The Final Victim(40)

"Did they like you, Royce?" ''Who doesn't?" he asks with a chuckle, then adds, when she remains silent, "I'm just kidding. You were supposed to laugh at that."

"Oh, sorry…" She mentally backtracks over the last exchange, realizes what he said, and tells him, "It wasn't a joke, as far as I'm concerned. I've never come across anyone who doesn't like you."

That's because you've never met Karen."

His ex-wife.

"And if I had to guess, I'd say Vince isn't all that crazy about me, either," he adds good-naturedly. "But as I was saying, these guys I met today seemed to like me, so I'm 'I hoping I might get their on-site business."

"That would be great."

"It would."

She's glad he doesn't elaborate. Normally, she takes an interest in his business dealings, but tonight she can dwell only on her own disastrous day.

"How could she do that to me, Royce?"

"If it's any consolation, I really don't think she meant to do anything to you."

"She lied. She snuck around with that boy behind my back. And judging by the looks of things, this isn't the first time they ever laid eyes on each other. Or hands." Charlotte shudders, wishing she could block out the image of Lianna, her baby girl, with that trashy Tinkston boy pawing at her.

"The only consolation is that she isn't pregnant," she adds darkly, rolling onto her side to face him. 'That I know of, anyway."

"Of course she isn't pregnant" Royce touches her arm. "Charlotte, don't blow it up into anything it isn't. You said yourself that they were just kissing."

"She was kissing. He was groping."

"They're teenagers. It happens."

"She's barely a teenager, and it's not allowed to happen to my daughter." Her voice has risen above a hysterical whisper, but she can't help herself.

"Sweetheart, what she did was wrong," Royce says soothingly, "but it's over, and it's not going to happen again. We'll make sure of that. So don't obsess about it. You've got enough to worry about right now."

She sighs. "Did you have to remind me?"

"Sorry."

Charlotte remains silent, turning her head restlessly on the goose down pillow, which seems to be deflating by the second. If she could just get comfortable, she might be able to fall asleep.

No, you won't. You're wired. You're not going to sleep tonight unless you take one of Grandaddy 's pills.

She doesn't want to resort to that, though it's been tempting to sneak into his medicine cabinet on the sleepless nights that followed his death. She probably would have, if she could bring herself to walk into the bathroom where he died.

"For what it's worth," Royce says around a yawn, "I don't think you should worry about the money, Charlotte. Your Grandaddy wanted you to have it, not your cousins. He must have had his reasons."

"I can't imagine what they were. And I honestly don't think Phyllida and Gib have any idea, either."

"Oh, I don't know about that."

"They were as shocked as I was, Royce. I saw the looks on their faces. And they both swore up and down to Tyler they had no idea why Grandaddy would have done this."

"Do you honestly think they'd admit it if they did know?"

"I don't know." She pauses, mulling that over. Td like to think so, but-"

"But you're willing to believe they might not be telling the whole truth?"

Reluctantly, she says, "I guess so. I mean, obviously, I'm not terrific at spotting a liar. Look at the way my own daughter pulled the wool over my eyes. Maybe my cousins are doing the same thing. Maybe they know exactly why he changed the will, but they're not admitting it because they're planning to have it contested."

"Which is going to be hard on everyone," Royce points out grimly.

"No kidding." Charlotte sits up, plumping the pillows in a frustrated effort to get comfortable. "Everyone in Savannah is going to know about this before they're through. Do you know what people are going to be saying about Grandaddy? And me?"

"And your cousins, for that matter."

"Right. Oh, Lord, I wish I could just pay them two-thirds of my inheritance, and make this whole mess go away."

"What's stopping you?"

Charlotte immediately goes still. "What do you mean?" 'Just write them each a check and get it over with, if that's what you want to do."

She remains silent.

"It would make the mess go away," Royce tells her. "Which is what you want. And we both said before, the money isn't going to change anything for us. We were doing just fine without it."

"I know-"

"So take your third of it, and we'll put it away, and give the rest to Phyllida and Gib. Or give them the whole damned fortune if you want. It's only money. It'll save everyone a whole lot of trouble."

She contemplates the suggestion. It can't be that easy.

"What's the matter?" Royce asks, after a long minute. "Don't you want to make this go away?"

"It's tempting, but I don't think it's a good idea," she tells him, unable to put her finger on just why.