B008KQO31S EBOK (18 page)

Nick shook his head. “You were always her favorite.”

“Yeah, right. That would be why she ruined my life.”

Nick expression turned impassive, which I was starting to realize was a big clue. I guessed he was angry enough that he wouldn’t say anything.

“Ruined your life by taking you in and raising you?” I asked sweetly. “Gee, your own room in one of the biggest houses in Rosemount, along with more money and stability than you can shake a stick at. My heart is bleeding for you.”

Sean’s eyes flashed. “What do you know about it? She did me no favor, that’s for sure. I could have been somebody! I could have gotten in with the right crowd. But no, Lucia had to make sure everybody was terrified of her. Such a goddamn freak. And worse, it rubbed off on me!”

There was bitterness. “It was like she hexed me or something. I didn’t get that football scholarship, even though I was way better than that Fergusson kid.” He stuck out his chin and glared at Nick. “Do you know what happened to him?”

“No.”

“Figures. Princeton. He played quarterback, got picked up in the NFL draft and now he’s retired, after making huge bags of bucks. Poor guy. His knee hurts.” He rattled the empty cans more impatiently. “I feel so sorry for him in his billion dollar house. And me, what happened to me? I couldn’t even get a joe job in Rosemount after high school. Yeah, Lucia did us a
big
favor.”

We all knew that there were other reasons, reasons of Sean’s own making, that he had been shunned by the good folk of Rosemount.

Nick finally spoke, his voice low. “And everything that went wrong would be Lucia’s fault?”

“Obviously! You know they say she’s a witch—well, I was her numero uno victim.” He snorted. “All because I couldn’t be my daddy come back from the dead for her. As if I had a chance of doing that.”

“You can’t think that you did
nothing
to deserve being ostracized,” I said, because I was as incredulous as Nick but not nearly so determined to keep my mouth shut.

“I did one thing. I let this fool—” he jabbed a finger in Nick’s direction “—when he was all of eight and filled with the wisdom of the ages, decide that we were going to live with the old bat. One mistake when I was six goddamn years old and I’m still paying for it.”

The ensuing silence was awkward at best.

“You have a job?” Nick asked quietly.

Sean shook his head. “Back injury. I’m on comp.”

I refrained from asking how Lucia had hexed him all the way to Boston.

“It’s running out though, and I don’t know what I’m going to do.” He studied Nick, obviously making an assessment. “That jacket’s nicer than I thought at first. You must be doing okay, big brother.”

Nick straightened ever so slightly. “Well enough.”

“Don’t suppose you could see your way to lending me a few thou?”

Nick’s smile was cool. “No.”

“Why the hell not? We’re blood!”

“You’ve borrowed all from me that you’re going to get.”

“You
have
been talking to the old witch! You always took her side.”

“Only when she was right.”

Animosity sparked between the two of them, then Sean shook his head. He picked up another can, wiggling it hopefully. “Don’t know what the hell’s taking Josie so long. She’s not usually so slow.”

“Maybe she left you,” I offered.

Sean scowled at me. “She may be a stupid bitch, but she’s not that dumb.”

“Seeing as you’re a prince among men and a good catch?” I just couldn’t keep my mouth closed, even when Nick touched my elbow.

Sean shook a finger at me. “Someone ought to rip that tongue out of your head and...”

Nick interjected smoothly. “Shut up, Sean.”

To my surprise, Sean did.

He fidgeted in his chair, his gaze flicking between the two of us. “Maybe you ought to leave. This reunion doesn’t seem to be going all that well.” He made a show of stretching his back and wincing. “I didn’t get much sleep last night and my back is killing me.”

“When did you last saw Lucia?”

“What’s it to you?”

Nick studied his hands, clearly choosing his words with care. “Something may have happened to her.”

“You did come back to kiss up!”

“When, Sean? It’s a simple question.”

“You came back and she wasn’t there. She probably ran away to the circus like she should have years ago. Or flew off on her broomstick.” Sean chuckled to himself. “Or maybe she’s done with both of us. Hey, maybe if the old bitch up and finally died, she’d leave me some cash, seeing as I’m her
favorite
and all.” He leered at Nick.

