Beyond the Garden (Magnolia Series Book 2) Read online

  The sound of Julian’s hard-soled loafers on the oak floors in the hallway announced his arrival. “Officers,” he said, shaking each of their hands before pulling up a chair close to Ellie.

  Unable to contain herself any longer, Ellie said, “Tell me what’s going on with my sister. Is she in some kind of trouble? I hope she hasn’t been hurt in any way.”

  “Not your sister,” Cain said. “Her husband. Ricky Bertram’s body was discovered in the honeymoon suite at the Buena Vista Resort in Key West. He’d been stabbed multiple times with a boning knife, the kind fishermen use for cleaning fish.”

  A cold dread settled over Ellie’s body as this information sunk in. Last she knew, her sister and her husband were estranged. “What does this have to do with my sister?”

  Grant consulted her iPad. “Based on my conversation with the detective handling the case, your sister is wanted for questioning in his murder investigation. According to the hotel staff, your sister was staying at the hotel with him. She’s disappeared, along with all her things.”

  “Do you know for certain it was my sister? The last time I saw her, Lia and her husband were having marital problems.”

  “They were registered as ‘Mr. and Mrs. Bertram.’ And the woman staying with Ricky matches your sister’s description.” Once again, Grant looked down at her iPad. “Tall and thin, with dark hair and eyes.”

  “When is the last time either of you heard from Lia Bertram?” Officer Cain asked.

  “Seven months ago,” Julian answered.

  “My sister and I aren’t close,” Ellie said. “I can tell you what I know about her in three minutes or less.”

  “We’d like to hear it, if you think it’ll help the case,” Grant said.

  “Okay then.” Ellie sat up straighter in her chair. “We were separated when we were young, too young to remember, in fact. Lia and I are twins, but I never knew she existed until I inherited this house from my grandmother and moved to Charleston in September of last year. I found out about my sister by reading old journals of my mother’s that I came across in the attic.” She saw the confused expression on Cain’s face and added, “I know what you’re thinking, officer. How can a woman with fair skin, green eyes, and auburn hair like me be twins with a woman with such dark features. We’re fraternal twins. We look nothing alike.”

  “Thanks for the clarification,” he said, and nodded. “Please continue.”

  “After our discovery, as you can imagine, my father and I immediately went to Georgia looking for her. Little did we—”

  “Wait a minute,” Grant said. “Are you saying your father didn’t know about your twin sister, either?”

  Ellie shook her head. “For personal reasons, my mother and grandmother chose to keep her existence a secret. That part of the story is long, Officer. And I don’t see how it’s relevant to your case.”

  Grant started to object, but Cain shot her a look. “We’ll skip it for now and circle back later if need be.”

  Ellie glanced at Julian, who placed his hand over hers for support. “As I was saying, we had no idea we were walking into a hornet’s nest of a mess in Decatur, Georgia. Ricky had borrowed money from a questionable source to pay off his gambling debts. When this questionable source sent his goons to collect his money, Ricky disappeared, leaving Lia with only thirty dollars in their joint bank account. With Ricky out of the picture, the goons started threatening Lia. That’s when we showed up. Dad and I insisted she and her three-year-old daughters—who are also fraternal twins—come back to Charleston with us. I was able to convince Lia to stay only for a couple of days. She seemed agitated, like something was bothering her, although she never confided in me about what. I gave her some money, quite a lot of it, to help her get back on her feet. She left town in the middle of the night, and I haven’t heard from her since.”

  Grant knitted her eyebrows. “And this was when?”

  “At the end of September, this past year.” The officer’s jaw dropped open, and Ellie added, “I know what you’re thinking, Officer Grant. What kind of mother leaves her toddlers in a virtual stranger’s care for seven months? I’ve been trying to find her. I’ve spoken to the police in Decatur a number of times. I assume that’s how you knew to contact me.”

