Close to Destiny (A Magical Love Story)

Chapter 63

Later

Phone call to Charlotte Moss. A lilting, childlike voice. Not knowing exactly what to say, I told her I had been a friend of her sister's. My sentence hung strangely in the air as I tried to repeat the well-rehearsed phrases that wouldn't come out of my mouth when I needed them most. But Charlotte didn't seem to notice my discomfort, and before I could say another word, she had invited me to tea.

Charlotte lived on a trendy street packed with antique shops and hangouts for those needing a coffee fix. I stepped out of the double-decker and walked the short distance to her apartment. A brick building squatting atop a hat shop that reminded me of the place where I had first met Zachary Taylor. I shivered and pushed the thought from my mind. I had to deal with the subject at hand.

A second shiver when Charlotte answered the door.

"I know, I look like Audrey," she said, escorting me through a narrow entrance, up several steps and into a tiny sitting room with flower-printed walls.

"I didn't mean to..." I stumbled for words. Charlotte had her sister's large blue eyes, the same wide smile and shining dark hair. She was a bit rounder and taller, but the differences weren't easy to identify.

"That's all right, I'm used to it. Audrey and I are—were—only a year apart. Some people thought we were twins."

Charlotte sat on the floral-printed sofa and tossed her raspberry-colored shawl onto a cushion. I settled into an armchair facing her and accepted the warm cup she handed to me.

"My question is... How come Audrey never mentioned you to me?"

"I'm sorry," I said, gazing into my own tea reflection. "I exaggerated because I needed to meet someone in her family. Destiny introduced me to Audrey, and then, well, with both of their deaths, I have so many questions, and no one has answers."

"Welcome to the club." Charlotte's voice revealed a tinge of bitterness.

"I'm sorry... about the accident."

"Thanks... It's difficult." Charlotte blinked away tears, and I looked down, hating to impose at a time like this.

"I shouldn't have come, but I didn't know where else to turn."

"The problem is it wasn't an accident," Charlotte said, her baby voice suddenly turning adult. With those words, she seemed to steel herself against any sadness.

"What do you mean?"

Her eyes held sparks of anger at whatever circumstances had converged that night at The Grand East Hotel.

"The Taylors killed her," Charlotte hissed almost under her breath.

"What?"

"Look, I'm not saying I have proof of everything, but the story is too suspicious for my taste."

"Why would Destiny's family kill your sister? And who exactly would have done it?"

"Let me start from the beginning," Charlotte said between sips of tea.

My heart was racing as I leaned back against the soft cushion. So I wasn't the only one with doubts...

"Destiny and my sister were both mediums," Charlotte said. "I don't believe in that rubbish and neither does the rest of our family. That's about the only thing we have in common. Audrey was quick to seek refuge with Destiny and her friends. If you're like them, I'm sorry—but I think it's silliness and won't be convinced otherwise."

"Before some recent experiences, I had always been more in your camp than theirs... But things have changed. I can't explain it."

"You don't have to." Charlotte smiled and shook her head. "I'm sure Destiny was the source of those experiences. Anyway, my sister was a regular at Destiny's parties at The Grand East Hotel, and when Destiny passed on, Audrey told me she would continue the parties and whatever else... I told Audrey she was being foolish, but she wouldn't listen. She never listened. At least not to me. I've never been to that particular hotel or to any of those get-togethers, but I do know that someone wanted the commotion to end. That someone is a member of the Taylor family."

I looked up with a start.

"You're surprised I know who has stakes in the hotel?" Charlotte smirked. "Let's just say the Moss and Taylor families are rather close."

"When Audrey threatened to continue the parties, the Taylors weren't too happy about it," I said.

"Again, I don't have any proof, but that seems like a logical assumption. When Destiny was the one responsible for the craziness, they had to bite the bullet. But after her death... the whole attitude changed. I heard a lot of chatter about the Taylors thinking the hotel might bring them a new investment opportunity. They became determined to clean up the hotel's reputation. My little sister, however, got in the way of that. Destiny left her share of the hotel to Audrey, making my sister the second-biggest owner. Audrey and her big trust fund became the enemy. She had plenty of money like the rest of us, but she took a particular joy in throwing it around. When the Taylors refused her offer for their stake in the place, she told them the parties would continue anyway. They knew she could pull it off. Because she was a lot like Destiny."

I placed my half-empty cup on the end table.

"There is quite a chill in here," Charlotte said, pushing the window shut.

"Audrey told you all of that?"

"She never had a chance to... but I pieced the story together on my own."

"It makes sense. And it's scary. The thing I don't understand is how the whole case was handled. Why was it called an accident after such a short or even nonexistent investigation?"

"Because of the Taylor-Moss connection," she said. "We go way back. Loving each other. Hating each other. Protecting each other."

"This is about protection? But why? That's ridiculous. How could your family protect them if they murdered Audrey? I don't get it..."

"Neither do I, and that's why I'm living in this apartment they call tacky rather than at one of our places in Kensington. I have hardly any contact with the rest of them. I was tired of the lies... of the treachery. Who needs it? We're living in modern society, and we have to respect modern rules. But some families are above that. Our families have connections everywhere so they don't obey rules. I couldn't be part of it any longer."

"You're not going to push the subject, then? To look for evidence or find out the name of the one—of the Taylor—who did this..."

"What does it matter?" Charlotte said. "It's a lost cause, Katherine. I'm used to it. I can't fight against them. And what for, anyway? Audrey is gone—it's too late now."

Again, she blinked rapidly against the tears that glistened in the corners of her eyes, and again, I looked away.

"Tell me, Katherine," she said after a moment. "Do you plan on going any further with this? I hope you don't, because it truly isn't worth it in the end. The best thing to do is to distance yourself from the Taylor and the Moss families. That's what I've done, and it's worked out rather well. For you, it should be much easier. After all, you aren't one of us. That in itself is quite a stroke of good luck."

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