The joke, if it was one, fell pretty flat. There was no color in Nick’s face and his eyes were glittering green.

“She is dead, Sean.”

Sean’s mouth worked for a moment.

Nick continued with a toneless impassivity that I knew meant he was furious. “Someone stabbed her in the greenhouse, someone who knew I was coming to see her, someone who tried to set me up to take his fall.”

He flicked a quick glance at Sean and Sean flinched. “Strangely enough, it made me think of you. The only thing I wanted to know is why you did it, and you just gave me the answer.”

“Me? Shit, I would never...”

“Save it, Sean. I’ll find out the truth, probably quicker on my own than if I listen to you.” Nick got up and offered me his hand. “And this time, I’ll make sure you don’t just walk away.”

We headed for the door as Sean bounded to his feet. He loosed a torrent of obscenities fit to curl my hair, nearly shouting down the walls, but he didn’t come after Nick.

I guess I wasn’t the only one playing compare and contrast.

Nick paused on the threshold. “You never did learn about consequences, Sean, and that was partly my fault.” He smiled a chilly smile. “It’s time I fixed that.”

“You bastard! It was you, it was
you
who made that call last night!” He started hurling empties after us and we ducked out in the hall as they dinged off the trim. We scampered down the stairs as he raged on above us. “I knew no one around here had the balls to call the cops.” His tirade degenerated into a snarl of obscenities.

“What’s he talking about?”

Nick marched down the stairs. “You don’t want to know.”

“Well, actually I do.” I marched right beside him. “That would be why I asked.”

He ignored me, flicking a finger at woman coming our way. “Is that Josie?”

An expert deflection and one that worked like a charm. It was Josie, emerging from the corner store with a six of Bud. Her face fell when she saw us hurrying toward her.

“Oh, no! There was a line and I knew I would take too long...”

Nick smiled for her. “No, Josie, we just left quickly.”

She looked up at the muted sound of Sean’s shouting and paled slightly, clearly identifying who was yelling. “I’ve got to go.”

“Could you talk to us for a minute?”

Her eyes widened in alarm. “Oh, I don’t think so. I need to get to work.”

And get the monster his beer. It really irked me how determined she was to keep Sean happy. She might have rushed past us to hurry home, but Nick matched step with her. I fell in on the other side, wondering what he was up to.

“Is he always home?”

“Well, yes, since he hurt his back.”

“What about yesterday?”

She hesitated, her dark eyes darting between the two of us. “Why?”

“How’s your arm, Josie?”

She flushed then, as red as a candy apple. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Right there,” Nick said softly. He moved so quickly that she didn’t anticipate him and she winced at the touch of his fingertip on her upper arm.

She started to stammer, but Nick kept on talking, his voice as smooth as old Scotch.

“Does he always hurt you where no one can see the bruise?”

A puzzle piece clicked into place for me and I was even more appalled than I had been a minute before.

The color completely left Josie’s face. “You can’t know...” She shook her head and shut her mouth. She might not be the sharpest tack in the box but she was cornered and she knew it. “I have to go.”

“Yesterday, Josie.”

She stopped on the steps to her building, her head down and her hair obscuring her face. “He’s a good guy, you know. He’s good to me.”

“When he’s sober?” I asked. “Or all the time?”

“It was better when he had a job.” She was so defensive of him that it nearly broke my heart. “He’ll come out of this, I know he will. Then everything will be fine.”

“Yesterday?” Nick asked, his voice more gentle.

She turned and looked at us, her eyes filled with tears. “He borrowed my cousin’s car to go for a job interview. It didn’t go well—that’s why he’s upset.” Her features set in stubborn defense. “It’s not fair.”

“Where can I find your cousin?”

Her eyes narrowed. “He’s your brother. You shouldn’t be checking up on him.”

“Well, I am.”

“I forget my cousin’s number.”

“Do you remember your cousin’s name?” I asked.

Her lips set tightly. “No.”

Nick made a growly sound in his throat, but I’ve seen enough cop movies to guess that she might change her mind. I pulled out one of my cards, wrote my home number on the back and handed it to her. “If you remember, give me a call.”

