About three weeks after the return of Hiram and Hermione, Alice began to receive anonymous gifts. First, an elegant gown followed by a nice pair of expensive shoes and even a bottle of a wine she'd never heard of before. Every gift was left on her doorstep with no note and no evidence of who they could be from. She told herself that if she knew who the gifts were from, she'd return them kindly. Though she opened that bottle of wine faster than she'd care to admit.
"Who do you think that's from?" Betty asked her mother as she stepped into the kitchen with her older sister beside her.
"I have no idea." Alice replied just before taking the first sip and she hummed. "That's delicious."
"What if it's from the Blossoms? They make wine, right?" Betty asked.
"Yes, but Elizabeth, I doubt those awful cretins would send ME wine…..Unless it's to poison me." She looked at her glass for a moment before shrugging in a carefree manner and sipping again.
"What if it's from Jason for me?" Polly said hopefully.
"That boy better NOT be sending you alcohol. You are not old enough, young lady. That is highly inappropriate." Alice said just before taking another gulp of it. "Besides...I've tried Maple Wine and it's terrible. This is perfect. Not too sweet...not too tarte. Just right."
"Who else could it be from?" Betty wondered. "Can I see the bottle?" She asked before just taking it with no answer. She studied the label and looked underneath it to see if it was engraved with anything. "It says 'Luna 1872.' What does that mean?"
Alice almost choked on the wine that was already in her mouth, but she managed to successfully swallow it before clearing her throat and she set the glass down. "Luna?"
"Yeah….So?" Betty said, wondering what the big deal was.
"I'm gonna have to visit Lodge Manor this afternoon." She picked up her glass of wine, downing the rest of it before setting the glass in the sink and she headed up to her room to get dressed.
Once she had changed into a casually loose, mint green gown and hat, she put on a light shade of pink lipstick and headed out to her car, getting in and driving to Hiram and Hermione's mansion.
She put her car in park and headed up the stairs toward the large double doors when she heard faint giggles coming from the side of the house. Alice froze, not wanting whoever it was to hear her heels clicking and she looked down at her feet before taking off her shoes and carrying them with her as her bare feet took her toward the sounds. Through the soft, bright green grass and passed the perfectly trimmed bushes, Alice found her way to the side of the building, grabbing hold of the corner of it to peek around to see Tom Keller, pinning Sierra up against the wall of the mansion, whispering sweet nothings in her ear as she giggled and occasionally pushed his hands away from her tickle spot. The peeping blonde softly gasped and hid around the corner, wishing she could forget what she had just seen, considering her journalist fingers were madly feeling the urge to write about this now. Though she knew she couldn't do that to Tom or his career...or his son. His son was Betty's best friend. She couldn't hurt him or ruin his life like that. Besides...Tom's not married. It's not even a crime. Alice thought long and hard about what she should do. She really needed to tell someone. Anyone. FP would be able to keep it a secret. She sighed, missing him more than she wanted to.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to keep this secret to herself as long as she could and she headed back through the grass to the stairs. Once she reached the double doors, she placed her heels back on her feet and used the big wooden handle to knock on the door.
Seconds later the doors were opened by Andre and Arthur and Smithers stepped into the foyer. "Ah. Miss Smith, correct?"
Alice nodded, stepping inside. "They didn't know I was coming, I hope that's okay."
"Yes, of course. I will go and notify them of your arrival." He politely nodded once at her before heading toward Hiram's study, somewhere on the first floor.
Alice removed her hat, revealing her blonde, bouncy curls as she looked around at the elegance and overdone details of the entire manor. She turned to look at Andre. "May I use one of the bathrooms?" She internally chuckled at herself.
"Right this way, madam." He gestured with his arm first before leading her to the right and down a large hallway before opening a door for her, revealing a bathroom that was big enough to have a party in.
"Thank you." She said in a nonchalant voice as she stepped inside and Andre shut the door.
Alice waited until she heard Andre's footsteps leaving down the hall before she slowly and quietly opened the door, looking both ways out into the hall to make sure no one was around before she stepped out of the bathroom, taking her shoes off again to begin exploring the massive home.
She would gasp every now and then at how big some of the rooms were or how shocking the decor was. She even made her way into an indoor pool which was surrounded by large marble pillars with an arched glass sky-light overhead. Her jaw dropped as she stared up at the blue sky and the sun that reflected in the pool. A part of her screamed to jump it but she chuckled to herself, wondering how she'd explain that to Hiram and Hermione once they'd see her in her soaked dress. She left the room and continued to search for a winery that she was certain was in this house somewhere.
