Smoke in Mirrors(9)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

Sex had been a precision tool for Meredith. She had wielded it with professional competence. As far as he had been able to tell, she hadn’t taken any real pleasure in the work itself, though. All she had cared about was the end result which, as he had learned the hard way, had nothing to do with an orgasm. But like any good craftsman, she had taken care of her equipment and kept it clean.

That had been enough for him for a short time. For her part, Meredith had not asked him to pretend a depth of feeling that they both knew did not exist. Looking back, he knew now that she had been content to terminate the relationship as soon as she had realized that he wasn’t going to give her anything she could use to further her embezzlement scam.

Meredith had been a con artist, a professional liar and a thief. But when you got right down to it, she was not a mystery. He was pretty sure he understood what had made her tick.

Leonora, on the other hand, was a mystery.

He thought about the mysterious Leonora and wondered if he’d used the right tools to get the job done.

“He actually threatened you?” Gloria Webster demanded.

Leonora looked at her grandmother who sat across from her on the other side of the restaurant table.

Her grandparents had raised her from the age of three following the death of her parents in an airline disaster. Her grandfather Calvin had died six years ago.

Gloria was eighty-something. She kept her helmet of permanently waved curls tinted a bright, brassy blond and she never went out of her apartment without a fresh application of her favorite crimson red lipstick. She favored polyester pantsuits with tunic style tops designed with little stand-up collars to hide neck wrinkles. Tonight’s ensemble was in a shade of green that matched her eyes. There were a number of gold bracelets on her wrists and several rings glittered on her hands. None were very valuable but Gloria liked a lot of sparkle.

Leonora considered Gloria a role model. She planned to dress just like her when she got to be eighty-something. She had decided years ago that she would never go too far wrong if she patterned her own life after her grandmother’s. At the very least, she would never be bored.

“That’s how it sounded to me,” Leonora said. “He more or less indicated that if I don’t help him find the money, he’ll see to it that I’m implicated in the embezzlement.”

“Think he meant it?”

Leonora ate a shrimp while she contemplated the question.

“Yes, I think he meant it,” she said. “Thomas Walker certainly didn’t look like he was bluffing.”

“Sounds like a desperate man.”

The comment startled Leonora. “Desperate? I don’t think that’s quite the right word. Determined would be more accurate. Think of an ocean liner. Very hard to turn around.”

Gloria’s eyes brightened. “Oh, my. Is he a big man, your Mr. Walker?”

“More like unstoppable.”

“Dumb as a brick?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“Hmm.” Gloria took a sip of her pink zinfandel and put down her glass. “Doesn’t sound like Meredith’s type.”

“I got the same impression. I doubt if the affair lasted long. She no doubt tried to use him to further her scam, and dropped him fast when she realized she couldn’t manipulate him.”

“You don’t think she was able to control Thomas Walker?”

“I don’t think anyone could control Thomas Walker except Thomas Walker.”

There was a short silence. Leonora occupied herself with her baked potato.

“Well, well, well,” Gloria said very softly.

Leonora looked up sharply from the potato. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Gloria said with a suspiciously airy tone.

“Stop.” Leonora aimed the fork at her. “Stop right there. I know that look and it is entirely inappropriate in this situation. Don’t get any ideas, Grandma.”

“No, dear.”

Leonora was not satisfied with that soothing response. She knew her grandmother too well. Gloria wanted her married. Ever since the engagement to Kyle had ended, she had taken an almost obsessive interest in Leonora’s love life. Gloria had adopted a now-or-never attitude toward the project that was downright scary at times.

“Do you think Meredith really embezzled that money?” Gloria asked.

“Probably. She was a con artist.”

“Sad but true.”

“The thing is,” Leonora said slowly, “I’m not sure about Thomas Walker’s goal in this thing.”

“You said yourself that he wants to find the missing funds.”

“Yes, but maybe he doesn’t intend to put the money back into the endowment account.”

“Aha.” Gloria arched her carefully drawn brows. “You think he’s after it because he wants to steal it himself?”

“As he so succinctly pointed out, a million and a half dollars is a very motivating amount of cash.”

“My, this is complicated, isn’t it?”

“There’s more.” Leonora paused. “Brace yourself. He implied that there’s a very remote possibility that Meredith was murdered.”

Gloria had just taken another sip of the wine. She coughed, sputtered a bit and took another sip to fortify herself.

“Murdered?” Gloria looked momentarily blank. “Murdered?”

“Walker suggested that an accomplice might have been responsible for the accident. I think he suspects that she might have had a partner.”

“Who would that have been?”

“Me.”

“You? Utter nonsense. You and Meredith had nothing in common.”

“Thomas Walker doesn’t know me as well as you do, Grandma.”

“Well, I suppose that’s true.” Gloria pursed her lips. “Perhaps Mr. Walker invented the murder theory to terrorize you into cooperating with him.”

“Who knows? That’s the whole problem here. I don’t know what is going on or what to believe.”

“This is all so typical of Meredith, isn’t it?” Gloria said. “Create a mess and let someone else pick up the pieces.”

Leonora drove Gloria back to Melba Creek Gardens after dinner. She parked in the visitors’ lot, got out and hauled the sleek, wheeled walker out of the trunk.

Gloria had the passenger door open by the time Leonora got the walker unfolded and in position. Together they made their way into the elegantly appointed lobby of the retirement community. The receptionist nodded in greeting as they went past.