The Marsh Madness

“You mean when you cleaned out my savings?”


“You know what happened when the college found out? That was it for me. Out the door. You’ve ruined my career. You put an end to my education. The cops spoke to my parents. No one in my family will speak to me now. Are you happy? You really twisted the knife. You did everything you could to ruin my life. I’m going to make absolutely sure you never try anything like that again.”

I stood there, openmouthed and astonished. How could he twist my actions that way? How could he ignore his role in what happened? How was I the bad guy?

I sputtered, “But you were the one who stole from me!”

“We were in a relationship. What happened to sharing?”

“All the sharing was one-way. And what about my credit cards? You maxed them out. My credit rating ended up in the toilet.”

He shrugged. That was not the response I wanted. I added, “That was just nasty and . . . unsporting.”

“Oh, grow up. These things happen.”

“I was in love with you.”

The beautiful lips smiled. Not a nice smile. “Whatever. What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours. Don’t you remember saying that?”

“It doesn’t sound like me.” In fact, it didn’t sound like anything a Kelly would say except for the “what’s yours is mine” part. “I never told you to help yourself to the money I needed for grad school. You forged my signature. That was a crime.”

“Well, you had your bit of revenge, didn’t you?”

“Sort of. But it was two years ago this month, and you haven’t been prosecuted. There’s been more than enough time to move on.” I’d dropped the charges at my uncles’ urging. No point in drawing any attention to our family, they’d said. A good defense lawyer could turn up the odd embarrassment. At the time I’d wondered if some of my educational savings might have had suspect origins. Not that it mattered, because Lucas had made sure they vanished into his pocket.

I glared at him as he said, “There would never be enough time for me to forget what you did to me. And now I will get my revenge. No one messes with Lucas Warden.”

It was time to pick up the pace if the unfolding drama was to have its denouement and if our final big scene was not to involve me in a bleeding heap on the floor.

“Fine. I regret reporting it to the police in the first place. I cared about you. I guess I still do.”

He actually sniffed. What an ego.

I piled it on. “But why was it necessary to involve Vera Van Alst and Uncle Kev in your scheme? You could have pulled the stunt with just me. I could have carried Vera’s money.”

“Where would be the fun in that?” he chuckled.

“I don’t get it,” I said.

He grinned. “It wasn’t enough to get the money. I wanted your life turned upside down. Like mine was. This was the perfect setup. Chadwick would discover the books missing. Then the police would be called. There would be plenty of evidence that you were at Summerlea. The police would come calling. You would spin this ridiculous story of an invitation for Vera, you, the lowly researcher, and your uncle with the criminal record. Chadwick would recover his property from Vera Van Alst. She would hold you responsible for the loss of her ten thousand dollars. Being the witch she is, you’d lose your job. Your uncle would be immediately under suspicion for theft.”

“That explains the loot from Summerlea you tucked behind the bush by the driveway at Van Alst House. I guess you wanted to make sure that Uncle Kev was charged no matter what.”

“It’s your own fault. You never should have told me all your family secrets and that you were the first one to go straight.”

“Explains a lot.” I wondered for a second if it explained why I’d fallen for this monster.

He laughed. “Your new life, which, face it, is not that great, living in an attic and taking orders from that ratty old harridan—”

“I love what I do.”