It was almost ten o’clock when Tess opened the door to the condo and walked in. She was surprised when George didn’t speak, as he stood by the television. Still not speaking, he flipped the switch and sat on the sofa.
“What are you watching?” Tess asked.
When he didn’t answer, she came up to the sofa. “Want to hear about the meeting?”
He put his forefinger to his lips and pointed to the seat beside him.
She dropped down. “George, I…” She stopped mid-sentence. She couldn’t believe what he was watching. “Where did you get this?”
“It was a gift. Someone sent it to me in the morning mail.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. I have it. That’s what’s important. Now be quiet and enjoy the show.”
Her heart pounded as she watched herself on the screen with Max Garvey. Even with the disguises, she knew George recognized both of them.
He didn’t say anything else. He simply sat with clinched fists, his knuckles turning white.
“George,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
He stared at her, his eyes filled with contempt and disgust. He reached for her arm and clamped his hand around her wrist. She thought he might to kill her.
“I know that’s Max Garvey, but I’m not sure who the others are. You’re going to watch this DVD with me and tell me the name of every man in it.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Oh, yes. You can.” He twisted her arm. Pain shot from her wrist to her elbow.
“You’re hurting me!” she yelled as she tried to pull away.
He twisted harder. “You don’t know the meaning of pain yet, you slut.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn’t answer him.
“Are you going to tell me?” he demanded.
“I don’t know them,” she said meekly.
When the film was over, George stood and jerked her to her feet.
“Now I’m going to teach you a little lesson.”
Fear slid through her. “What are you going to do to me?
He didn’t answer, but his vice-like grip on her arm told her there was no use in struggling. She couldn’t get away. George took her into the bedroom and slammed her down on the bed. He took a silk scarf he’d laid on the bedside table and tied it around her mouth.
“Now if you decide to scream, nobody will hear you.”
She wanted to beg him not to beat her, but he’d tied the scarf too tight. Begging would futile, anyway. Her only hope was that he wouldn’t get carried away and kill her.
* * * *
“Ms. Rebecca,” Wilma called from the other side of the door. “Ms. Rebecca, are you all right?”
Rebecca pulled herself to wakefulness. “I’m coming, Wilma.” She opened the door. “I’m sorry. I forgot I locked the door last night.”
“I came to check on you. Too many strange things have happened around here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mr. Armfield left without a word. He didn’t have coffee or anything.”
“It’s okay. We had a fight last night. He’s probably still brooding about it.”
“He didn’t hurt you did he?”
Rebecca stared at her. “What makes you think he’d hurt me?”
“I don’t know.” She looked worried. “It’s just that strange things have happened.”
“That’s the second time you’ve said that. What do you mean?”
“Well, Miss Millicent told me she thought she might be killed.”
Rebecca frowned. “When did she say that?”
“A few days ago. Right after Miss Mindy’s funeral, I think.” She turned toward the door. “I left a tray in the hall. I have coffee for you.”
“Thank you.”
Wilma returned with the tray and set it on the table beside the window. She poured a cup for Rebecca.
“Wilma, please sit down. I want to talk with you.”
Wilma took the chair on the other side of the table facing Rebecca. “Please, Ms. Rebecca. I don’t want to say nothing that’ll get me in trouble.”
“I assure you you’re not going to get in trouble. But you must tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s just that Miss Millicent told me to watch out for you. She thought you were in danger.”
“Why did she think that?”
“I’m not sure. She said Mr. Armfield isn’t what he seems to be. She said he’s a dangerous man and…” Her voice trailed off.
“Wilma, you can be open with me. Aunt Millicent told me on several occasions she thought Mr. Armfield killed Mindy. She also said she thought he would try to kill me.”
“Yes, Ma’am. She told me that, too.”
“Let me assure you that Mr. Armfield was here with me the night my sister was killed. There’s no way he could have done it.”
“I know. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“You won’t fire me?”
“I’m not going to fire you.”
“When you were in the hospital a few months ago, I saw something.”
“What did you see?”
“Mr. Armfield and Miss Mindy.”
“Yes?”
“I came in early that day because I thought you might come home,” Wilma continued in a rushed voice “I came up here to fix up the room, and they were in bed together. Mr. Armfield told me if I ever told you he’d fire me and maybe worse. Miss Mindy, she just laughed. She said you’d be better off without him anyway. That’s when he slapped her. I ran out of the room. I never mentioned it to anyone but Miss Millicent. She said she knew all about it because Miss Mindy had told her.”
Tears stung Rebecca’s eyes.
Wilma saw them. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you, but I’m worried about you. I want you to be careful. I think Mr. Armfield has a bad temper.”
“He slapped me last night,” Rebecca whispered.
“Oh. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I have to think it over.” She reached out and touched Wilma’s hand. “Don’t let him know I told you.”
“I won’t.” She stood. “Ms. Rebecca--”
“Yes?”
“I think it’s time I moved into the servants’ quarters for a while. You need somebody in the house with you.”
“I can’t ask you to leave your family.”
“I don’t have any family with me anymore. My husband left me last year, and my youngest son is in college now. So it won’t be a problem for me to move in here. It will actually help me. I can let my apartment go.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t know about your husband. That’s not like me. I should have noticed something was wrong when it happened.”
“I’m making it just fine. But as I said, it would help me to move in here.”
“I’d love having you here, Wilma.”
“Then I’ll start getting the servants’ quarters ready.”
“I’ll come down later and see if we need to do any decorating.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“We’ll see. That apartment hasn’t been used in a long time. I’m sure it needs fixing up.”
At the door, the maid turned around. “I’m sorry I told you about Mr. Armfield.”
“Don’t be. I needed to know.”
Rebecca poured herself another cup of coffee and stood up. She looked out on the front lawn from her corner window.
“So,” she said just to hear her own voice, “Aunt Millicent was right about Vernon having an affair with Mindy. I wonder how many other things she was right about.”