02

.: Crimson Manor :.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Claudia Zacchara stormed into the grand foyer at the family's ancestral home just as Jason entered, holding the door open for the sandy-haired guard that held Elizabeth in his arms. And from the looks of it, she did not seem at all pleased to see her sister-in-law.

No one was surprised.

"Oh, hell no." She planted her hands on her hips and glared at the little group assembled in the doorway. Corwin, the guard carrying the young widow, pushed past Jason and into the foyer despite Claudia's clear disapproval. "What the hell is she doing here? What, did you faint away at the funeral, wilting flower that you are?"

Jason saw Elizabeth grit her teeth as she gingerly adjusted her arm against Corwin's chest.

"Close. I got shot."

That made Claudia stop, and the older woman stared at the bandage on the brunette's arm. "…What?"

"Elizabeth and I were standing by the open grave," Jason stated, closing the door quietly as Corwin knelt to place Elizabeth in one of the handsome armchairs set up in the foyer. "Someone took shots at us."

Claudia hadn't moved and her eyes were still trained on her sister-in-law. "Where the hell were her guards?"

The other one, Hayden or something, didn't flinch away from the terse inquiry. "It was our fault, Ms. Zacchara. We thought we'd give her a moment's privacy to say goodbye to John, and our carelessness got her shot."

"Don't apologize," Elizabeth murmured, gingerly fingering the bandage as Claudia drew closer to her side. "You were just trying to help. You had no idea that something like that would happen."

"But they should have," Claudia ground out, her dark eyes fairly throwing off sparks. "What the fuck do I pay them for, if not to always be on alert?"

"It was a bad situation, but it could have been a lot worse," Jason said, cutting her off. "At least she's alive."

"Yes." Elizabeth's calm sapphire eyes lifted to her sister-in-law's. "The man you hired to prove I killed your brother actually saved my life. So I suppose I should be thanking you for thinking me a cold-blooded killer. Thank you, Claudie, dear."

Her lip curled in a derisive sneer. "Oh, blow it out your-"

"Just stop," Jason cut in again, wondering if these two were always like this. He'd never had a chance to see Claudia and Elizabeth interact – he hadn't been working for the Zaccharas very long – but what he saw now struck him as rather disconcerting. Claudia oscillated between being oddly concerned about her sister-in-law to being downright antagonistic, and he found the contrast intriguing.

"That doesn't matter right now. We know now that we were wrong." He held Claudia's gaze sternly. "Someone came after Elizabeth, and it's possible that those same people were the ones that came after John."

"Or…" Steely brown eyes slid to the weak brunette in the oversized armchair. "The little dowager hired someone to nick her and make it look like she was being targeted."

Jason gritted his teeth. "Are you honestly saying that you think she hired someone to almost kill her at her husband's funeral? What kind of woman would hire assassins to put a bullet through her just to throw someone off her trail?"

To his surprise, Elizabeth chuckled and when he looked down at her, Jason saw that she was smirking wearily. "…Claudia's done it before."

"Off the record," Claudia murmured, wearing a matching smirk. Jason's head was beginning to spin; these women, when together, were rapidly appearing to be more trouble than they were worth. "Easy does it, Jason. Your noble outrage isn't nearly as attractive as you think it is."

He glared at them both and watched Corwin kneel by Elizabeth's side again to adjust her bandage. All in all, Jason had been very impressed with the men that Elizabeth and Claudia had working for them. They'd surrounded the two of them by the grave almost instantly and got Elizabeth to safety. They'd insisted that Jason jump in the car as well, which was only smart since they had no way of knowing who he was or what he was doing with her.

Once they'd gotten in, Hayden sped off to the safety of the Zacchara estate as Corwin attended to Elizabeth. She'd been incredibly brave and composed, which impressed Jason endlessly. Thankfully, it was only a flesh wound so they weren't subjected to an emergency surgery in the back of a speeding car. Corwin applied pressure to the wound and then wrapped it up using the first aid kit kept in the back, then offered Elizabeth a travel-sized decanter of whiskey to take the edge off. She'd taken a few generous sips and then handed it back to him, not even wincing at the strong liquor.

