Why would a stranger follow and take photos of Victor and me? It didn’t make sense. Besides Findlay, who knew we were in New Ripon?I had to know.Trying to keep my eyes on the man with the buzz cut, I followed him away from the dining room and through the lobby.It looked like he was heading for the main entrance, but when I got there, he was gone. I went outside onto the sidewalk and saw no sign of him.The sidewalk wasn’t crowded. I could see a block away in both directions. How did he disappear so quickly?The hotel doorman was talking to the valet in front of the entrance. Maybe they saw the man or knew who he was.“Excuse me,” I said to them. “Did you see a man a little shorter than me with a buzz cut come out of the hotel?”“No, ma’am,” the doorman said without looking at me.“I saw him.” The valet pointed down the street. “He jumped into a car that was waiting down there. Another man was driving when it took off in the other direction.”“Have you ever seen either of them befor
I had to listen to Shane’s message again. I couldn’t have heard what I thought I did.“Hey, Daisy, my publishers are eager to publish, distribute, and promote your article and report. Call me. There’s a lot you need to do before it goes to print.”I slipped into the bathroom to call, but before I could dial Shane’s number, Victor appeared in the doorway. He was awake and had heard the message.“Congratulations, sweetheart.” He kissed my cheek, and I returned to the bedroom to dress before returning Shane’s call.Shane answered on the first ring, and his excitement was contagious.“They want you to pose for a photo shoot and have someone do your bio,” Shane said. “They are excited by the project, Daisy. I’ve never known them to want to promote a story or a writer this much before.”“That’s great,” I said. But a photo shoot? And a bio? What could I say about my life that would be interesting?“Are you coming back to Denhurst today?” he asked.“Yeah, we’ll be home this afternoon.” I had
I was listening to the police talk to Victor. They were saying things like, “He was shot point blank with a nine millimeter,” and “Do you own a handgun, Mr. Klein?”“Yes, I do,” Victor replied. “It’s locked in a special hidden safe in my bedroom.”“What is it?” a cop asked.“It’s a nine millimeter,” Victor admitted. “But I haven't fired it since the last time I visited a range months ago.”“We will need to borrow it for tests,” another cop said.This couldn’t be happening. Did they think Victor shot the buzz-cut guy?One cop studied his notes. “And Mr. Klein, you admit you were looking for the dead man, a Mr. Phillip Harter?”“Yes, I hired a friend of mine who’s a Private Investigator to find him,” Victor explained. “Phil Harter was following Daisy and me while we were on vacation. I wanted to know who hired him.”“And now he’s dead outside your apartment,” another cop said and rolled his eyes.It did look bad, and it was about to get worse.“Miss Wilson, you found the body, right?”“
I slept a few hours that night, but I sprang out of bed at dawn and ran out for a copy of the Denhurst Gazette.I forced myself not to look for the story until I returned to the apartment. My hands were shaking when I sat at the counter and spread the newspaper in front of me.It was on the front page above the fold!Then I looked at the photo below it, and my head spun. It was a photo of me coming down the main staircase at Alex’s mansion.The caption read: Daisy Wilson, coming down the grand staircase at her father’s mansion. I looked good, but the headline made me cringe.I made coffee and sat down to read the article. The editor had made no changes to my copy. Every word of the article was there, precisely as I had written it.Except for my photo and the caption, I was pleased. I poured myself a cup of coffee and waited for Victor to wake up. I couldn’t wait to show it to him.He beamed with pride when he saw the newspaper. “You are amazing. I’m glad you insisted on doing the stor
“No, Daisy, you need to stay in the apartment with the doors locked,” Victor insisted.“I’m not waiting here and letting you face that mob alone,” I said. “I’ll help you talk to them. Together, we may be able to calm them.”Victor put his hands on his hips and shook his head.“I mean it.” I wasn’t letting him go down there alone. “I’m going with you.”Victor tossed his hands in the air. “Stay beside me. Don’t wander away.”We went downstairs and out onto the sidewalk together. But the police had arrived, and the crowd was broken up and leaving.“Thank you,” Victor told the sergeant in charge of the group of police officers. “Your quick response is appreciated.”“Thank you, Mr. Klein,” the sergeant replied and smiled at me. “Thanks to you and Miss Wilson, my children have a chance to get a good education.”“We’re glad to hear that,” I said. “It’s past time for everyone to be judged on their merits and not by what class they were born into.”Victor suddenly pushed me behind him as an an
I didn’t understand. “Talk about what? I just want to read the paper while I drink my coffee.”“That’s the thing, sweetheart.” Victor stood and crouched next to me. “You need to be prepared for something in the morning papers.”“You’ve got me worried,” I said. “Tell me what you’re talking about before I make it worse in my mind.”Victor sighed and took my hand. “There are several letters to the editor in both The Denhurst Chronicle and The Denhurst Gazette. The authors of the letters are twisting events to make you look bad.”My heart leaped in my chest. “Let me read these letters.” How bad could it be?Victor handed me a copy of The Denhurst Chronicle. I started to open it to look for the letters to the editor, but they were splashed across the front page.“Why would they print letters to the editor on the front page? I mumbled. But the letters were there, exactly where my article had been published a few days ago.Bracing myself, I began to read.“This is outright slander!” I cried.
My face flamed from embarrassment and anger as I watched a video from our trip to New Ripon play on Lucy’s TV screen.Seeing what I thought were private moments with Victor on television for the world to see made me feel sick in my stomach.The reporter’s voice cut to my soul. “This is Daisy Wilson, billionaire Alex Wilson’s daughter, with her fiancée, Victor Klein, walking into the most expensive restaurant in New Ripon. It must be nice that she's enjoying herself after destroying many lives at Frampton University.”My head spun, and my chest felt tight. Why was he saying these things and invading my privacy? He made me seem like a terrible person.Lucy put a hand on my arm. “Are you okay, dear? I don’t believe what he’s saying about you. This channel lies a great deal or spins things to make them seem worse. They should lose their broadcasting license.”Lucy’s words were comforting, but many people would believe every word the man on the TV said. Many people thought anything they sa
Tony and Findlay were with Lucy when I arrived at her home. The poor woman was frantic. I understood her feelings about having her home violated again.“I slept well all night,” Lucy told me as she sat in her living room next to Tony. “But when I got up and went to the kitchen this morning, my statuette of Lycaon was missing from the display case in the hall.”She began twisting a tissue in her hands. “That figurine was found in a mountain cave by my great-great-grandfather. It can’t be replaced.”I spotted Buddy in the backyard and forced back a smile at his doggie antics.“And you’re sure the doors were bolted?” I asked.“Yes,” I double-checked before bed, and as soon as I saw it was gone. And Buddy was sleeping at the foot of my bed, and he never moved or barked.”“Daisy,” Tony said. “Buddy barks at me when I use my key to enter the house. Strangely, he didn’t alert Mom to an intruder.”The dog appeared in the living room when Tony said his name. He came to me and sniffed my hand b