by Clare Kauter
But he would. I knew he would. He had almost two decades of blackmail material on me, and I had no way to stop him. At least not physically. Will worked in a psych hospital/rehab facility, and he specialised in restraining dangerous individuals, a lot of them much larger than I was. He wouldn’t even have to try with me.
“My boss tricked me into telling him the whole story. About Celia.”
More details than Will knew, in fact. (He could never know about The Kiss That Must Not Be Named. I could never live that down.)
“Your boss?”
“Yes. Also known as the biggest arsehole to ever exist.”
“Does somebody need a drink?”
“Somebody needs a non-alcoholic beverage because they have to drive home,” I answered. “Although if you fancy making me dinner…”
He laughed. “Of course you have ulterior motives for coming to visit me.” He turned and walked towards the kitchen, calling out over his shoulder, “Tell me more about this boss of yours.”
I rolled my eyes and followed him. “You don’t want to hear more about my boss. He’s a bastard. It’s very boring.”
“I want to know how he forced you to tell him. You’re not usually the kind of person who’s easily coerced into doing something.”
I sighed. “I know. Maybe I’m losing my edge.”
“Oh, gorgeous, you never had an edge.”
“How dare you!”
He grinned. “Anyway, story time! What happened?”
I sighed. He wasn’t going to give up. “Fine. I was at a business thing with James last night –”
“With James?” he asked, shocked. “Like a date?”
“Like I was trying to scab a free meal off him. Anyway, Celia showed up and James turned back into his usual arsehole self.”
“What did he do?”
“Firstly, he told me to grow up and forgive her, which is a little rich coming from him, I’m sure you’ll agree,” I said. Will shrugged and nodded. James had been giving Will the silent treatment a full week longer than I’d been angry with Celia. “Then he all but accused me of being the reason that Topher ran away.”
“He what?”
“I know!”
“Are you sure – and don’t get me wrong here, Charlie, I’m not saying that you’re necessarily getting overly emotional, but are you sure you didn’t maybe misinterpret what he was saying?”
“I’m sure. Anyway, my boss was also there, and in return for him being my wingman for the night, he wanted me to tell him the backstory.”
“And you did?”
“Yeah,” I said. “He can tell when you’re lying. I think maybe he’s psychic.”
Will laughed at that. “OK, sure. Go back for a second – what did James say?”
I sighed. “Does it really matter?”
“It kind of does.”
I sighed again, more dramatically this time. “Fine. He told me that I have a tendency to blame other people when things go wrong in my life, and that I was just projecting my anger at the whole situation with Toph onto Celia.”
“To be honest, Charlie, you kind of do project your anger a little.”
This was unbelievable. I expected this from James, the shit McKenzie brother, but not from William.
“What are you saying? You think it’s my fault Topher ran away as well?”
I could feel myself getting upset again. This was ridiculous. Since when did I have feelings? I didn’t do ‘sad’ – I did ‘neutral’ or ‘angry’. This was not a fun new addition to my emotional repertoire.
“I’m not saying that, Charlie. I’m just saying that you’re kind of an angry person, and maybe some of that anger gets directed at people who don’t totally deserve it.”
“Oh, well, now that you’ve said that I’m totally cured. Anger gone! Who knew it was so fucking simple? I’m just wrongly blaming everyone else for my own mistakes. Good thing you’ve got your bullshit TAFE counselling qualification so you could figure me out.”
Will rolled his eyes at me.
“Don’t resort to cheap insults to try and distract me, Charlie. You know I’m right.”
“So you do think it’s my fault?”
“No. I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault. I do think you’re kind of hard on Celia, though, and I think you knew what James meant and just pretended he meant something else so you didn’t have to think about the fact that he might be right.”
I couldn’t believe I was getting this crap from Will, too. I turned and walked out of the kitchen, heading for the door.
“Charlie, come back. You can’t leave without dinner,” Will called after me.
“I’ve lost my appetite.”
Chapter Eight
When I walked back into my house through the garage door, tears still streaming down my face, I was not expecting a three-man strong welcoming committee.
“Jesus Christ,” said Tim. “Tears? Twice in one year?”
Adam smiled at Tim’s joke.
James McKenzie just stood there looking dumbfounded.
“What?” I snapped at him. “A sad song came on the radio. Sometimes I just really feel the music. I can’t help it.”
“What song?” James asked.
“Here I Go Again,” I said. “Whitesnake.”
I have to admit, I was a bit surprised by both the selection and speed of that response. There was not even a second’s pause in conversation. I silently thanked whichever part of my brain had chosen that and not My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion.
“It’s a pretty sad song,” said Tim. I waited for the witty, sarcastic statement that would normally follow, but it didn’t come. Instead, he pulled me in for a hug.
“I think I just got snot on your shirt,” I mumbled into his chest.
“Hey, I looked after my niece as a baby. That’s not even close to the worst thing I’ve had on my shirt.”