And now she was sitting in that damn armchair that made her look so small and pale, desperately in need of rest.

"I'll look into it," Jason said coolly, working his jaw as he looked at Claudia. "But I can tell you right now, my instincts tell me that there's a connection. And that Elizabeth isn't behind this."

Claudia wasn't prepared to give an inch. "Are you in the habit of just stating your opinions as fact, Jason? Or do you plan on having that assistant of yours send me something solid?"

"Spinelli will be in touch," he replied tightly. "He'll pass along everything I find. I'm switching tasks right now: instead of looking into your brother's death, I'm going to look into the shooting at the funeral. I know I'll find a connection, and we'll go from there."

"Fine."

"Like I said, Spinelli will be in touch." The less he had to deal personally with Claudia Zacchara, the better. "Elizabeth, I…"

She waved him off when he faltered. "It's not necessary, Jason, whatever you were going to say. Thank you for saving me, and I hope your search uncovers something."

He nodded and glanced at her guard. "You should, uh, probably get upstairs and get some rest. I'll be in touch with you, personally, too, if you'd like."

Elizabeth eyed him assessingly and finally nodded. "Yes, I would. Why should my sister-in-law have all the fun?"

She shot Claudia a snide look that the old woman promptly returned, then reached out for Corwin's arm. "And I think you're right. I'd like to go upstairs and sleep this off, if that's all right."

"Not in my house, you won't," Claudia snorted, glaring at Corwin, whose phone had just started buzzing. "You're not welcome here anymore. All of your things were packed up this morning and they'll be shipped to you promptly, so you can just get out."

Jason just stared at her. "She was just shot. You're kicking her out of the only home she has?!"

"She's hardly destitute," she sneered, planting both hands on her hips. "My brother was very, very generous to the little snipe. How much money did he leave you, Elizabeth? How much of the Zacchara family fortune?"

Elizabeth glared at her, and her quick, darting glance at Jason made it clear that she wasn't the sort to speak about money instead of strangers. That didn't bother Jason; he'd just pull that information up on his own. It would take all of twenty seconds.

"You're not staying in my home," Claudia continued, her voice low and tight. "You are not staying in the ancestral Zacchara home. Not for a minute longer. Have Corwin take you to that secret place Johnny bought you – if he ever gets off his phone."

Jason was gritting his teeth. "You can't just-"

"It's fine," Elizabeth cut in quickly, slipping her shoes back on. "She's right. Johnny and I do have our own private apartment. It's secure and fully fortified. If she's already gotten rid of my things, there's little point to staying here. Unless one chooses to stay for the exceptional company, I'm sure."

"Go die."

"If you had your way, I'm sure I would."

"It would be less than what you deserve."

Elizabeth's lips curled into a snarl but to her credit, she let it go. Turning away from Claudia, she looked up at Corwin, who was now staring down at his phone. "Corwin, could you please take me to my place instead?"

"I…That's going to be difficult." He tossed his phone to his other hand and grimly slipped it into his pocket. "…There was a gas leak in the building. Not everyone was able to get out, and about twelve people died."

Jason's eyes narrowed. "A gas leak."

Corwin nodded. "This morning."

He swore under his breath as Elizabeth slumped back in her chair. "Get any specifics?"

The guard arched a brow. "A reading of 92% LEL specific enough for you?"

"Fuck." Claudia ran a hand through her hair, her foot starting to tap on the carpet. "Shots at the funeral, John's apartment filling up with gas…"

"Still think she set it up herself?" Jason asked dryly, tipping his head toward Elizabeth.

"I think that what I need to do is increase security on this house," Claudia snipped. "And as for you, you can get out. I don't need anyone finding out that you're still living in the house my brother left to me in his will. They'd probably launch a missile at it."

