Threat From The Past

Threat from the Past

Diana Hamilton

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ONE

THERE was something wrong. Very wrong. Something she wasn’t being told, she was sure of it. Selina changed down and turned the Volvo on to the narrow lane that led towards Lower Otterley Hall, mindful of the brittle crust of ice beneath the tyres, her golden gaze clouded under strong, arching eyebrows.

But what? She flipped down the sun visor, shading out the low, slanting rays of the pale afternoon sun as they shimmered through the bare branches of trees and hedgerows, spangled now with ice as pure as crystal. She sensed undercurrents and she didn’t usually imagine things. She was far too level-headed to worry about anything until it actually leapt up and hit her between the eyes.

So why the decidedly uneasy and definitely uncharacteristic sensation of looming disaster? Selina shook her head unconsciously, setting the riotous mane of tawny, gold-streaked hair flying around her face. It wasn’t the current recession which was hitting the King’s Ransom chain of boutiques as hard as every other high street business in the land, that was for sure. They had ridden the last and they would come out of this one, too.

True, her buying budget had been slashed, but all that had achieved had been to provide her with the sort of challenge she thrived on. She had only just returned from a two-week buying trip to the Continent, picking up fine leather accessories, summer silks and cottons at knock-down prices. Haggling was the name of the game when times were tough, she assured herself, her wide mouth quirking upwards in a wicked grin. And if the suppliers wanted to keep the goodwill of the ultra-successful, entirely family-owned King’s Ransom chain then they had to bend a little, cut profits as the family itself was having to do in order to safeguard jobs and keep shops open and cleverly stocked for when boom-time came again, as it surely would.

As always, when the oddly pitched lichen-covered roofs, the tall, intricate chimneys and the mellow stone walls of the Hall came in view Selina’s normally prosaic heart performed a lilt of sheer delight. Swinging the sturdy car on to the long, tree-lined drive, she suffered a sudden, stabbing remembrance of the day when she had first come here to live. Ten years old, her features too bold for her pale little face, her unruly hair tamed into a single thick pigtail, she had been bewildered, battered by the grief of losing both her parents in a motorway pile-up, the cruel waste of which could still leave her shaking with anger even now, sixteen years later.

Her mother’s much older sister, Aunt Vanessa, Selina’s only remaining blood relative, had offered to take care of her, but it had been her aunt’s husband, Uncle Martin, who had given her the affection and patient attention her grieving young heart had so desperately needed. Her cousin, Dominic, a year older than herself, had openly resented her presence. An only child, a precious child, he hadn’t been prepared to share his parents with anyone. Which was probably why, Selina thought wryly, his doting mother had been especially careful to impress on him that he came first in everything.

Vanessa, astute businesswoman that she was, brilliant hostess and calculating socialite, had a blind spot where Dominic was concerned. The fact no longer troubled Selina—she knew her own worth—but it did, and always would, quietly amaze her.

And it had been this house itself, Lower Otterley Hall, that had helped her come to terms with her awful loss. Her uncle and aunt had recently moved in at that time, and Selina had never visited the place before. Bought at the time when the chain of boutiques had been expanding, the house had been far less opulent than it was now. But the young Selina had seen beyond the neglect to the enchanting home it could and had become, packed with so much character that it made the mock-Georgian house in Watford which they had recently sold, and where Selina had visited with her parents, look like a cardboard doll’s house.

The gradual and careful restoration had fascinated the young Selina and the choosing of suitable period furniture from auctions around the country had been the one thing to bring her and her aunt closer. But it had been Martin King’s patience, his gentle, caring support—even more than her increasingly passionate devotion to the beautiful old house—which had helped her come to terms with the loss of her parents and emerge into the well-balanced, confident young woman she was today.

As she garaged the Volvo next to Dominic’s snarly red Porsche she sat for long moments softly drumming her gloved fingers against the steering-wheel, wondering if her uneasy premonitions had anything to do with Martin’s health.

But surely not. He had a heart condition, diagnosed a couple of years ago, but he was in the care of one of the most prominent cardiologists in the country and, following his advice, was readying himself for retirement, grooming Dominic to take over his position as financial director for the King’s Ransom chain.