I snorted with laughter, making the problem a lot worse. Tim laughed at my embarrassment and we both walked to the bathroom to clean up. He wiped his shirt with some wet toilet paper as I blew my nose and splashed my face with cold water.
“Want to talk about it?”
“No. That’s what got me into this whole mess. Talking about things just brings up emotions, and then this happens.”
I gestured to my red, puffy face.
“What was it really about?”
I rolled my eyes. “What did I just say about –”
“Just this one question.”
“Fine,” I answered. “It was Will McKenzie.”
“McKenzie?”
“Yeah, they’re brothers.”
“They’ve got the technique down.”
“Apparently.” I splashed some more water on my face, trying in vain to cool it down and make my eyes return to normal. “Um, do you mind telling me why you’re all in my house?”
“James contacted Adam. Adam wanted you and James to talk, but asked me to come as a bit of extra backup for you.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That’s actually really nice of him.”
Tim nodded. “He usually hides it well, but I’m starting to think that maybe you guys are friends these days. You found him a body. He’s so excited.”
“That’s a bit weird.”
“Good news for us if we solve it, though. High profile. Good publicity.”
“Right. So, um, why did James contact Adam?”
“I don’t know. You OK? Do you want to stay in here for a while, or should we head back out?”
“Let’s go.”
Adam and James were seated directly opposite each other at the dining table, silent. Adam was leaning back in his chair, looking totally relaxed, keeping an eye on his surroundings, taking every thing in. James looked equally as relaxed, but was not as concerned with the room around him. He was reading something on his phone, and didn’t seem to notice Tim and I return until I spoke.
“So, to what do I owe this…” Inconvenience? Interruption? Violation of my right to peace? “Visit?”
/> “James is interested in joining forces with us.”
“Are the police involved in this?”
“No,” said James. “This is just me. I – I don’t like Lionel. At all.”
“I don’t like you at all. So what?”
James rolled his eyes and then continued, “I think he’s doing some dodgy business at my hotel, and, basically, I want him out.”
“So this is just self-interest, then?”
“It’s also about stopping criminal activity.”
“Oh, right, sure.”
“What, Charlie? Are you saying you’re in this because of your strong moral compass?”
“I’m helping a friend. Not something you’d understand, I guess.”
“What exactly are you getting at?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Kind of hard to narrow it down with your track record. First you disowned your brother, then you had a bust up with my brother who disappeared shortly after, you stole my best friend, you –”
“Did you just blame me for Topher going missing? Is that what just happened?”
“Maybe. Not very nice, is it?”
“I didn’t say it was your fault that he left. I don’t know why he went, but I recognise that blaming the world doesn’t help. Also, I didn’t steal your best friend. You stopped talking to her because you needed to take your anger out on someone and she was just a good scapegoat.”
Wow, OK. There was that theory, coming up for a second time today. I felt tears prickling my eyes again, and was glad when I heard Adam say, “Anyway, back to the matter at hand.”
I sat down next to Adam with Tim across from me, next to McKenzie.
“Right. I suggested that Adam might like to stay in a room at the hotel for a business conference that will be taking place over the next couple of days. Lionel will be attending it, and I think he’s going to use it to try and network.”
“Isn’t that kind of the point?” Tim asked, echoing my own thoughts.
“I mean ‘network’ as in, like, do dodgy deals.”
“At the risk of repeating myself…”
“I mean illegal things.”
“Not to sound like a broken record, but…”
“I mean the kind of business where you break legs and kill people,” said James exasperatedly.
“Or bury them in concrete?” I asked.
“Or drown them by tying them to a pier and waiting for the tide to come in,” said Adam. We all looked at him, concerned. “That’s another of Lionel’s past methods. Alleged methods,” he corrected.
“Right, yeah, there’s totally a chance he’s not guilty. He’s all sunshine and roses. One look at him and you know that,” James said.
“Do we know whose body it was yet?” I asked.
“Body?” James repeated.
“Yeah, I found one this morning.”
I realised I’d forgotten to tell Will about that. Maybe I’d use that to guilt trip him into apologising to me.
“Oh, god Charlie, that’s awful. Are you OK?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Seriously, do you want to talk about it?”
“I’m fine.”
“That’s horrible.”
“Really, it’s not –”
“No wonder you were so upset before.”
“I’m fine. That had nothing to do with the body.”
“Yeah, sure, I know you have a deep connection with Whitesnake,” he said sarcastically.
“I had a fight with Will,” I snapped.
James’s eyes widened in shock. “You guys fought?”
“I know.” This was not a common occurrence.
“What about?”
“You, actually. Celia, too. He said I was being too hard on you.”
James raised his eyebrows. He was probably a little taken aback that Will was on his side. You and me both, buddy.
“Oh,” he said.
“Personally, I don’t think I’m to blame for Topher leaving, but maybe that’s just me.”
“I don’t think that either.”
“Don’t act like –”
“You know that I would never say something like that. All I meant was that maybe it’s time for you to let go of some of your anger and forgive people.”
“I’m sorry, did I just join some sort of hippie cult?”