Elizabeth's lips were pursed as she thought. "…I do have a place where I can go. A place no one knows about. I don't even think the deed is on record at Town Hall. I…I can go there. If Corwin and Hayden were to come."

"Corwin and Simon," Claudia corrected. "Hayden's my guard. You already know that."

She rolled her eyes. "Corwin and Simon. That'll be fine."

They heard a key in the lock just then and soon a tall man with broad shoulders and salt-and-pepper hair was letting himself in. Jason recognized him immediately as Trevor Lansing, the family lawyer and an old friend of the late Anthony Zacchara.

The lawyer stopped and gaped at the group assembled in the foyer, his gaze trained on Elizabeth and the rather conspicuous bandage on her arm. "…What in God's name is going on here? What happened?"

"Same old, same old," Claudia replied breezily. "The little miss got herself shot at."

"Elizabeth, dear." He was hurrying to her side, and Trevor dropped his briefcase and knelt by her chair, inspecting her arm. "Are you all right? How bad is it?"

"Just a flesh wound, Trevor." Jason watched closely as Elizabeth gently extricated her arm from the attorney's hold. "It's not as bad as it looks, I promise. My arm's still quite sore; it hurts to move it."

"Of course," he nodded. "When did it happen? At the funeral? Oh, I knew I should have stayed longer."

"You had work to do, Trevor," Claudia reminded him. "Johnny would have wanted his will to be settled immediately. You and Crowe were the only ones that could handle that."

Crowe was, from Jason's records, the family's business manager. He'd have to have Spinelli pull up more information on the guy if he wanted to know just how much money Elizabeth's late husband left to her, and what he left to his sister.

"Still…"

"I'm fine, Trevor," Elizabeth assured him. "It's just been a rough day, that's all. I'll be just fine."

"I'm going to go see if Cook has something prepared," he told her. "You need some good, hot food and a warm bed. I'll be right back."

Claudia snorted as she watched him leave. "You'll be gone before he finds a plate."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and stood with Corwin's help. She adjusted the coat he set on her shoulders and finally looked up at Jason. "I was hoping I could discuss something with you before I left."

He nodded right away. "Sure."

The brunette glanced at Claudia, who arched a brow. "Plainly put, Jason…I'd like to hire you."

Jason blinked. "What?"

"I'd like to hire you," Elizabeth repeated. "I'd like you to work for me instead of my sister-in-law. I want you to find out who took shots at me at the funeral, who caused the leak at the apartment building where my husband quietly bought me a unit, how that ties into his death, if at all, and what that person wants. And I want you to report to me first."

Claudia snorted. "Are you planning on paying him with the money John left you?"

Elizabeth whirled on her. "Yes, Claudia, yes. I plan to pay him with the money my husband left me. I plan to live in a house that my husband built for me. And I don't particularly have it in me to care if my husband's sister has a problem with that. Johnny left you this house and he left you the family business – mind that and leave me alone. Did you honestly think that he'd turn me out of the house without a penny to my name?"

"That's exactly what you deserve! You never should have married him in the first place!"

"I did marry him and it's not my fault you can't accept that!" She teetered slightly, the exertion causing her dizziness. "My God, he's already in the ground and you're still wailing about-"

"Don't you dare." Claudia stalked up to her and glowered down at the petite brunette, her words tight and her voice low. "I don't want to hear you talking about my brother anymore, do you understand? Just get out. He was the only one that tied us together and now that he's gone, I don't even want to see your face anymore."

"Your feelings are more than reciprocated," Elizabeth growled, turning at last to Jason. "What do you say? Do we agree? I'd like to settle this as soon as possible and leave."

"I…" He didn't really have anything to lose. And he was willing to bet that he'd prefer dealing with Elizabeth over Claudia anytime. "Um…"

"I'll pay you double what she's paying you."

"All right."

"Good." She resisted when Corwin tried to pick her up and settled instead for his arm around her waist and her hand in his. "Do stay in touch, Jason. I look forward to hearing from you."