what to do. Remember?”
I opened my fist. “I can, and I will.”
He eyed widened as she took in the parchment in my hand. “That’s my name.”
“Exactly. Whoever was here knows you. And these are not the kind of people who are going to give up easily.”
“But how would anyone know about me? From the contract I signed?”
“I need to know everything. How you found out about this house sitting set up. Everything.”
13
AINSLEY
“Tell you everything?” I repeated his words, still dumbstruck that my name was on a piece of fancy paper in a room that had been locked since I’d moved in. Logically someone could have written it before my arrival, but why on a small sheet of fancy paper?
“Tell me how you found out about this place. How this rent free thing fell into your lap.” His serious face let me know he wasn’t teasing me about living rent free this time.
“A former professor, my advisor, asked me if I needed a place to stay after graduation. He is a friend of the owner’s, and they were looking for someone to live in the house while they were out of the country.”
“Who is the professor, and why did he ask you? It seems like a strange thing to ask a former student.” He shifted his weight.
“Professor Morgan, and I used to house sit for him when he went away. I’d feed his cats and stuff. He knew I was responsible and wouldn’t destroy a house I guess. He also knew I was going through a hard time with the break up, so maybe he was trying to help me keep my head in the game. He has always been very supportive.”
“In theory that makes sense, but I don’t like that your name was in here.”
“Could the owners have left it? Maybe after Professor Morgan gave them my name?”
James shook his head. “No.”
“Why not?” I didn’t like how quickly he dismissed the idea.
“Because Stan and Emma don’t have access to this kind of parchment.”
“How do you know?” I put a hand on my hip. If he wanted me to listen to him, he was going to have to start sharing more information.
He flipped over the paper. “Because of this.”
I peered at the M embossed on the back of the paper. “What does that M mean? Is it some kind of crest?”
“Yes. Exactly.” James stared at the M as though he expected it to tell him something.
“What does it stand for?” I touched the raised crest.
“Mendel.”
“Who or what is that?” The word meant nothing to me.
“My family.”
“So someone in your family left it?”
“Not exactly.” He finally tore his eyes from the paper. “More like a supporter of my father.”
“Wasn’t your father hated by everyone?”
“Not by his men. He had many loyal followers.”
“You can’t really expect me to leave with you.”
“I must insist. You are not safe here.”
“There is no reason any of your father’s friends would know about me. Somehow Stan got that paper. There’s no other explanation.”
“That is an impossibility. And I don’t know how they found out about you. Maybe it was my fault.” His face darkened. “And if that is the case that I am eternally sorry, but it doesn’t change the fact that you must come.”
“It changes everything. It means staying with you puts me in more danger.” I took a step back.
“You think staying away will help you? It will do nothing. If they discovered you through me they know I care. You staying away changes nothing. And it may not relate to me at all. There may be more to why you were asked to care for this house. I don’t understand it yet, but I will.” His hand clenched into a fist. I knew it wasn’t anger toward me, but for the first time since our initial meeting I felt a shiver of fear. James was strong. He wasn’t someone I wanted to be on the bad side of.
“Even if I agree to leave Charleston, and I’m not saying I will, where would we go? You can’t think returning to your hometown is going to help the situation.”
“We need to get to the castle. There is a reason someone was in that office, and I need to get word to Charlotte.”
“Castle?” This was news to me. Where was his hometown anyway? “And call her. That’s a lot faster than driving.”
“Yes. A castle. I grew up there and will show you, but I cannot call her.”
“You have a phone now, remember?” At least he’d claimed to