No— Her restless fingers reached for her handbag as she let herself out of the car and collected her luggage from the boot. Everything was under control as far as Martin’s health was concerned; he was taking things much more easily and, in fact, for the past six months Dominic had taken his place in the company. Even his birthday celebration tonight, which was responsible for Selina’s dash from Heathrow instead of doing as she normally would at the conclusion of a buying trip—staying in town overnight and spending the next day at head office—was to be low-key, just the family for a quiet dinner and not the usual glittering thrash Vanessa organised so well.

So there was nothing to worry over, was there? she questioned herself severely as she cut across the cobbled courtyard at the side of the house and headed for the main door, her stride long and purposeful, the hems of her white trench coat brushing her leather-booted ankles.

And any lingering forebodings were quickly dispelled as she entered the huge, softly lighted hall and the familiar welcome of the old house wrapped her in security. The cast-iron woodburner set into the massive stone hearth radiated a comforting warmth, enticing the maximum scent from the bowls of white hyacinths clustered on every available table-top and window-sill.

Dropping her case at her feet, Selina’s wide mouth curved into a slow smile as she felt herself relax, truly relax, and Meg, her aunt’s housekeeper, walking through from the kitchen regions, called out, ‘I thought I heard you arrive. Good trip?’

‘Great, thanks.’ Selina’s smile broadened into the breathtaking grin that, quite apart from her tall, lissomly feminine body, her striking features and untameable riot of tawny hair, had the power to stop the male of the species in their tracks. ‘Where is everyone?’

‘Out. Except for Dominic and he’s shut up in the study with orders not to be disturbed.’ Meg’s bony shoulders rose in a throw-away shrug. ‘Dinner’s at eight, as usual. You haven’t forgotten it’s your uncle’s birthday?’

‘What do you think?’ Selina was used to Meg’s need to organise everyone and everything around her and, as she shrugged out of her trench coat and smoothed the lapels of the rich brown fine wool suit she was wearing, she did some organising on her own account. ‘Be a love and bring a tray of tea to my room, would you, please? I need to shower and crash out for a couple of hours if I’m to be fit company for anyone this evening. Oh—’ She paused, halfway up the wide oak staircase, her suitcase in one hand, her coat hooked over her arm. ‘If Dominic surfaces, tell him I want to talk to him, would you?’ He would be able to set her mind at rest as to the state of the business and then she could finally rid herself of the last remnants of the niggling unease which had begun to infect her three days ago. And then, her voice studiedly casual, she added, ‘Everything been all right here?’

‘I’d have told you if it hadn’t been,’ Meg answered impatiently and then, relenting because it wasn’t like Selina to attempt subterfuge, she always led straight from the shoulder, Meg replied to the underlying question more softly, ‘Your uncle’s fine. Even without you to keep a strict eye on him he hasn’t been overdoing things.’ Noting the way the faint trace of anxiety lifted from those long-lidded golden eyes, the housekeeper turned to go and make that tea, passing the information over her shoulder, ‘He’s gone with your aunt to put in an order at the garden centre—for that enclosed rose garden they’ve been talking about all winter.’

Feeling inexplicably lighter, Selina went quickly up the remaining stairs. Stupid of her to harbour neurotic anxieties. So unlike her. And she wasn’t going to pander to them a moment longer. She wouldn’t even bother to ask Dominic if everything was running smoothly as far as the business was concerned. If anything had gone badly wrong he would have contacted her. Or Vanessa would.

So she had a shower, taken quickly, Meg’s tea followed by an hour relaxing on her bed before wrapping the carved jade chess pieces she’d found in Rome, knowing as soon as she’d set eyes on them that they’d make a perfect birthday gift for Martin.

Her bedroom was peaceful, right at the back of the house, so tucked away that she might have been alone in the building. Drowsily, she registered a faint chilliness, and wondered whether to dress. Lounging around in a light silk wrap wasn’t a good idea, despite the central heating. Filigree patterns of ice were already beginning to form on the outside of the windows as the short winter day darkened to a close.

About to slide her feet to the floor, she automatically reached for the phone on her bedside table as it began to ring out, pushing her rumpled hair away from her face with the back of one hand as she said drowsily, ‘Selina Roth, can I help you?’

