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“Yeah, but it’s my job.” With an effort she squashed her irritation. There were probably lots of things she was missing. All she could do was try to concentrate on what was important. “So does that mean Larry Sutton was hired by someone else to break into the house?”
“The first person who comes to mind is Winston Durand,” Bryce said. “He’s one of our top suspects and he’s the one who wouldn’t have the legal authority to search Stella’s house.”
“I’m still sure it was Winston who came looking for Larry the day I caught him in my house. Which means he knows the private investigator,” Livia agreed, her tone uncertain. “But I thought Winston and Adrian were working together. And what interest would Winston have in my old nanny?”
“I’m more interested in what interest he has in you,” Bryce retorted. “You never had any contact with Stella, have you?”
“None.” It was the one thing that Livia could say with confidence. “I don’t even remember her.”
“Could she have called your office to try and sell her house before it reverted back to your family? Or could she have questions about her rights as a renter?”
It was a reasonable hypothesis. The older woman might have been pressured by Adrian to get out of her home when the business went downhill. There was a lot of potential income wrapped up in the property. Stella might have heard that Livia worked in real estate and hoped that she could convince her uncle to let her stay.
“If she did, I never got the message. Which is highly unlikely. Marcel is an amazing assistant. He’s meticulous in keeping track of potential clients.”
Bryce heaved a loud sigh. “It’s so confusing. Why would your uncle allow your former nanny to be living in a house belonging to the Benoits, and potentially be giving her some sort of allowance? And why was he keeping it a secret? And why had Larry Sutton tried to break in after the funeral?”
“All great questions with no answers.”
“And why was Larry Sutton … wait.” Bryce cut off her words. “When was the funeral?”
For once, Livia had an answer. “I looked it up on the computer. April twenty-seventh. It was a graveside service at ten in the morning.”
“And when did Larry show up at your office pretending to be Jacob Pearson?”
“May fourteenth.” Livia made a sound of disgust. “How sad is it that I remember the exact date?”
“Two weeks after Stella died. Why did he go from her house in Slidell to New Orleans to create Jacob Pearson and lure you into a relationship? There has to be a link between the two events.”
Livia shivered. As happy as she was to be in her own home, there were still unpleasant memories of Jacob lingering in the back of her mind. They wouldn’t be completely banished until she discovered exactly why he’d abused her trust. And more importantly, if he was still a threat.
“A thousand whys with zero answers,” she muttered. “And I have another one. Why shoot out the window of my office?”
“That one is easy,” Bryce surprised her by insisting.
“Is it?”
“Either it’s a warning for you to stop poking into the past. Or, for some reason, they wanted to lure you away from the Willows.”
Livia’s head was starting to spin, but she reached for the bottle on the table and poured herself another glass of wine.
“I think you’re right. This was a warning. And not the first one,” she said. “Someone is worried about me digging up old skeletons.”
Bryce frowned. “What else happened?”
Accepting that she couldn’t keep her friend in the dark any longer, Livia shared her encounters with the mysterious stalker. Not surprisingly, Bryce was instantly furious.
“Dammit, Livia, why didn’t you tell me before now? You can’t go back there. You’re not safe.”
“You think I’m any safer here?” Livia reached out to grab her friend’s hand, giving her fingers a small squeeze. “The only way to end this is to expose whoever is behind the attacks.”
Bryce looked grim, but she understood that Livia couldn’t lock herself in this house forever.
“We will.” She clutched Livia’s hand, her words sounding like a solemn pledge. “We’re going to expose them and throw their asses in jail.”
“Amen.”
CHAPTER 20
