Chapter 1
Claire Rollins and her best friend, Nicole, sat on the red velvet seats in the balcony of City Opera House listening to a chorus singing the words to a classic show tune while members of the resident ballet company performed on the stage. Their co worker, Robby, a twenty-one-year-old music student, had completed a solo and his voice was so magically beautiful that Claire almost jumped to her feet to applaud before catching herself. She and Nicole exchanged wide-eyed looks, both marveling at Robby’s amazing talent. Before Robby started his solo, Claire’s body filled with nervousness for her young friend, hoping for him to do his best.
Claire glanced around the opera house entranced by the beauty of the building, the red drapes hanging elegantly over the sides of the stage, the cream and gold painted walls, the intricate carvings and moldings, the lighting, the cut glass chandeliers, and the painted scene on the center of the ceiling, all nearly made her jaw drop. Feeling like a queen in a castle, she leaned back comfortably against her seat to enjoy the rest of the musical event.
In the lobby amongst a throng of theatre-goers leaving the building after the performance, Claire and Nicole moved toward the front doors. “That was amazing.” Claire felt exhilarated by the musical event.
“Robby was unbelievable,” Nicole added. “I think I’m going to encourage him to be a singing waiter at the chocolate shop. I’ll even pay him extra.”
When Claire chuckled, her long, soft, blond curls bounced over her shoulders. “Good idea. You’ll double your business for sure if Robby sings while he prepares the customers’ drinks and serves the sweets.”
“Nicole!” Someone called.
Nicole turned around to see her friend, Vanessa Dodd, hurrying over. The girls hugged.
“Wasn’t that terrific?” Vanessa smiled. “I haven’t seen you in months and I run into you here.”
Nicole introduced Claire, and Vanessa introduced her younger sister, Maddy. “Maddy will be a sophomore at MIT this fall. Since I work in Kendall Square, we decided we’re going to find an apartment together.”
Nicole and Vanessa grew up in Greendale, a small town about twenty minutes west of Boston. In high school, the two had played sports together and occasionally hung out in a group of friends, but drifted apart when they went off to college. With Vanessa back in the city, she and Nicole had reconnected and met for dinner or a drink about once a month.
“How’s your business doing?” Vanessa was tall and athletic and her long brown hair tumbled half-way down her back. Maddy seemed a miniature version of her sister, almost a full four inches shorter than Vanessa, but with the same wide smile and long dark hair.
“It’s doing really well. We’re so busy most mornings, I’m probably going to have to hire more help.”
“One of our co-workers performed tonight,” Claire said.
“Really? Who was it?” Vanessa asked. “I don’t know anyone with talent like the people on that stage.”
Claire explained who Robby was and what he had sung during his solo.
Maddy’s eyes widened. “You know him? His voice is incredible.” Her lips formed into a pretty smile. “Is he single?”
“Yeah, he’s single,” Nicole said and raised an eyebrow. “But he’s batting for the other team, if you know what I mean.”
Maddy’s face took on an expression of puzzlement and then Nicole’s meaning dawned on her and she sadly shook her head. “Why are all the good ones gay?”
“There must be tons of great guys at MIT,” Claire said.
Maddy moaned. “They’re all so busy with their work that they don’t have time for anything else.”
After a few minutes more of conversation, Vanessa said, “We need to get going. Maddy has to catch the train back to Greendale and I’m taking the train to New York City tonight for a business meeting in the morning.” The foursome said their goodbyes with promises to get together soon. Claire shook hands with both of the young women and told them how nice it was to meet them. Outside in the warm summer night air, Nicole and Claire strolled along the busy city sidewalks as tourists and residents headed to restaurants and bars, live shows, or to evening museum events.
“Too bad we have to be up early tomorrow morning.” Nicole swung the long strap of her clutch over her shoulder. “It would be fun to go out for a glass of wine somewhere.”
“We can stop for a drink.” Claire watched the people hurrying along. Some were dressed in evening clothes, long dresses, well-tailored suits, and others wore jeans and suit jackets or casual summer dresses. Professionals, college students, happy tourists moved together across the city. Claire loved the historic place with its old buildings, brick sidewalks, beautiful parks, brownstones, universities, shopping, waterfront, and modern buildings, all perfectly working together to create a vibrant, walkable, livable town.
“Okay, let’s have one and then we can head home.” Nicole spotted two stools being vacated at an outside bar and swooped in to take them.
“Good eyes,” Claire complimented her friend. “And very speedy. Maybe you should be training for the mini-triathlon.”
“Not me.” Nicole shook her head vigorously. “Never in a million years. I’ll leave that foolishness to you and your handsome detective friend.”
Claire’s cheeks turned pink at the reference to Ian Fuller, the detective that she and Nicole had met a few weeks ago when they were dragged into a murder case. Ian and Claire had been training together to compete in an upcoming triathlon.
The bartender delivered the glasses of wine and Claire and Nicole sipped. It was a perfect summer evening with the air still warm and a pleasant gentle breeze off the ocean. The buzz of conversations around them was occasionally punctuated with a high-spirited laugh as people enjoyed mingling, flirting, and chatting.
“Tell me about your hometown,” Claire suggested.