  “That’s correct,” Grant said with an affirmative nod of his head. “The detective in Key West contacted by the police in Decatur, who suggested we reach out to you.”

  “Did your sister leave any kind of note or forwarding address?” Cain asked.

  Ellie told them about the letter Lia had left, proclaiming herself an unfit mother, and the text message her father had read by accident on Lia’s phone from someone she’d stored in her contacts as Lover Boy.

  “She was planning to meet her Lover Boy, but we don’t know where. Ricky could’ve been that Lover Boy for all we know. We never got a chance to ask Lia before she took off.”

  Julian moved to the edge of his seat. “And you’re sure the deceased is Ricky Bertram? Has anyone identified the body?”

  “According to the Georgia driver’s license they found in his wallet, the victim is Richard Bertram of Cherry Blossom Lane in Decatur, Georgia. Detective Hamlin informed me that Ricky’s brother is on his way to Key West as we speak to claim the body.” Grant clicked a button on her iPad, and the screen went dark. “We’ll be in touch if we have additional questions.” She handed Ellie a business card and stood to leave. “In the meantime, if you hear from your sister, be sure to let us know.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Ellie

  Ellie called her father as soon as the police officers left. He lived around the corner in Julian’s old converted carriage house and arrived on her piazza within minutes.

  Bella clasped onto his right leg while Mya leaped into his arms and wrapped her tiny hands around his neck. “GoPa! Did you bring us a surprise?”

  No one knew where the twins came up with their nickname for their grandfather, but everyone agreed it suited him. Abbott was a hip grandfather who was always on the go.

  “Let me see.” Shifting Mya to his other arm, he dug into his right pocket and produced two bouncy rubber balls the size of gumballs. “Looka here. Wonder how these got in my pocket.”

  Mya tried to grab the balls, but Abbott held them away from her. “Not in the house. You might break one of your Aunt Ellie’s pretty things.” He eyed the antique Turkish runner in the center hallway. “Looks to me like someone’s made a purchase since I was last here three days ago.”

  “The rug is part of an installment Jackie delivered yesterday,” Ellie explained. “You’ll love what’s she’s done in the living room. I’ll show you everything later.”

  Ellie noticed Becca standing off to the side, as though waiting for the right opportunity to interrupt. The young woman’s manners were impeccable. She had a soft-spoken, graceful ease about her that Ellie found endearing. The twins simply adored her, which made Ellie feel less guilty about paying a babysitter to stay with them three days a week. As much as Ellie wanted to be a mother, she wasn’t ready to give up her career as an artist. Since the twins had come to live with her, she’d developed a newfound respect for modern working women who juggled both family and career.

  Ellie glanced at the grandfather clock down the hall. It was only five thirty, and Becca usually stayed until six. “Do you need to leave early today?”

  Becca bobbed her strawberry-blonde head. With pale blue eyes and sun-kissed cheeks, she was pretty in a wholesome way. “The wind has kicked up. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get some practice in before the regatta this weekend.”

  “Then what are you waiting for? Go!” Ellie held the front door open for the sitter. “Have fun and be careful. We’ll see you in the morning.”

  Ellie closed the door behind Becca and turned to the twins. “Say, girls, let’s go out to the garden so you can play with your balls.”

  “Yay!” the twins cried. They ran ahead of them, down the hall, through the Florida room Ellie use
d as an art studio, and out the french doors to the walled backyard.

  “Go get ’em, girls!” Abbott said as he bounced the rubber balls off the bluestone terrace into the yard.

  With shrieks of laughter, the girls went chasing after the balls.

  “Where’s Julian?” Abbott asked.

  “In the kitchen, giving the workmen their last instructions for the day. He’ll be out in a minute. Let’s sit down.” She motioned toward a round umbrellaed table.

  When they were seated across from each other, Abbott said, “I’m having a hard time grasping what you told me on the phone. Do you seriously think Lia is capable of murdering her husband?”

