“Could have been any of them. They—”
“Good heavens! What happened there?” Kate said.
Clive followed her gaze. They’d reached the far corner of the estate. Before them was the fenced conservation area that was clearly marked for no trespassing. But the gate was standing open and inside, the tall grasses were trampled.
“Looks like the sheep got in,” he said. “Bertram bought them so he wouldn’t have to pay gardeners to mow. Nicky and Byon used to dress them up in clothes they found in the attic. They thought it was hilarious.”
Kate’s mind was racing. So this is where Jack ran off to. He wanted to remove all traces of their footprints so he picked the lock on the gate and drove the sheep inside. She was willing to bet that he stayed with them, playing shepherd so they didn’t fall down into the pit where Sean’s body was.
“Are you all right?” Clive asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. I think we should close the gate.”
“Good idea. I’ll just ramble around inside a bit to check if any sheep are still inside, then I’ll close it.”
“No!” Kate caught herself. She didn’t want him accidently stepping on vines and falling through—if he didn’t already know where the pit was, that is. “I mean, sheep travel in flocks, don’t they? So I’m sure they’re all gone.” She knew Jack would have counted them before he sent them out. So why didn’t he close the gate all the way? Or did he?
She looked at Clive. She had no idea when he’d arrived. He could have gone to check if anyone had discovered the hiding place.
As they closed the gate, she tried to let her face give nothing away. “Good heavens! Sara and Jack will be wondering where I am.”
“And I need to face them. Is Willa coming?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” She was taking deep breaths to calm herself. Jack wouldn’t have left the gate open. So who did?
“Maybe we can go together,” Clive was saying. “When I face them, you can be my backbone. Byon and Nadine together won’t be as bad as Byon and Nicky, but still...”
They heard a motor and emerging from the trees was a man in a dark green utility vehicle. He stopped in front of them.
“Mrs. Guilford sent me up here to look at the fence.”
At least that’s what Kate thought he said. His accent was so thick she could hardly understand him.
“It looks like sheep got inside,” Clive said. “We closed the gate but there may be more in there.”
“Then they’ll have to stay,” the man said. “I was told to lock it but that I was not to go inside. I might upset the nests.” He seemed to think this was a great joke. He held up a new lock and Clive put it on the gate.
“Would you give us a ride back to the house?” Kate asked.
“Sure thing.”
She got on the wide bench seat beside him, but Clive said he’d rather walk. “There are still a couple of places I want to see.”
The driver took off, and as she waved to Clive, she wondered if he wanted privacy to check the pit. To see if it had been disturbed.
The driver was young and flirty and tried to impress Kate by driving as fast as possible across the bumpy land. But she was used to riding with Jack so speed didn’t faze her.
Besides, she was heavy in thought about Clive. Who was he really? A grown-up version of the angry young man she’d heard about? Had he learned to cover his true nature? Even if he’d changed, twenty years ago he was a volcano of anger—and rightly so.
The question wasn’t how he was now but what he was like then.
She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn’t tell the driver to drop her at the back of the house. He had taken her to the front. She thanked him and got out, then waited while three women came out carrying plastic carts full of cleaning supplies.
She greeted them but they hurried past her. Bella sure ran a
tight ship!
Just as Kate was about to step inside, she heard music. A piano and a man singing. She’d know Jack’s voice anywhere. Behind her was the chapel and she saw that windows had been opened. She had no doubt that Jack had done that. It was an invitation to...