“I thought he was the one asking the questions.”

She had me there but Nick answered with surprising ease. “Phil will know where I am.”

I had a split second to marvel at his certainty of that before Sean roared from above. Josie ran up the last of the stairs, not even troubling herself to say goodbye.

But she stuffed that card into her pocket as she ran.

* * *

Nick was seething. There were little eruption warnings all along the fault line. I could feel it as I practically ran to keep up with him, and practically see the steam coming from his ears.

It was worse once we got into the Beast. I started the engine, but Nick just sat and stared straight ahead.

“So, how are we going to nail him?” I asked. I caught the barest glimpse of his anger before he narrowed his eyes and hid it from me.

“
We
aren’t going to do anything.”

I edged the Beast out of the tight spot and darted into a break in the traffic. The dragon in the passenger seat was not amused by this move but had the good sense to keep his opinion to himself.

He certainly wasn’t chatty.

I decided that the ambiance needed a boost. “Why do I get the feeling you have issues with commitment?”

It was intended as a joke, but Nick didn’t crack a smile. “I don’t have any issues with it.”

“You just think you’re the Lone Ranger?”

“I like to keep things simple.”

“How simple?”

“I commit to what I can carry. No more and no less.”

It made a certain amount of sense. “Nothing but a footprint?”

“Exactly. You can let me off here.”

“I don’t think so.” I touched the gas and merged on to a busier street.

“Phil.”

“I’ll let you out, right after I tell you about a little something about footprints. You’re kidding yourself if you think you can skate through life without leaving an impression of your passing.”

“Or your fingerprints in a file.”

I ignored that. “Do you really think that no one has any memories of you in Rosemount? I’ve got a few and they’re not up for erasure, thanks very much.” He turned and watched me, but I played the inscrutable one for a change. “You set my life on another course twice, by something you said or something you did, and I don’t regret a bit of it.”

“This must make three,” he said, his voice a lot less tight.

“Well, the third time’s the charm, right?”

He didn’t smile. “Do you regret my looking you up this time?”

I stopped at a red and turned to look at him. “No. Do you?”

He smiled. “No.” Then he frowned and looked away, drumming his fingers on the car door. “I’m just concerned that you’ll be drawn in deeper than you should be.”

“Maybe I don’t care.”

He flicked a hot glance at me. “Maybe you should.”

“Why? Because the Sullivan boys are trouble?”

“That’s what they say.”

“Well, I beg to differ. In fact, I’m starting to think just the opposite.”

I had his attention now. He was so engrossed in watching me that he didn’t even notice that I turned onto the highway to Rosemount.

“How so?”

“Well, think about it. The first time we met, you helped me pick myself up.”

“You mean I cleaned up Sean’s mistake.”

“Call it what you want. It was important to me and I’ll never forget it. The second time, you had enough faith in me to encourage me to buck my family’s expectations.”

“I don’t want to talk about the second time.”

“Because that’s what’s at the root of this?”

He didn’t answer that, but then, he didn’t really need to. His fingers will still drumming, but his eyes were very green. “And the third time?” That smile toyed with his lips. “How are you going to pull something good out of this, Phil?”

“Easy.” I grinned at him. “You satisfied my curiosity.”

Oops. Now he’d want to know about what. The cat was out of the proverbial bag.

Me and my big mouth. I drove, feigning tremendous concentration.

“How?”

“Doesn’t matter.” He was way too interested and I was pretty sure I’d said too much already.

“Sure it does.”

“Well, you didn’t do it by answering any questions, that’s for sure.” I decided not to try a different tack. “You know, I think you could be my lucky charm.”

He chuckled then and shook his head. “Fat chance.”

Inspiration struck in a timely fashion. I snapped my fingers. “You showed up and we went into the black, that’s what happened the third time. How could that not turn things in a better direction? All these years I wondered whether we could make it work and now I know for sure.”

I had a heartbeat to think he was convinced before he leaned across the great divide and touched my chin. “Curiosity about what, Phil?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“You’re blushing.”

“Just whether the business would ever fly.” It sounded more like a question than a statement, which must have been why he shook his head.