“It was a nice place to grow up.” Nicole set her glass down. “So close to the city, but it still had the feeling of a small town. Nice parks and green space, tall trees, pretty neighborhoods. Big, beautiful old houses. The main street is fun, there are shops and restaurants and boutiques, and the library. I’ll take you there someday for lunch and we can walk around.”
“I’d love that.”
“I don’t know many people there now. My friends all moved away. My parents are gone, my sister is in D.C.” Nicole pushed a stray strand of dark brown hair from her eyes. “Vanessa’s parents still live there so that’s one family left from when I used to live in the town. Maddy’s living at home with them until school starts at the end of August.”
“What does Vanessa do for work?” Claire asked.
“She’s an accountant. She works for a CPA firm. To me, that sounds boring, but to each his own.” Nicole smiled. “I much prefer to be on my feet all day, buzzing around the chocolate shop.”
“I couldn’t see you sitting at a desk for hours. Nuh-uh. That definitely wouldn’t work.” Claire chuckled. “Do you know what the sister is studying?”
“Electrical engineering.” Nicole shook her head. “Another subject not for me. Vanessa told me that Maddy has always loved math and science, she’s a natural.”
Back at the Opera House, Claire had sensed something sad about Maddy. “Has Maddy had to deal with something serious lately?”
Nicole made eye contact with her friend. “Serious? How do you mean?”
Claire blinked and gave a slight shake of her head. “I don’t know. I just wondered.”
With wide eyes, Nicole stared at Claire. “You don’t know? You ask me if Maddy has had some problem lately and then you say you don’t know? What’s going on Claire?”
A feeling of anxiety mixed with unease flitted over Claire’s skin and made her shiver. “I just … wondered.”
“You said that already.” Nicole’s eyes bored into Claire’s. “That’s an odd thing to wonder about without any cause. Maddy didn’t hint at such a thing and neither did Vanessa. So….”
“So what?” Claire was sorry she’d brought it up. She lifted her wine glass and took a swallow. Ever since her husband died and she’d moved to Boston just over a year ago, thirty-five-year-old Claire had developed the uncanny capability of being able to sometimes sense things from people. She called it strong intuition. Nicole called it paranormal ability.
“Oh, no.” Nicole leaned closer. “You got a feeling, didn’t you?”
“No. Well … I might have.” Claire looked out over the crowd of people standing at the bar and sitting at the outside tables.
“What did you feel?” Nicole wasn’t going to let her friend weasel out of it. “Claire. Tell me. We aren’t going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”
Claire swallowed. “Oh, okay. Just for the record, you should give up the chocolate shop and become an investigator. You’d wear down the witness and get a confession every time.” Shaking her head, Claire went on. “When I shook Maddy’s hand, I felt something.”
“I knew it.” Worry washed over Nicole’s face. “She’s not in danger is she? Should we warn her?”
Claire cocked her head. “Really? What would you say? Claire had a feeling? She’d think you were crazy. Anyway, no, I didn’t get the sense that Maddy was in danger. It was more … sadness, anger, grief … an injustice? I don’t know. She might have broken up with a boyfriend? Maybe she had a disagreement with someone? It’s probably nothing.”
“What kind of a disagreement?”
Claire stared at Nicole. “I have no idea. I just got a quick sensation. It’s most likely groundless.” Although she wanted nothing more than to brush the whole thing off, Claire had a growing sense of dread filling her chest. “I think we should go home. It’s getting late.”
Nicole grinned. “Trying to deflect having any more conversation on the subject?”
They slipped from the stools and headed off down the sidewalk. As they were about to part ways for their own apartments, Nicole’s phone rang. Claire watched her friend’s face pale under the streetlamp. “I will. Okay. I’ll take care of it.”
Nicole ended the call, grabbed Claire’s arm, and stuck her hand out to hail a passing cab. “You have to come with me.” Nicole’s voice shook. “That was Vanessa. She’s on the train to New York. Maddy just called her, hysterical. She said something about the police, about their mom. Vanessa asked me to go to the house to see what’s going on.”
Nicole swung open the cab door. Before getting in, she looked at Claire for a moment. “You were right. Your feeling was right. Again.”
Chapter 2
As the cab moved through the quiet streets of Greendale, Claire could see large expensive homes sitting on well-tended, lushly landscaped lots set back from the road. A flash of blue lights up ahead caused Claire to lean forward so she could see through the front windshield. Feelings of dread slipped down her throat. Police cars and an ambulance were parked in front of a three-story wood shingled home with a black wrought-iron fence running around the front property line. Every light in the house blazed through the windows and people moved like shadows in one of the upper rooms.
An officer flagged the cab to stop and Claire and Nicole jumped out.
The officer raised a hand in a halt gesture. “No one’s allowed near the house.”
Nicole stepped up to the man. “Our friend called minutes ago. This is her parents’ home. She asked us to come. She’s afraid for her sister.”
The officer seemed to be deciding what to do with the information.
“The friend is Vanessa Dodd. She told me her sister is here and is completely distraught. Maddy Dodd, she’s nineteen. Vanessa asked us to come and see about her sister.”
