
H. W. Longfellow
Finally, it was quiet.
The house alarm had been switched off and the young island policeman had completed his report, nailed a board over the broken window and driven away.
“Only the wind,” he’d pronounced in his unmistakable born-and-raised-in-Maine accent. “Blew that branch right into the glass. But we’ve had some break-ins in the empty cottages. Make sure you lock up behind me.”
Only the wind . Why didn’t she believe him? Ominous blue eyes flickered on the edge of her mind.
Alexandra turned off her cell phone and turned to Juliet. “Anthony sends his love. He wants you back at St. T’s, and he wants you to call him.”
“Tony’s cool.”
“And Sister JoMo has called off the hunting dogs,” Alexandra added dryly. “She’s glad you’re safe, but you’ve still got to read King Lear before your next Lit class.”
Juliet, who had refused to speak to the Mother Superior, flashed Alexandra a fierce
Alexandra’s breath came out in a soft rush.
“No. Your mom was alone. The detectives found the note, in her raincoat pocket. It was left by the bridge...” Forgive me .
“No way,” said the girl scornfully. Once more, Alexandra caught a glimpse of the young Juliet she remembered.
“The newspapers lied, Aunt Zan. Mom didn’t write that note. She never called me Juliet! It was always Jules - or Jewel, her special name for me. And the note was typed ! Mom hated to type, always insisted she was computer-challenged, remember? She couldn’t figure out how to use her BlackBerry! She recorded her voice on her digital recorder, or wrote everything in long hand. Script .” The last word was thrown down as a gauntlet.
The green eyes staring back at Alexandra were filled with a fierce light. “The ‘one good true thing,’ she called me. Why would she leave me?”
The small voice, so wounded and raw, throbbed in Alexandra’s head. Her niece’s thoughts mirrored her own. There was no way Eve would have left Juliet. Unless she had no choice…
Alexandra leaned toward Juliet. “Your mother’s hiding place. Where is it?”
“Downstairs. In the nursery.”
“Here?” Alexandra’s brows arched with surprise. “Eve came all the way to Cliff House to hide something for me ?”
“Go figure.”
Alexandra shook her head, still unconvinced. “Why didn’t she just mail it to me?”
“She was right, you intellectualize everything!”
“What’s so wrong with being reasonable?” asked Alexandra, stung. “I still don’t understand why you came to Maine alone.”
“Mom had a secret.”
“She kept too damned many secrets. That was her problem.”
“My mother needed help!” Juliet’s glare was icy. “You were too busy.”
“I’m here now. So what about this hiding place?”
“I found something.” The words were low, defiant.
“Where?”
Juliet stared at her aunt. “You really don’t know about the false wall in the doll house?”
“The doll house in the nursery?”
The long wind chime earring swung against Juliet’s cheek. “A narrow space between two walls. Mom showed me when I was little.” There was a hint of pleasure in the words.
Alexandra shook her head in denial. “Surely I would have known...”
The jade eyes were suddenly old in the heart-shaped face. “Did mom tell you everything, Aunt Zan?”
So many secrets.
“Okay, you win. You’ve got my full attention. Show me!”
Juliet hesitated, then rose, like a delicate flower unfolding, and moved toward the door.
A shattering crash sounded from somewhere far below.
“Stay here!” cried Alexandra, running through the doorway as an ear-splitting alarm echoed through the house.
CHAPTER 8
“...darkness Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward...”
H. W. Longfellow
Finally, it was quiet.
The house alarm had been switched off and the young island policeman had completed his report, nailed a board over the broken window and driven away.
“Only the wind,” he’d pronounced in his unmistakable born-and-raised-in-Maine accent. “Blew that branch right into the glass. But we’ve had some break-ins in the empty cottages. Make sure you lock up behind me.”
Only the wind . Why didn’t she believe him? Ominous blue eyes flickered on the edge of her mind.
Alexandra turned off her cell phone and turned to Juliet. “Anthony sends his love. He wants you back at St. T’s, and he wants you to call him.”
“Tony’s cool.”
“And Sister JoMo has called off the hunting dogs,” Alexandra added dryly. “She’s glad you’re safe, but you’ve still got to read King Lear before your next Lit class.”
Juliet, who had refused to speak to the Mother Superior, flashed Alexandra a fierce
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