The tiny snatch of silence from the other end had her wrinkling her brows, becoming more alert, but her wide mouth curved softly as a deeply pitched male voice imparted, ‘May I speak to Martin King, please?’

Just a few innocuous words, but oh, what a sexy voice! Thick dark velvet laid over gravel. A voice to conjure dreams of the far-from-innocent variety! Aware of the strange frisson that feathered her spine, she took herself in hand and answered, a shade too huskily for her liking, ‘I’m afraid he’s not here at the moment; can I help you?’ A very peculiar reluctance to end the conversation, to go in search of Martin, had her adding, ‘I could take a message. Who is calling?’ Her uncle might not have returned. As far as she knew, he hadn’t, she excused her silly behaviour. Tucked away in her room, right at the far end of the wing at the rear of the house, she had no way of knowing, had she? And again the short and inexplicable silence before that devastating voice sent shivers chasing each other down her spine again.

‘Adam Tudor. Tell Martin I’ll be dropping in around nine this evening, would you? I won’t keep him long. Tell him it’s important. Got that?’

‘Yes, of course. We’ll expect you at nine.’ Heavens, what had come over her? Her own voice seemed to be vying with his in the sexiness stakes! As the line went dead she stared at the instrument in confusion before giving her head a tiny shake and replacing the receiver.

She really should have made the effort to put him off, she muttered inside her head as she pushed her feet into her slippers. Sorry, she could have said, but Martin can’t possibly see you tonight. She could have asked for his number and told him that her uncle would contact him some time. Tonight they would be holding a private, family celebration. Martin might not want a stranger muscling in, even for only a few minutes.

But he wouldn’t be a stranger to Martin, would he? Or not entirely. Adam Tudor had added no explanations as to who he was, which meant that he was known to Martin. And she hadn’t even thought of fobbing him off and, always honest with herself, she knew why. Pulling a disgusted face at her own silliness, she hurried along the quiet corridor towards the main block of the house. She had been curious, she admitted to herself. She wanted to see if the man matched his voice! And the joke would be against her when Adam Tudor turned up in the flesh and revealed himself as being short and fat and definitely ugly!

The suite of rooms her aunt and uncle occupied at the head of the main staircase was empty. Selina checked her watch. Gone five-thirty.

They must have got really involved down at the garden centre, which wasn’t entirely surprising since Vanessa had been caught up in her plans for the rose garden for months, infecting Martin with her enthusiasm.

Since her uncle had been warned to take things easily, the dressing-room off the master bedroom had been converted into a book-lined sitting-room where he could sit and relax, indulge his passion for reading, listening to taped plainsong or sharing a glass of sherry with his wife, talking over the events of the day.

Tearing a sheet of paper from the pad on the eighteenth-century rosewood desk, she wrote quickly, the words penned in her distinctive hand, ‘Adam Tudor is arriving at nine. He says it’s important he sees you’, the words standing out starkly against the white background.

She left the note where her uncle couldn’t fail to see it when he came in here to relax for a while before changing for his celebratory dinner, then made her way back to her own room.

Stifling a yawn, she slid beneath the comforting warmth of the duvet and curled herself into a ball. She wouldn’t sleep. Merely relax and recoup her energies after the last frantically busy two weeks, the flight home and the subsequent drive back here to the Sussex-Hampshire border.

Her mind drifting, she heard again that brief conversational exchange with Adam Tudor and her mouth curved in an unconscious smile. It would almost be a pity to meet the man—his physical appearance couldn’t possibly match that fantastically attractive voice! Seeing him in the flesh was bound to be a huge let-down. And, come to think of it, his name seemed strangely familiar. As if she had heard it before... Some time... Somewhere...

* * *

‘Selina. Wake up, Selina.’ Meg’s voice penetrated dimly into her consciousness and, as a gentle hand shook her shoulder, Selina opened one eye and then the other, fixing first on the housekeeper’s gaunt features and then on the bedside clock which told her it was seven already.

‘Oh, hell!’ she muttered blearily. ‘I didn’t mean to sleep.’ Struggling up against the pillows, she propped herself on her elbows and Meg said, her voice sounding strained,

‘You were tired out. Anyone could see that. Even Dominic said not to wake you.’

‘Dominic? What’s he got to do with anything?’ When had her cousin ever shown any concern for her well-being? If she dropped dead from exhaustion he wouldn’t blink an eyelid.