The officer hesitated and was about to speak, when Claire pointed at the walkie-talkie attached to the man’s chest. “Maybe you could talk to your supervisor or the person in charge. Ask permission for us to talk to Maddy.”
A woman’s mournful wail pierced the night air sending shivers down Claire’s back. Nicole stepped to the side of the man to get a look at what was happening in front of the house.
Attendants hurriedly pushed a gurney towards the waiting ambulance that had its doors flung open allowing yellow light to flood over the sidewalk. A white sheet covered the form on the stretcher up to the person’s chin. Nicole squinted trying to see who the victim was. “Is it Mrs. Dodd?” She turned to the officer with a horrified expression. “What happened here? Where’s Maddy?”
Claire moved a few yards to the right to get a better vantage point. Police officers and an official-looking man and woman moved about the front and side yards. A woman clutched the arm of a petite brunette as they crossed the front lawn of the property.
“There she is.” Claire pointed.
Nicole called out to Maddy and the young woman blinked in their direction until she recognized the person waving at her. “Nicole!” Maddy took several steps toward Nicole and Claire, but stumbled and fell to her knees.
Nicole and Claire ran to the side of the sobbing nineteen-year-old. “What’s happened Maddy?” Nicole knelt and put her arms around the young woman.
Claire looked at the sixty-something woman, a petite blond, wearing a gray sweater and sweat pants, who had been trying to help Maddy. “What happened?”
“I’m a neighbor.” A look of shock played over the woman’s face, her eyes wide. “I’m a family friend. Lorraine Hale. I was awake reading in the den. Maddy was in the yard screaming. The police car pulled up as I was running over here.”
Claire held the woman’s eyes. “What happened?” she asked more firmly.
“Grace.” Lorraine pointed to the ambulance as it pulled away. “She … she fell.” The woman waved her hand toward the side of the house. “From the third floor.”
Shifting her gaze to the upper floor of the home, Claire could see that most of the activity going on inside was in the room Lorraine had pointed to. The window was wide open and someone was taking photographs in the room.
Maddy sat on the sidewalk, her head in her hands. “Mom. Mom. Dad said she fell. Mom was on the ground.” A choking sound escaped the young woman’s throat.
“Is she…?” Claire asked.
Lorraine brushed at her eyes. “Grace is still alive. She was still breathing.”
“You got here before the ambulance arrived?” Claire glanced around at the activity in the front yard.
Lorraine nodded. “I crossed the street. I ran to Maddy. She was kneeling beside her mother.”
“Did Grace speak?”
“She was unconscious, but I could see her chest rising and falling.” Lorraine wrung her hands together.
“Your mother fell from the window?” Claire knelt beside Maddy.
Maddy nodded.
“What happened when you got here?” Claire asked in a gentle voice. “You took the train home?”
Maddy swallowed. “I headed for the front porch. I saw the front door was open. I got worried. I called for my parents. No one answered.” Maddy’s breathing was ragged and rapid. “I found Dad in his office. He was holding Mom’s raincoat. He seemed really nervous. I asked him what was going on.”
“What did he say?” Nicole put her arm around Maddy’s shoulders.
“He didn’t say anything. He just stood there with a weird look on his face.” The young woman’s voice cracked, and then she clutched her arms around her knees and began to rock back and forth.
A woman police officer came and spoke calmly to Maddy, helped her up, and led her to the house, Claire assumed for questioning. She was amazed that the police had left Maddy alone for so long and she’d been able to ask the girl a few questions.
“Maddy was with her mother when you got here?” Claire asked.
Lorraine nodded. “I could see Grace was breathing. She was wearing a nightgown. There was blood all over her. She had cuts everywhere. Maddy was holding her hand, telling her everything would be okay.” The woman’s voice hitched.
“Where was Mr. Dodd? Was he outside?”
“Ronald came out and put a raincoat over Grace. Then he walked away and I didn’t see him again.”
“Did he tell you what happened?”
“Ronald said Grace fell out of the window. I asked why she was upstairs. Ronald said he didn’t know, that he was on the first floor when it happened. He walked away. I didn’t pay attention to where he went. Why was she up there? Grace hardly ever went up to the third floor.” The woman burst into tears.
Claire wrapped her arms around the woman until a man, his hair mussed and wearing pajamas and a bathrobe, hurried across the street to his wife.
Nicole took Claire’s arm and moved her down the street away from the hubbub. “I have to call Vanessa. What on earth am I going to tell her?”
“Tell her what you know, but start with the fact that her mother is still alive.”
While Nicole made the dreaded call, Claire watched the goings-on around the huge house.
Clicking off from the phone conversation, Nicole said, “Vanessa is on her way here. She got off the train at the first stop it made and hopped the next train returning to Boston. She’ll grab a cab to the hospital. She won’t be back for another two hours. She’s been trying to reach her father, but he doesn’t pick up.”
“He’s probably still talking to the police,” Claire said. “Do you want to meet Vanessa at the hospital?”
“She said to head home. She’ll call tomorrow with updates.”
We hope you are enjoying the book so far. To continue reading...
Copyright © 2024 All Rights Reserved
Please log in to recommend or discuss...
