~ Promises Broken ~

by

Sue Thornton

Knuckles white from gripping the back tightly, James leaned against the chair. "I thought I told you to stay away from him," he yelled. "He’s dangerous, Betsy."

Elizabeth stared at him from where she huddled in the corner of one of Marta’s huge couches. Anger surged through her blood at his tone. "Excuse me, James, but all I have is your word that he’s dangerous. Don’t you think the police would have mentioned something to me if he were? Besides you never told me why you believe him to be so dangerous."

"That note was a reminder to me, Elizabeth," James voice dropped in volume. "It reminded me of all I’ve lost and warned me that I can lose it all again."

He moved to where she sat and sank down onto the edge next to her. "I don’t think I can go through that again."

She frowned and the words self-centered and selfish ran through her mind. It was Jasper’s sister, not yours. "I’m confused. I thought the message was for Jasper."

James sighed. "I can see Jasper didn’t bother to tell you that Millicent and I were engaged to be married."

Elizabeth sucked in her breath. "No, he didn’t. I’m sorry," she whispered.

James gently touched her leg then moved away as if he’d touched something disgusting. "There isn’t any reason for you to be sorry. It seems so long ago, even though it’s only been a little over a year."

"What was she like?" She watched the play of emotions cross his face, sadness, happiness, anger... what... hate?"

"She’s gone now, it doesn’t matter anymore." He stood, his motions jerky... agitated. "I’ve got a deadline coming up, I won’t be able to see you very much until this job is completed. I’m sorry. This commission came up suddenly." He leaned over and brushed his lips against her forehead. "I’ve hired a company to help you move on Saturday."

Reaching into one of the pockets of his sports jacket, he removed a business card. "Here’s the name and phone number. If you have any problems let Marta know." He held the card toward her.

"You shouldn’t have done that, James," Elizabeth argued. "I owe you so much already."

"You don’t owe me anything. I’ll call you as soon as I can." He pressed the card into her hand. "Please be careful and watch out for Jasper. He’s not someone you want to turn your back on."

Elizabeth stared after him, her own troubled thoughts mingling with his warnings. She rose and wandered to the back windows. While staring out into the yard, she caught a movement in the window’s reflection. She turned as Jasper entered the room.

"Marta wants to know if you’re hungry yet," he stated quietly.

"No, I don’t think I can eat anything. I’m too nervous." She turned back to the windows. "Jasper, why does James keep telling me you’re dangerous? What have you done that I should be so worried about?"

He moved slowly across the room to stand behind her. "I haven’t done anything, Elizabeth, except hold James responsible for my sister’s death."

She stiffened when he touched her shoulder and sought to capture a hold on his eyes in the reflective glass. "Why?" she whispered.

"There are too many coincidences in her death and the death of her ex-boyfriend. Too many unexplained events surrounding her relationship with James." He dropped his hand next to his side. "It was too convenient to point a finger at Damian when the man couldn’t defend himself."

"What do you mean he couldn’t defend himself?"

Jasper sat on a chair next to her. "Some people said Damian was so distraught over Millie’s death he killed himself two days later." He stared out into the quiet room. "Only I don’t believe it. I think Damian was murdered and it was made to look like a suicide."

Elizabeth sat on a footstool in front of him and leaning forward rested her elbows on her knees. "Why do you believe that?"

"Millie told me that she and Damian had decided to call it quits. The decision was mutual. He was upset over her death, but not enough to kill himself. The investigator was convinced Damian killed himself because they were sure he’d killed her."

"You don’t believe he killed her, do you?" she asked.

Jasper shook his head. "No, and I don’t care what anyone says, I’ll never be convinced Damian could kill anyone in a cold-blooded rage the way she was. The crime scene had all the elements of jealous passion, but there was more to it than that."

"How do you mean?"

He let out a deep breath. "The room looked staged to me and Millie’s body was definitely poised in a promiscuous position. But certain areas were wiped clean, like the room she was killed in and her bedroom, but nowhere else."