Fidelity (Infidelity #5)(50)

“I couldn’t do as he asked.” Momma’s chest heaved. “Telling Oren to leave me and going back to you and Montague…” She looked at me. “…was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.” She turned back to Oren. “I wanted you to find someone else.”

“That’s when you moved to London,” Silvia said to Oren matter-of-factly.

Oren turned toward her. “It was. You all had each other.”

Nox’s grip tensed. When I looked up, his jaw was set, hard and rigid.

“I didn’t know who you were,” Silvia said to my mother, “but I knew about you.”

“You did? How?” Nox asked.

“Angelina.”

His lips pursed.

Silvia nodded. “Get that look off your face, Lennox. She approved.”

Oren shifted in his chair. “I didn’t know that she told you.”

“It really is nice to finally meet you, Adelaide.”

My momma’s eyes glistened with moisture. “Thank you, Silvia, that means more than you know.”

A stillness fell over the dining room, a calm like that following a storm. Maybe that was what it was. The storm had passed and we were all here.

“Now it’s my turn,” Momma said, “to thank you. I don’t know who all is responsible for saving me…” She smiled, her eyes sparkling in a way I couldn’t recall witnessing. “…kidnapping me but thank you.”

We all turned toward footsteps on the wooden floor.

“Good afternoon,” Deloris said. “It appears you’re all having a party and I wasn’t invited.”

“Mrs. Witt,” Oren said, with a grand gesture. “Please, join us.”

She sat between Chelsea and Silvia, nodding at each and scanning our grouping. The dining room table was large, but in its current form we were nearing capacity. Deloris looked at my mother. “Mrs. Fitzgerald, I’m Deloris Witt. Nice to meet you.”

“Witt?” Momma turned to me. “Is she the one who spoke to Alton and me after the incident in the park?”

“Yes.” I looked from one to the other. “Momma, Deloris. Deloris, this is my mother.”

Momma nodded. “Nice to meet you, Deloris. You’re a strong woman. My husband was not impressed.”

With a slight smile Deloris continued as she scooted her chair forward, “I’ve been working on many different things and different avenues. I’d say the most important bit of information right now is that the medical examiner just released information on the body found at Carmichael Hall.”

She had the full attention of everyone in the room. Six sets of eyes opened wide in anticipation.

“Her identity has been confirmed as Melissa Summers. They haven’t said specifically how she was killed or where exactly she was found, only that a concerned employee called the police. They are estimating the time of death as only hours before discovery.”

The lunch I’d eaten earlier churned. That meant she was killed on Saturday, hours before our party.

“Hours?” Chelsea said. “Had she been there all along? Was he holding her there somewhere?” Her cheeks paled with each question.

Deloris shook her head. “They haven’t said.”

“He wanted me to come to Carmichael Hall on Saturday after I visited… you,” I said, turning to Momma.

She stared in silence waiting for more.

“But you had complications. Jane and I stayed with you.” I turned to the rest of the table. “He was angry. I mostly avoided his calls, but we did speak a few times.”

Chelsea nodded. “He wanted me to come over when Alex couldn’t. He blew up my phone, but Jane had asked me to help with things around town. Everywhere I went, I was afraid he’d be there. But he wasn’t. Was he with her… killing…?” She tucked her hands on her lap and looked up at me with round hazel eyes. “Do you think? Did she die because of us?”

“What?” Nox said. “She died because of that animal. Why would you say it was because of you?”

I covered his hand, the one that was still on my leg. “Not because of us, but in place of us…” Nox’s hand tensed. I looked to Chelsea. “…one of us.”

Pushing my chair back, I hurried around the table and wrapped my arms around my best friend. As she trembled in my embrace I looked up to Deloris. The anger I’d felt back in the hotel with Nox, learning that they’d been the ones to bring Chelsea into this mess came back to life. “This is your fault.” And to Nox. “And yours. This is your doing!”

“Alex,” Deloris said, “this is Edward Spencer’s doing. Chelsea, we’ll get you out of your agreement. You don’t even need to speak to anyone at Infidelity. I’ll take care of it.”

“Like you took care of her before?” I asked, my skin prickling with rage.

“There was always an out,” Deloris said.

“So instead of owning up to your part, you’re blaming Chelsea for not leaving him, for not walking out on her agreement, the one you told her to take?”

“No. That’s not what I’m saying. I take full responsibility for my role. As you both know, Chelsea’s agreement was meant for someone else. I turned away in a crisis and when I looked back, it was too late.” She looked at Chelsea. “Financial compensation will never take away what you went through, but you will get it, as long as you don’t press charges against Edward Spencer.”