  Ellie paused before answering. “I’m not sure. I don’t think either of us knows Lia well enough to make that judgment. During the two days we spent with her last fall, she was pretty difficult. I’d even go so far as to say her attitude toward us was hostile.”

  “But her letter explained her behavior. She was struggling with the decision to leave the girls in your care.”

  “But also in that letter, she declared herself mentally unstable.”

  A solemn expression crossed his face. “I guess that makes her a candidate for murder suspect. I barely know her, but I’m still her father. I owe it to her to give her the benefit of the doubt until we can find out more.”

  “I would expect nothing less from you, Daddy.” Her father was the most scrupulous person she’d ever met. “I’m sure you’re right anyway. Lia might be selfish and insincere and difficult to get along with, but I don’t think she’s a murderer. Ricky owed some bad men a lot of money. My guess is those men finally caught up to him.”

  Julian appeared on the terrace with a tray of sweet tea. He handed each of them a glass and sat down between them. “So . . . how do we proceed?”

  “This is the closest we’ve come to finding Lia,” Ellie said, pressing her cool glass against her warm cheek. “I have no choice but to go to Key West.”

  Julian cut his eyes at her. “Not alone, you’re not.”

  “Julian’s right.” Abbott glanced at the girls to make sure they were out of earshot. He leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “If she did kill her husband, you could be walking into a dangerous situation. What will you do if you find her, anyway? Drag her back to Charleston?”

  “I have to try, Dad. I need to know what Lia’s intentions are concerning Bella and Mya. It’s unfair of her to expect me to take care of her children indefinitely. Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy to do it. I love them as much as you do. But this arrangement is making me an emotional basket case. Every morning when I wake up, I fear that it will be the day Lia comes for the girls.”

  “I know it’s hard on you, sweetheart,” Abbott said. “I’ve felt that way a few hundred times myself.”

  “Julian and I have made a home for them here.” Ellie’s eyes traveled across the yard to the girls. “Look at them. They’re happy and well adjusted. They’ve stopped asking about their mommy and daddy. It will tear my heart out if Lia takes them away. I understand they’re her children, and she has every right to take them whenever and wherever she chooses, but I question whether it’s in the girls’ best interest to be with their biological mother if she’s unstable.”

  “We don’t know for certain that she’s unsta—”

  Ellie silenced her father with an arched eyebrow. “And we don’t know for certain she wasn’t involved in her husband’s murder either,” Ellie said. “No mother in her right mind leaves her children with a woman she barely knows—even if she is her sister—for seven months without so much as a phone call.”

  They sat in silence while they watched the girls attempt to toss the tiny ball back and forth to each other. “Selfishly, I’d like to see them stay in Charleston,” Abbott said. “But I worry that if you force Lia’s hand, she’ll take them away out of spite.”

  Ellie rested her hand on her husband’s forearm. “If Lia ever plans on reclaiming them, it’s better emotionally for Julian and me if it happens now rather than ten years from now. We didn’t tell you, Dad, but we consulted an attorney regarding the matter. We’ve already petitioned for legal guardianship, the first step toward legally adopting them. We need to make every effort to find the girls’ parents before we can move forward with the adoption. We had him draw up adoption papers so that we will be prepared on the off chance that Lia comes back for more money and is willing to sign over permanent custody to us in exchange.”

  Abbott’s mouth fell open. “You’re going to barter with your sister for custody of the twins?”

  Ellie shrugged. “Whatever it takes, Dad. Julian and I have discussed this at length with each other and our attorney. We are all in agreement.”

  “What’s to stop her from trying to claim them down the road?” Abbott asked.

  “There’s a provision in the adoption papers preventing it,” Julian said.

  “And what’s going to stop her from contesting it?” Abbott asked.

  “She can try all day long,” Julian said. “No judge in his right mind will give children back to a woman who signed over custody of her children in exchange for money.”

