Part 17 (1/2)
With a quick glance at Nancy's portrait, she hurried along the gallery to the broad staircase. Below her the grand hall looked sinister, its shadows only deepened by the weak pool of light from the chandelier on the level above. Suppressing her nerves, Vienna descended. The house could be beautiful, she thought, as she clung to the banister. If she owned it, the first thing she would do was improve the lighting. Then she would bring in a demolition crew to get rid of that eyesore south wing. Who let half their home fall into ruin after a fire and not rebuild, or at least cart away the rubble?
She turned the front door handle. The door didn't budge. Cursing beneath her breath, she inspected various bolts and chains. No one had secured them. She dragged at the handle again.
”It's deadlocked,” Mason said.
Vienna spun around. Her nemesis was standing at the bottom of the staircase, her hands loosely at her sides. There was a stillness to her, a watchful expectancy. She was imposing her will, making Vienna come to her.
Indignantly, Vienna said, ”What happened to good manners?”
”If you insist on walking, I said I'd escort you,” Mason replied with an edge of sarcasm. ”What happened to gracious consent?”
Vienna stole a quick, frantic glance to one side. Her body twitched with the urge to make a run for it. Apparently she didn't hide her intentions very well.
Mason surveyed her with amus.e.m.e.nt. ”There's nowhere you can go. The house is locked up.”
”Just open the door,” Vienna snapped.
”Tell me something,” Mason said. ”Were you planning to accept my proposal?”
Vienna bit back the first reply that jumped to mind, and considered the question carefully. ”What if I were?”
Mason reached past her and slid a key into the lock. ”Yes or no?”
”Whatever the answer, it's no longer relevant.”
”You don't know the answer,” Mason taunted softly.
Her proximity was disabling. Fast losing ground to the weakening of her limbs and resolve, Vienna sought refuge in counterattack. ”Oh, please. Like the math is that complicated. Of course I was going to say yes.”
She paused to let her glib declaration sink in. She could tell Mason was upset. In the ghostly half-light, a tiny pulse stirred the hairline at her temple. Its throb transfixed Vienna. She pushed away a desperate yearning to stroke the translucent skin stretched over it.
”Bulls.h.i.+t,” Mason said.
”Believe what you like. It's academic now. That s.h.i.+p has sailed.”
”And yet, here you are.”
”Not anymore.” Vienna stepped back, pointedly waiting for the door to be opened. She put her hand out for her car keys. ”Thank you for your hospitality. I'll tell Darryl that you've made your final decision and it's time for us to walk away and give our gracious consent for you to self-destruct.” She smiled sweetly. ”Good luck with the liquidation, Mason. You'll need it.”
She was halfway down the front steps before she heard Mason.
”Vienna!”
Vienna turned around and caught her breath, disconcerted by the sight of Mason, standing tall and dark just behind the pale shape of Estelle. The statue almost seemed alive in that instant and Vienna had a flash of the beautiful woman she'd dreamed about, those hypnotic blue eyes pleading with her, the outstretched hand held open. Vienna glimpsed a flash of light, then realized an upstairs window had just lit up.
”Come back inside,” Mason asked.
”Why, so you can play with me some more?”
”No.” Mason's voice was a shredded undertone. ”Vienna, I have to talk to you.”
”I'm too tired for this,” Vienna said dispiritedly. ”You win, okay? I'm going back to Boston tomorrow and getting on with my life.”
”What about Le Fantome?”
”What about it?”
”That's why you're here isn't it?” Mason descended the steps to stand just above her. ”I know you can't find the real stone.”
”You think that's what dragged me out here in the middle of the night? A G.o.dd.a.m.ned piece of overpriced carbon with a jinx on it? You think that matters to me?” Vienna's eyes stung with tears. ”Go f.u.c.k yourself.”
Even as the words tumbled out she realized how little she cared about the necklace. She would have driven here whether she'd found the diamond or not, and whether Mason accepted the latest offer or threw it back at her. The knowledge filled her with misery. Mason thought she was so shallow she would trade her body for a business deal and make a crazy trip out here for the sake of an expensive rock. It didn't matter what she said, Mason would never trust her, and Vienna only had herself to blame for that.
”What else would I think?” Mason demanded. ”You sent the police out here.”
Vienna yelled a curse and stomped down the rest of the steps. Pausing at the bottom she turned and faced Mason angrily. ”I went to the police because no one will tell me what happened that night. It's not my fault if they noticed the case was fishy. I'm not the one who's been covering up the truth for ten years.”
”No, that was your parents' idea.”
”They were protecting me.”
”They were protecting themselves. G.o.d forbid the Blake family name gets dragged through the mud.” Mason stopped short, her chest heaving. ”Has it ever occurred to you that I'm not the enemy?”
There was a savagery in her stare that drove Vienna back. Wrapping her arms around herself, she demanded, ”What are you talking about?”
”Ask your mother to tell you about the deal. The one your father did with mine that night.”
”What deal?”
Mason was silent at first, then gave an ironic laugh. ”You know something funny? The first time I saw you with those people, I wanted to rescue you. I knew you didn't belong there. You were so...perfect.” Her steady regard slid away and she seemed to retreat into her thoughts.
Almost absently, she said, ”I'm as guilty the rest of them. I fed you to the wolves.”
Vienna couldn't lower her arms. She was afraid if she did, she would humiliate herself by keeling over. ”What are you talking about?”
Mason jerked her head around as bright light spilled down the steps. A thin, straight figure stood in the doorway.
”I heard voices,” Mrs. Danville said. Her hair was tucked inside a white scarf but for a row of small spiral curls that lay across her forehead, each fattened between two pins. ”Is there a problem?”
Vienna started to speak but Mason cut her off. ”Nothing's wrong. I was just walking Miss Blake to her car.”
Vienna held her ground, determined not to leave without some answers. ”I can find my car,” she muttered, trying to form a question for Mrs. Danville that would not sound accusatory.
Mason touched her on the shoulder, gently warning her off. ”This is between you and me.”
Infuriated, Vienna said, ”Then tell me what's going on. Don't you get it? This secrecy isn't protecting me, it's making me crazy.”