“Charlie –”
“Maybe now’s not the time to go into it.”
“Why not? You’ve clearly told both of them already.” He gestured at Tim and Adam.
Cough. “Um, well…”
“How about we focus on the case for the moment, and we can heal your relationship later?” said Adam.
A reasonable request, it seemed to me.
“Fine,” said James. “I’ve booked you a room, Adam, and I’ve also got you a spot at the conference. I assume Charlie is working the Stacey angle?”
“I want to attend the conference too.”
“Fine,” said James. “But just so you know, Celia will be there.”
“I’m a big girl,” I said. “I can handle it.”
Inwardly, though, I was clenching every organ I had.
“Yeah, right.”
“I’d prefer if you stayed at the office, Charlie,” said Adam. “You can come to the conference events at night. The daytime sessions will be boring, and it’ll look weird if I bring you along. We don’t Lionel getting suspicious. Plus you’ve got other things to work on.”
Although my case with Jared was pretty much closed by that point, I didn’t disagree.
“What do you mean she’s got other things to work on? You don’t have Charlie working cases, do you? She’s not licenced to do that!”
“Of course not,” Adam lied.
“That would be irresponsible,” Tim added.
“Oh, jeez,” said James. “I don’t want to know.”
“I’m going to head home and pack. You want a lift, Tim?” Adam asked.
“Sure.”
They both looked at James expectantly.
“I’m just going to talk to Charlie for a second.”
The continued staring at him silently.
“I promise not to make her cry.”
“You’d better not,” said Tim.
“It’s OK,” I said. “If he says anything, I’ll bash him up.”
Tim smirked a little at that, and he and Adam left. I turned to James.
“What did you want to talk about?”
“Celia.”
I groaned. “Really? I think we’ve been over this.”
“Charlie, any of your friends would have dated me given the chance.” Oh, OK Mr Conceited. Just because it was true didn’t mean that he had to rub it in my face. “That’s no reason to be angry with her. And you can’t blame her for everything that went wrong.”
“I don’t blame her for everything.” Just certain things.
“Celia – she – you need to talk to her about this.”
I rolled my eyes. Yep, I could definitely feel them loosening. “Why does everyone want me to talk about things today?”
“Just hear her out. Please.”
“Why should I?”
“She and Stacey are getting pretty close again. She might be able to help you with this Lionel thing.”
I knew I was being played, but unfortunately it was kind of a good point. Sigh. “Fine, OK. Whatever.”
Whatever Celia had to say, I doubted it would change my mind about her. Still, James looked relieved.
“OK, cool. Thank you,” he said. “Look, I’m really sorry I upset you yesterday. I really didn’t mean… Do you want to come out tonight and I’ll make it up to you? I’m heading to Rift.”
My upper lip curled into a snarl. “I want to sleep.”
He smiled. “I know. You look pretty tired. Just one drink, though? I’ll have you home by 9, I promise.”
Although I hadn’t totally forgiven McKenzie, I was oddly tempted. I was sad and angry and I sucked at my job and I’d fallen over an
d my knees hurt and I’d found a dead body – maybe a drink would help. Fighting with McKenzie required too much energy, and besides, he was being nice again. Will’s words rang in my ears – maybe I needed to stop pissing people off before I ran out of friends.
“We could just stay in and have a drink,” I suggested.
“Last time we did that you passed out in my bedroom.”
“What the hell was I doing in your bedroom?”
“Getting changed.”
What exactly had happened that night?”
“Why was I getting changed?”
“You were uncomfortable in your dress, so you went through my wardrobe and got dressed in my jersey and boxers.” That explained the outfit I’d woken up wearing. “Then you decided that my bed looked comfy, so you climbed in and went to sleep.”
“And then you climbed in beside me?”
“I was worried you’d vomit in your sleep, so I put you in the recovery position and watched to make sure you were OK.”
“You watched me sleep?”
“I don’t think it counts as creeping when you’re genuinely looking out for someone’s safety.”
That seemed like a fair call.
Well, that filled in a lot of blanks about that night. Now that I knew what had happened, I felt a lot less weird about waking up next to McKenzie, wearing his clothes. Not that I’d ever thought anything had, y’know, transpired – I’d been quite drunk and he wasn’t a creep. I was more concerned about what I’d said/done to him as the night wore on.
“But why do we have to go to a nightclub?” I whined.
“So we can spy on Lionel.”
Ah, of course. It was business.
My stomach grumbled.
“If I go out with you, will you feed me?” I asked. My display of righteous indignation earlier had been all well and good, but ultimately it meant I’d left Will’s house hungry.
“Sure,” said James. “Anything you’d like.”
Twenty minutes later, we were in front of Lord of the Fries scarfing down our veggie dogs.
“These are amazing,” I said. James offered me a bite of his and I took it, eyes opened to yet another world of delicious flavour. “They’re just so good.”
“You’re really hungry, aren’t you?” James said, concerned. “Do you want a burger or something too?”
I shook my head. I didn’t want to get rid of the taste of the hot dogs.
