Big Easy Temptation (The Perfect Gentlemen #3)(99)

“Oh, I did Zack’s genealogy for him back when you were in college. Such an interesting family. I don’t recall a Jane in the last few generations, though if memory serves, it was Constance’s middle name. I’ve got the family tree here somewhere.”

“No need, Mother. I think that answers the question.” She’d gone into the hospital under an alias. “Did Dad have some kind of connection with Constance Hayes?”

“Are you asking me if your father had an affair with her?” His mother waved a hand in utter dismissal. “Not a chance. Your father liked them younger and far less troubled than Constance. That woman was a mess. I don’t think I ever encountered her when she wasn’t drinking. She had a serious problem. And lord, she could talk your ear off. About the strangest things, too. Never made any sense. I wasn’t surprised to find out she was intoxicated when she died in that car accident.”

The hair on the back of his neck was prickling his skin. Constance Hayes’s name had been on Natalia’s list. People who talked got silenced in this world. Had her fatal wreck really been an accident? Probably not. So what had Constance known? “What kinds of things?”

“I don’t recall specifics.”

“I need them, Mother.”

She frowned. “What does this have to do with your father’s case?”

He had to tell her. He hated dragging her back in before they knew all the facts, but he couldn’t keep it from her. “I think Dad was drugged when he was in bed with Amber Taylor.”

“Why would you imagine that?”

“The police had actual photos of him in bed with her, but he appears to be drugged. He’s not actively participating and those photos weren’t taken at the motel in which he supposedly assaulted the girl. I think they were taken in England and used later to frame Dad because he was investigating something dangerous.” He quickly gave her a rundown of what they’d uncovered.

“A list? And everyone on the list is dead?”

He nodded. “At least all the people I recognize. I think Dad must have suspected that Constance hadn’t died because she’d been driving drunk. When he began digging into her life and her death, they invented dirt on him. When he refused to be blackmailed, they killed him. I don’t believe he committed suicide, Mom. Not for a second. Neither does Gus.”

Tears pooled in his mother’s eyes. “You really think he didn’t sleep with that child?”

At least he could give her some comfort. “No. And I think I can prove it. The entire incident was staged to strip him of credibility and give him something else to focus on.”

His mom drew in a shuddering breath, seeming to steady herself. “Constance would talk sometimes. Mostly gibberish. We didn’t see them very often, you know, but she seemed to gravitate toward your father when we got together. I thought it was because he was so handsome, but maybe she had another reason. Do you remember Zack’s wedding day?”

“Vividly. I remember I had to help Dad get Mrs. Hayes out of the sight of reporters and cameras because she was so wasted.”

“Yes, but you didn’t sit with her. Your father and I did until her husband arrived. I do believe she was afraid of him. At the time, we decided not to interfere. She was so out of sorts that it was impossible to know which of her fears were real and which were in her head.”

“Did she talk about anything specific? I know it was a long time ago, but anything at all could help.”

“She talked about Joy. Constance was worried about her. At first I thought she was distraught about the marriage, as though she thought Joy wasn’t good enough for Zack. Then she said something puzzling about Joy finding out. I wasn’t sure what she meant precisely. She wasn’t always coherent. But it sounded as if something happened in Russia. She said that if Joy found out about Moscow, they would kill her. No idea what that meant. She also talked about Zack being a baby and how difficult it was. Was he a cranky child? Constance didn’t say more and I didn’t really understand. But I do remember that your father was disturbed by something she said to him in private.”

“What was that?”

“He said that Constance asked him to protect her. She said, ‘One day they won’t need me and they’ll kill me.’ So you really think her accident wasn’t an accident at all?”

He shook his head. “I’m beginning to suspect someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to hide something that’s deeper and goes back further than we ever imagined.”

“Your father didn’t really hurt that child? I’m sorry. I need to say it out loud.”

He crossed the floor to his mother, sinking to one knee in front of her and taking her hand. “He might have been guilty of a lot of things, but not this.”

“And you really think he didn’t kill himself?”

“No, Mom. That was a setup, too.”

Her hands tightened on her lap. “I was going to divorce him. I was so angry. I didn’t know how he could possibly be the man I’d married and had two children with. I thought . . .”

“You must have never known him? You did.” All these years and she’d been drowning in unanswered questions and guilt? “He was going to fight. He told me that in a letter he never mailed. He wrote that no matter what happened he would fight to clear his name and save his family. He didn’t kill himself to escape his shame or guilt or his marriage. He was going to fight for you.”