  Abbott gulped his tea. “Let me get this straight. You’re going to Key West with these papers, hoping she’ll sign them in exchange for a check?”

  “No, Dad. You’ve got it all wrong. I’m not going to Key West to bait my sister. My main purpose in taking this trip is to locate her, determine her state of mind, and find out her plans for the future. We would’ve gone to see her months ago, but we had no idea where to find her until today. I’ll have the papers on hand, though, in case that future doesn’t include the twins.”

  Julian said, “Our attorney believes that, based on the letter Lia left Ellie, we won’t have any trouble with the adoption. But your daughter, being the overly considerate, amazing woman I married, would like to make certain this is what Lia wants.”

  Abbott looked back and forth between Ellie and Julian. “I can see you’ve given this a lot of thought.” He sighed. “I trust you know best in this situation. I’ll stay here with the girls while you’re gone.”

  A sense of calm settled over Ellie.

  Maybe everything will turn out all right after all.

  “Are you sure, Dad? I hate to ask you to do that with the house in such a mess and the makeshift kitchen.”

  He dismissed her concern with a sweeping hand gesture. “We can eat at my house if we choose. We’ll be fine.”

  “Becca and Maddie will be here tomorrow,” Ellie said. “Becca is sailing in a regatta on Saturday, but I can have Maddie come in over the weekend if need be.”

  Abbott placed his hand over hers and squeezed. “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll work it out. I promise we’ll be fine.”

  Ellie fell back in her chair and then sat up straight. “Wait! I thought Tracey was coming this weekend.” Her father had been in a relationship with his current girlfriend for several months when he decided to move from DC to Charleston. She’d been worried for some time their romance wouldn’t survive the commute.

  A rubber ball soared through the air toward them. Abbott caught it and bounced it back to the twins. “I’m sorry to say she canceled on me again. She has a crisis at work. It’s for the best. We talked for a long time the other night and agreed things weren’t going to work out for us.”

  “That’s a bummer, Dad.” As much as her father was enamored by Charleston, Ellie hated the idea of him having to experience it alone. With his dark handsome looks and his fun-loving personality, he was a catch for any woman his age. “Maybe you’ll find a Charlestonian who is equally charming.”

  A mischievous smile played on his lips. “As it so happens, I may have already found that someone.”

  Ellie planted her elbows on the table and stretched across the table toward him. “Do tell, Dad.”

  Abbott chuckled. “There’s not much to tell yet. She’s a photographer. Our paths have crossed a couple of times on our pursuit of the quintess
ential shot.”

  Ellie’s fingers flew to her lips as she bit back laughter. “Sounds like a match made in heaven.”

  “What’s her name?” Julian asked. “I may know her.”

  Ellie rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you do. You know everyone else in this town.”

  “Her name is Lacey,” Abbott said. “Lacey Sinkler.”

  Julian grinned. “She’s my first cousin. Her mother is my mother’s older sister. Lacey used to babysit for me when I was a kid.”

  Ellie threw her hands in the air. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “I can see how the two of you might hit it off,” Julian said. “Lacey loves bird-watching as much as you do. Have you asked her out yet?”

  “Not yet. But I will soon, now that my relationship with Tracey is officially over.”

  “Speaking of photography, how’s your exhibit coming? This is your first series in a long time. I know how hard you’ve been working on it and want to get it right. The gallery is opening in a month. I hope our trip to Key West doesn’t interfere with your work schedule.”

  “On the contrary. I’m planning to photograph the Angel Oak Tree on Saturday,” he said, referring to the ancient live oak on Johns Island, a thirty-minute drive south of Charleston. “I’ll take the girls with me. They’ll get a kick out of seeing it.”

  “Seriously, Dad? The Angel Oak Tree? Isn’t that a little unconventional for you? That tree has been photographed at least a gazillion times.”

  “Not by me,” he said, brushing an imaginary speck of lint off his shoulder.

  Ellie shook her head. “A tree is a tree is a tree.”