Snapping wide awake now, the knowledge that something was horribly wrong hit her like a blow to the chest, and her voice was thick as she demanded, ‘What’s happened? Tell me, Meg!’

Her worst fears, the fears that had been wriggling namelessly at the back of her mind for days, now suddenly took on the hatefulness of reality as the housekeeper sat heavily on the side of the bed and, passing a hand tiredly over her eyes, said, ‘It’s your uncle.’ Then, glancing sideways to meet the shock-darkened golden eyes, huge now in a face that was suddenly drained of all colour, she added quickly, ‘But he’ll be all right. Dr Hill said it was a very mild attack, nothing to worry about in itself—but a warning.’

‘But how? When?’ Selina demanded sharply, out of bed now, pulling fresh underwear from a drawer, jeans in fine needlecord, a lighter shade of cinnamon than the cashmere V-necked sweater, dressing hurriedly in the first things to come to hand. ‘Where is he now?’

‘Hospital. Private room,’ Meg told her, frowning, getting to her feet and taking a firm, no-nonsense grip on Selina’s shoulders, forcing her down on to the carved blanket chest at the foot of the elegant half-tester bed.

Halfway into her sweater and caught off-balance, Selina sat heavily, wrestled the garment into place and caught Meg’s compassionate eyes.

‘Panicking won’t help your uncle. Catch your breath while I explain what happened.’

Closing her eyes just briefly, Selina recognised the wisdom in what Meg said. Her heart was beating like a drum, her breathing too rapid, too shallow. Taking a long, deep breath she opened her eyes again and instructed quietly, ‘So tell me.’

‘They’d just got back from the garden centre, about a quarter to six, when Dr Hill arrived with a birthday gift for your uncle. A bottle of his favourite port, it was.’ Meg sat beside Selina, taking one of the slim, long-fingered hands between her bony ones. ‘They were joking about the doctor choosing to bring port so that he could share it while they were playing chess next week. So your uncle invited him up to his sitting-room to join him in a glass of sherry, and the four of them went up—Dominic had come out of the study when he heard them all talking—and, apparently, that was when your uncle collapsed.’

‘Thank God Bob Hill was there,’ Selina said thickly and Meg nodded quickly, assuring her,

‘He was able to do what was necessary and he and Dominic between them got him into his car. Your aunt went with them to the hospital and Dominic followed in his own car. He phoned just before I woke you to say your uncle was stable, that it had been a minor attack. But he’s going to have to stay in for a few days—for recuperation and tests.’

‘Why wasn’t I told? Someone should have woken me,’ Selina accused. She was emerging from the initial shock now and couldn’t believe that she had been left to sleep, oblivious to all that had been going on.

‘I did suggest alerting you,’ Meg told her. ‘But Dominic said not to worry you. You’d had a gruelling trip and were probably asleep and, in any case, there was nothing useful you could do.’

Except be with him, offer her support to Vanessa who must have been out of her mind with anxiety, Selina thought with silent bitterness, knowing that the truth of the matter hinged on the fact of Dominic’s unalterable resentment of her presence in their lives at all. But Meg was saying, ‘It all happened so quickly and when they’d all gone there didn’t seem any point in worrying you before I got hard news from the hospital.’

‘I’m going there now,’ Selina stated, crossing the room to retrieve her boots from the bottom of the cupboard where she’d stowed them earlier. She had to see Martin and Vanessa for herself, get the reassurance she needed that her uncle’s attack had, in truth, been minor, let Vanessa know that she, Selina, was ready to offer all the emotional support she needed.

The boots pulled on, she dragged her trench coat from its hanger and reached for her shoulder-bag and was halfway to the door when Dominic walked through, the courtesy of a knock seeming not to have occurred to him.

‘How is he now?’ Selina and Meg both spoke together and Dominic directed his reply to the housekeeper, his slanting eyes refusing to meet Selina’s anxious gaze.

‘His condition’s stable, as I told you when I phoned, and his consultant will be with him now. He’s even grumbling about missing his birthday celebrations.’ He gave Meg a thin smile. ‘Mother’s decided to stay overnight—not that it’s necessary, but she insists. Would you pack a bag? You’ll know the sort of thing she’ll need.’

