Kendall put her arms around Peggy. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
Peggy forced a smile. “I’m sure Woody will be all right. He’s trying hard. He really is.” Her face lit up. “When we were first married, he was so much fun to be with. We used to laugh all the time. He would bring me little presents and—” Her eyes filled with tears. “I love him so much!”
“If there’s anything I can do…”
“Thank you,” Peggy whispered. “I appreciate that.”
Kendall squeezed her hand. “We’ll talk again.”
Kendall started down the stairs to join the others. She was thinking, When we were children, before Mother died, we made such wonderful plans. “You’re going to be a famous designer, sis, and I’m going to be the world’s greatest athlete!” And the sad part of it, Kendall thought, is that he could have been. And now this.
Kendall was not sure if she felt more sorry for Woody or for Peggy.
As Kendall reached the bottom of the stairs, Clark approached her, carrying a tray with a letter on it. “Excuse me, Miss Kendall. A messenger just delivered this for you.” He handed her the envelope.
Kendall looked at it in surprise. “Who…?” She nodded. “Thank you, Clark.”
Kendall opened the envelope, and as she began to read the letter, she turned pale. “No!” she said, under her breath. Her heart was pounding, and she felt a wave of dizziness. She stood there, bracing herself against a table, trying to catch her breath.
After a moment, she turned and walked into the drawing room, her face pale.
“Marc…” Kendall forced herself to appear calm. “May I see you for a moment?”
He looked at her, concerned. “Yes, certainly.”
Tyler asked Kendall, “Are you all right?”
She forced a smile. “I’m fine, thank you.”
She took Marc’s hand and led him upstairs. When they entered the bedroom, Kendall closed the door.
Marc said, “What is it?”
Kendall handed him the envelope. The letter read:
Dear Mrs. Renaud,
Congratulations! Our Wild Animal Protection Association was delighted to read of your good fortune. We know how interested you are in the work we are doing, and we are counting on your further support. Therefore, we would appreciate it if you would deposit 1 million U.S. dollars in our numbered bank account in Zurich within the next ten days. We look forward to hearing from you shortly.
As in the other letters, all the E’s were broken.
“The bastards!” Marc exploded.
“How did they know I was here?” Kendall asked.
Marc said bitterly, “All they had to do was pick up a newspaper.” He read the letter again and shook his head. “They aren’t going to quit. We have to go to the police.”
“No!” Kendall cried. “We can’t! It’s too late! Don’t you see? It would be the end of everything. Everything!”
Marc took her in his arms and held her tightly. “All right. We’ll find a way.”
But Kendall knew that there was no way.
It had happened a few months earlier, on what had started out to be a glorious spring day. Kendall had gone to a friend’s birthday party in Ridgefield, Connecticut. It had been a wonderful party, and Kendall had chatted with old friends. She had had a glass of champagne. In the middle of a conversation, she had suddenly looked at her watch. “Oh, no! I had no idea it was so late. Marc is waiting for me.”
There were hasty good-byes, and Kendall had gotten into her car and driven off. Driving back to New York, she had decided to take a winding country road over to I-684. She was traveling at almost fifty miles per hour as she rounded a sharp curve and spotted a car parked on the right side of the road. Kendall automatically swerved to the left. At that moment, a woman carrying a handful of freshly picked flowers started to cross the narrow road. Kendall tried frantically to avoid her, but it was too late.
Everything seemed to happen in a blur. She heard a sickening thud as she hit the woman with her left front fender. Kendall brought the car to a screeching stop, her whole body trembling violently. She ran back to where the woman was lying in the road, covered with blood.