Finally...minutes later, she opened a door that led right down into the basement and she quietly started down the stairs, still barefoot with her heels in her right hand. Once she reached the fourth step down, she heard a creak, though she never felt one under her foot. Curious to see if it was the step which creaked, she lifted her right foot before stepping onto the fourth step again with it and she was right….there was no creak. Her eyes widened a little and she decided to stand completely still, listening for another sound. After a moment in the silence, she heard, what sounded like, breathing. "Hello? Hermione?" She hadn't a clue why her name slipped from her lips. Perhaps it was because she knew how much Hermione loved wine and maybe she was down in the wine cellar grabbing a bottle. But even after she said her name...it was silent again save for the sound of quick breaths. "Hiram?...Hello?" There was still no answer.
Alice gulped before she suddenly broke the silence with her own scream as someone or something grabbed her arm from behind, yanking her back up the stairs. It wasn't until Hiram threw her into Hermione's arms in the hallway and slammed the door shut that Alice realized what was going on.
"You didn't!" Alice said to them with a bit of anger and panic in her tone.
Hiram sighed, locking the basement door before turning to look at Alice, still in his wife's arms at the moment. "We did."
"Are you crazy?" Alice asked them, pushing Hermione away. "You two are gonna go to jail for life."
"Not if we don't get caught." Hermione replied.
"You do realize that you HAVE to be in on this now, right, Alice?" Hiram pointed out. "Or else we can't let you leave."
"You're not gonna do the same thing to me." The blonde raised an eyebrow.
"If we have to-..." Hermione began, though she knew she shouldn't have to finish.
Alice scoffed, not believing them at first before she could see it in their faces that they really were insane and she turned, running down the hall, hoping to make it to the foyer. She took a wrong turn, getting lost before Arthur found her and she turned to run the other way, but he grabbed her and she tried to fight her way out of his grip. Hiram and Hermione made their way toward them, both sighing.
"It's alright, Ali. Don't freak out." Hermione said calmly. "Just think about the money. Think about your girls. Do this for us and you'll be set for life. You could stop working if you wanted to."
"I don't want to do anything this illegal!" Alice elbowed Arthur, causing him to let go of her and she grunted, frustratedly brushing her hair out of her face. "I'm not helping you. That's final." She looked between the two in front of her. "Are you the ones who have been sending me gifts the last few days?"
"What kinds of gifts?" Hermione asked.
"An evening gown...shoes...a bottle of 1872 Luna wine." She looked at Hiram. "That IS your real last name, isn't it? Jaime Luna." Hiram didn't change his expression nor did he respond. "That's right. I did some research."
"Yes, that is my wine. But no, we did not send it to you." He finally spoke.
"Then who did?" Alice rolled her eyes.
"It was….probably FP." Hermione guessed, though she was certain she knew that it was him.
"Don't be so daft, Hermione. FP couldn't afford those gif-" She stopped, letting out a breath as if someone had knocked the wind out of her. "He took the job, didn't he? He's working for you."
"He saw an opportunity...he took it." Hiram replied. "I suggest you do the same."
"Think about Polly and Betty." Hermione said once more. "This is a gift we're trying to give you. They already lost their father. If you do this...you can give them anything they want. You can continue to be their mother. It's a gift."
Alice gulped, furious with FP, though she also started to wonder how good the money was. She took a moment to ponder her decision. Should she say no and risk being locked up in Lodge Manor for the rest of time? Or should she take the job for good pay and risk being arrested?
Suddenly, FP's words ran through her head. She thought about how he noted that it would be a great plan if they all could pull it off and her head began to spin. After another few seconds or so of silence, she nodded. "Alright. I'm in….But who do you have on the police force helping?"
Hiram chuckled. "Tom, of course."
"He wanted to get to spend more time with Sierra." Hermione confessed.
"That's why he's doing something highly illegal? For your maid?" Alice asked unbelievably.
"Not exactly. Um...He heard several of his deputies making racist comments a week or so ago and he said he was finished trying to protect those men." Hiram answered.
The journalist nodded a little, still trying to process what she had just agreed to. "We should have another meeting. The five of us. Since we're all in anyway...we should discuss things altogether again."
"Agreed." Hiram smirked a little.
Hermione nodded with a smile as she and her husband exchanged looks of success.