“I gave him everything, though I’m not sure Lalonde believed me because he hinted about coming back with a search warrant, which he hasn’t yet.”
Casey stood and picked up her jacket. “The Marine Drive house was robbed and vandalized while I was away. I’m going to check the damage.”
Vincent got to his feet. “That’s awful.”
“Oh, and one more thing,” she watched him a few seconds. “Did you know that Dad had access to three million dollars in cash from his import business?”
His eyes bulged as he leaned on the desk. “And he didn’t put any of it into our firm?”
“It seems so. There’s disagreement about who the money belongs to. Ziegler thinks Dad was murdered for it by these Mexicans, Carlos and Joseph, but I have my doubts.”
Vincent ambled to the door. “Where’s the money now?”
“No one knows, but I think that’s why the house was ransacked. Maybe the thief found it.”
“This place was broken into last year.”
“Really?”
“I nearly caught the guy once, spotted him bolting out the back when I opened the front door.” Vincent leaned against the door. “For a moment, I thought he was Marcus. Guess that doesn’t seem so strange now.”
“Did you call the police?”
“No, nothing was taken. I drove to Marine Drive, though, to see if he was actually alive.”
“And?”
“No one was there and I was too busy to chase ghosts.” He gazed at the floor. “Funny thing, though. Twice I’ve had the feeling someone’s been here while I was out. Sydney would be agitated, and the place somehow felt a little different.”
“Maybe somebody found a way to deactivate your alarm. Do you keep a consistent routine?”
“Pretty much. Grocery shopping on Saturdays, Sunday dinner with my folks.”
As he opened the door Casey stepped back, but Sydney wasn’t there. She entered the hallway and spotted the monster heading for the kitchen.
“Thanks for seeing me, Vincent.”
Forty minutes later, Casey was showing a security guard her ID and asking to enter the house. The wary guard called his boss. After Casey informed the boss that she no longer needed security personnel, the guard showed her how to operate the new alarm, then left.
Without furniture, the rooms looked larger, the floors and walls dirtier. The living room floor would need replacing. Damaged boards were scattered around a four-foot-wide hole. Stepping up to the hole, she looked down at more debris and a few hand tools. Maybe the vandal wasn’t finished.
Casey’s footsteps echoed across the hardwood floor and into the dining room. This floor hadn’t been touched, or the one in the kitchen.
Upstairs, all that remained were dying plants, silk flowers, and trees. Casey wandered through the atrium and into Dad’s now empty bedroom, noting the en suite bathroom and the closet. She strolled to the French doors at the far end of the room and looked at the ocean.
A sailboat bobbed in front of the house, its green and white sails flimsy against all that water. Casey reflected on the violence that had occurred in this house and thought about Darcy. Absorbed in her thoughts, she only heard the footsteps when they were almost at the bedroom door. The clicking heels told her this wasn’t a man. Casey’s heart pounded, adrenalin surged, and her face grew warm as Mother sauntered into the room.
Eighteen
WHAT IN HELL was Mother doing here? Casey’s mouth grew dry as she watched her come closer. It was hard to tell which was more shocking, the tears in Mother’s eyes or her youthful appearance. Her hair was the same light gold Casey remembered and, judging from the clingy pink dress, she’d scarcely gained any weight. Pear-shaped diamonds covered her earlobes. She didn’t look like anyone’s mother. And she sure didn’t feel like calling her “mom.”
Lillian removed a tissue from her handbag and dabbed her eyes. As she looked Casey up and down, Casey sucked in her stomach. She felt shabby in her navy slacks and jacket, a feeling she wasn’t used to and didn’t like. A few extra pounds around the middle were nothing to be ashamed of. She let her stomach muscles relax and took a deep yoga breath.
Lillian’s glossy lips parted in a tentative smile. “Why did you color your lovely blond hair, Cassandra?”
“I go by Casey now, and I prefer brown to blond.” She shoved her hands in her pockets to hide the shaking. “What are you doing here?”
“Vincent phoned. He knows I’ve been concerned about you.”
“He didn’t tell me you were back in Vancouver.”
“I asked him not to.” Lillian swept her hand along the marble mantle above the fireplace. “This is a Marcus house, isn’t it? Large rooms, no hallways, plenty of natural light.”
Casey’s fingernails dug into her palms. “Are you here to look for three million dollars?”
A bold smile this time. “All these years apart and you ask about money? You really are a Holland.”
Casey didn’t appreciate the insinuation. “Are you here by yourself?”
“Yes.” Lillian watched her. “Do you know who trashed the living room floor, and why?”
“I have a theory about the person responsible, and I think it’s about the missing three million dollars, right?” She wouldn’t be surprised if Darcy’s treasure hunt had taken him to her locker at work. “Did Theo talk to you about Rhonda and Summer?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’ll leave them alone? Rhonda doesn’t know anything about the money and there’s absolutely no reason to hurt Summer.”
“I never had any real intention of telling that poor child the truth about her birth mother. I simply wanted to shake Rhonda up, to let her know that telling the truth is important.”
Casey stared. “So, you think that truth is important, huh?”
“I do. You see, I doubt Rhonda’s told you that she knows more about Marcus than she wants to you think.”
The remark soared at Casey like an arrow made of ice.
“I’m sure she claims to have known nothing about this house or its occupant,” Lillian went on. “But ask her to show you a two-month-old snapshot of the man she thought was Marcus. Knowing her as well as I do, I bet she still has it.”
Casey couldn’t hear this right now, didn’t want to discuss Rhonda when more crucial issues were at stake. “Do you know Darcy Churcott?”
Lillian’s violet eyes didn’t blink. “He works for Theo, why?”
Casey tilted her head back and looked at the ceiling. “I should have guessed.” No wonder Theo wouldn’t tell her much about him. “He’s renting a room in our home. Was that Darcy’s or Theo’s idea?”
“Darcy’s. He believes you’ve known where the money is all along. I convinced him that you didn’t know anything. Marcus wouldn’t have dumped that kind of trouble on you.”
“So, Darcy decided to go on his own treasure hunt while I was away and tear up the damn house, right?” Not to mention her apartment.
“It appears so.”
“Then why did Theo tell me that two Mexican clients killed Dad for the money?”
“Because he figured you wouldn’t believe the truth.”
“Which is?”
“Your father earned an enormous fee from those clients and put a portion of it back into the partnership, but not as much as Theo thought he should. Theo was furious with Marcus for wanting to end their partnership to start his own company. He believed Marcus stole clients and feels he should be compensated.”
“Why did Theo say that Dad left the cash for me to find?”
“To entice you to look for it. If you find the money, he’ll take every penny and you’ll never see him