‘Of course.’ Meg hurried out without a backward glance and Selina stated,

‘I’ll take it when I drive over. There’s no need for you to make the journey again tonight.’

‘How awfully considerate,’ Dominic drawled, his grey eyes cold. ‘After all, the hospital’s all of twelve miles away,’ he added sarcastically, moving to stand in front of her as she made for the door. ‘I think everyone would prefer it if you stayed here.’

‘Is that so,’ Selina snapped back, her chin up, already searching in her bag for her car keys. It would give Dominic immense satisfaction to allow his parents to think that she hadn’t bothered to stir herself to visit her uncle.

He was very immature in a lot of ways. He wanted his parents to himself, he needed to believe that he was the centre of this particular universe and hated the idea that Selina might take anything away from him. He deeply resented the bond his cousin shared with his father and wasn’t adult enough to understand that the affection between them took nothing away from himself.

He had his back to the door now, his narrow face vindictive as he barred her exit, his tone spiteful as he parried, ‘Yes, that is so! You’ve already caused too much trouble. One look at you would remind him of what caused the attack in the first place, and heaven only knows what could happen then.’

‘Trouble?’ She picked out the damning word, the hot colour of annoyance draining from her skin, leaving it ashen, her eyes puzzled. ‘What the hell are you saying? What am I supposed to have done?’

Years ago, when they’d been growing up together, Dominic had always tried to pin the blame on his cousin for any childish misdemeanour. It had made his day if he’d been able to put her in the wrong in the eyes of his parents or friends. She had learned not to care, to simply shrug the accusations aside, knowing his lies were rarely, if ever believed.

And now he seemed to be reverting to type, but this was very different. This wasn’t an annoying trifle—a broken ornament or window-pane, a few coins missing from his mother’s purse. This was serious. She would never willingly cause trouble for the people who had taken her in and given her every care.

‘What have I done?’ she repeated harshly, and he answered petulantly,

‘That note you left him. Within moments of reading it he collapsed.’

‘Oh—come on!’ Selina almost sagged with relief. She’d been racking her brains to try to discover what on earth she could have done to upset Martin so badly. ‘It was an innocuous phone message, I merely passed it on. If you’d picked up the phone first, you’d have done the same. It had to be a coincidence.’

‘Like hell it was!’ he sneered, glaring at her down the length of his nose. ‘If I’d spoken to Tudor first I’d have threatened him with the law before I let him anywhere near my family. And I wouldn’t have let Father know he’d had the nerve to phone. You don’t tell a sick man that his enemy is about to knock on his front door!’

‘Enemy?’ She was aware that she was repeating almost everything he said, but could do nothing about it. Dom wasn’t making any sense. Martin didn’t have an enemy in the world, surely? She’d never heard of Adam Tudor before this evening... Or had she? She shook her head to clear it, her strong brows clenched perplexedly, and her cousin told her,

‘Exactly. The man’s a creep. Always on the look-out for hand-outs. He’d do my father down as soon as look at him—ask Mother, if you don’t believe me.’

Selina bit down on her lower lip. She did believe him. His words had the unmistakable ring of veracity. And she said miserably, ‘I didn’t know. If Martin has an enemy I should have been warned. How could I have known if I was never told?’

‘Sure.’ Dominic levered himself away from the door, obviously thinking better of the accusatory stance he had taken and, in an unprecedented gesture of solidarity, draped an arm around her shoulders. ‘I shouldn’t have blamed you, but I was upset. Adam Tudor’s existence isn’t something we talk about. So—’ he took the car keys from her unresisting fingers and pushed them back into her bag ‘—in the circumstances, it would be best if you stayed here, wouldn’t it? Give Father the chance to get over the shock of that message before you visit, hmm? Tomorrow should be OK. And when Tudor does show up you can give him a piece of your mind. You can be pretty formidable when roused! But if you’re going to have to do that you’ll need a few facts—needless to say, you must promise they won’t go any further.’ He gave her a tired smile, gave her shoulder a final squeeze. ‘As I said, the man’s an importuning creep, and if he could see Father—all of us—in the bankruptcy courts he’d do it. Not that he’ll get that opportunity, of course, I’ll see to that.’