Part 11 (1/2)

”So what happened?”

”Jeremiah didn't care about Steve. He just wanted to shut me up. And he did. I didn't realize the truth until it was too late.” She buried her face in her hands. ”It was too late for all of us.” She looked up and pursed her lips. ”That's why I'm going to France. I want a new life. I wanted Steve to come with me, but he said he can't go.”

”He knows you're his aunt?”

”He knows a lot of things.” She shrugged.

The loudspeaker crackled to life: Bonsoir, ladies and gentlemen. We now welcome our first-cla.s.s pa.s.sengers to board Air France flight 250 to Paris. . . .

”Penny, has Larry ever mentioned to you that Jeremiah might still be alive?” I asked her urgently. We were running out of time.

”Jeremiah still alive?” Her eyes stilled, and she sat upright and clutched her bag to her side. ”Why would you say that?”

”Because of the person Steve wants me to meet,” I said again, willing her to be completely honest.

”I don't know.” She shook her head. ”I will tell you one thing though. Right before your father pa.s.sed on, he came to visit me. Nick wanted to know what I knew about the fact that all the patents were in his name, even though Oliver had been the chief designer behind the self-painter.”

”So he knew he'd been set up?” I said with a frown.

”Your dad was a smart man. He was the one who made me realize Larry didn't have my best interests at heart.” She leaned forward. ”He said to me, be careful of those who seek to help you. They may do more harm than good. Nick was-”

”Can you say that again?” I interrupted her.

”He said, be careful of those who seek to help you. They may do more harm than good,” she repeated, a little miffed that I'd cut her off.

”That's what I thought.” I turned to Jakob. ”That's what the man said to me, the one who called me on my dad's phone! That day the fake policeman came to my apartment after Dad died.”

”Are you sure he used the same words?” Jakob's eyes were burning with intensity.

”I'm positive. This is huge. Beauty and charm and now this.” I shook my head. ”Who was behind the messages?”

”I a.s.sumed David and Rosie, but now I don't know.” Jakob shook his head. ”I really don't.”

”You both have to be careful,” Penny said, and I was about to answer her when I saw Blake jump up and approach us.

”I'm sorry.” He apologized as he stopped in front of us. ”But I couldn't not come over, not with so little time left.”

”Who is this?” Penny looked frightened as she gazed at Blake.

”He's a friend. What's going on, Blake?” I frowned. Penny was even more uncomfortable now, s.h.i.+fting in her seat as if she were about to get up and run away.

”Remember the letter your dad left you?” Blake said to me.

”Yeah, why?”

”It said, As I've gone through my papers and recalled various conversations from the days before her death, it has occurred to me that there may have been people that wanted to see me incapacitated. People that knew that your mother's death would change everything in my life. My darling, I may not be able to leave you riches in the bank, but go through the papers in the box and you might find the truth,” Blake said quickly, and my jaw dropped as he repeated from memory a part of my dad's letter. ”What can I say? I have a photographic memory.” He laughed, but then his expression changed. ”It was a clue, Bianca! I think that the papers he left you, the patents and all that stuff, weren't for you to get a share of the company, but more to right the wrongs of the past. Your dad said incapacitated. We thought he meant dead. What if he meant imprisoned? He told you to find the truth in the box. We know now that the truth is that he didn't create the self-painter. We also know that Jeremiah was conniving to get him imprisoned.” He looked at Penny and smiled weakly. ”Sorry, I was eavesdropping.”

Penny's face was blank as she stared back at Blake. I was pretty sure she was still in shock and wondering who else was going to pop up as part of the group.

”That makes a lot of sense.” Jakob looked at Blake with respect.

”So then, what you're saying is that my father wanted me to talk to Penny?” I asked, trying to follow along. I was becoming extremely overwhelmed.

”I'm saying that we've been looking at the clues all wrong. We a.s.sumed that every clue was about you and Jakob. What if the clues all relate to the past? What if all the clues are about your father and mother? We know that the beauty and charm clue is about them. One is destroyed and one survives, right?”

”Yeah.” I nodded.

”So, who was destroyed and who survived?”

”Well, Bianca's mom died in the car crash, right?” Jakob said. ”So presumably, Angelina was destroyed, and her dad, Nick, survived.”

”And maybe it points to the fact that Angelina was murdered,” Blake said. ”To destroy means to put an end to something.”

”So then my mother's car crash really wasn't an accident . . . which is what we thought,” I chimed in.

”Her car crash wasn't an accident,” Penny said, and stood up. ”I have to go.”

”You can't!” I jumped up. ”I know you have more to tell us.”

”I have to go.” She shook her head. ”I'm sorry, Bianca.”

”Please!”

”I've helped you as much as I can.” She grabbed my hands. ”That's why I told you about Roma, the last time you saw me. You think I did that by accident? You think I didn't know what I was doing?”

”You knew that Roma was Rosie?”

”I told you that Maxwell screwed us all, remember? I told you they were all thick as thieves. I told you.”

”You knew.” I nodded. ”You knew Larry was Maxwell. You were telling me that he wasn't to be trusted as well?”

”I knew the papers he left you weren't to help you. They were going to harm you. I didn't want to give them to you. I didn't want you to fall for his trap. I told you that you shouldn't be there. I told you.” Her grasp tightened; she was nearly crus.h.i.+ng my fingers, but I was afraid to do anything to discourage her confession.

”You did.” I nodded.

”Your father wouldn't want you to own a third of Bradley Inc.” Her voice was low. ”He hated the company. He said he was manipulated, just like Oliver was. Just like Macy. Just like Joanie. Just like all of them.”

”What about Larry?” I asked softly.

”No one manipulates Larry.” She shook her head, her eyes boring into mine as if trying to implant knowledge right into my brain. ”I have to go.” She leaned over and gave me a quick hug. ”I'm sorry, Bianca. Good luck.” As she pulled away, she whispered in my ear. ”There's a reason Larry's the last one standing.”

Then she dashed for the gate and disappeared down the jetway, leaving me to wonder: Where did we go from here?