Truth and Consequences

by V. J. Chambers

  “I have friends in here,” said Bennett, smiling. “Friends who got your husband to talk and talk and talk.”

  Elke’s mouth was dry. “Felix?” she croaked.

  “Jesus,” said Iain. “Lawrence, let’s go.”

  “You wouldn’t believe all the things I know about you,” said Bennett and he grinned at her.

  But now, when he was grinning at her, she felt as if he was looking through her clothes, as if she was laid bare before him. She shut her eyes, shuddering.

  “Lawrence,” Iain’s voice was urgent.

  She sucked in breath and sat up straight. She ignored Iain. She ignored what Bennett had said. “I’m having trouble believing it was you, see, Bennett. With Allison Ross. You were intimate with Allison, weren’t you?”

  “Of course,” said Bennett in a delighted whisper.

  “You took off all her clothes and explored every inch of her skin.”

  “Yes,” said Bennett.

  “So, you saw her birthmark,” said Elke.

  Bennett raised his eyebrows. “Oh, what a bright little eager detective you are, Elke.” He leaned back in his chair. “So, if I get the birthmark wrong, I’m innocent of the murder, then?”

  “Prove to me that you’re the killer,” said Elke. “That’s not too much to ask, is it?”

  Bennett chuckled. “Can I just say how much I like you, Elke? Because I do. This is quite a nice touch. But you know what I think? I think there is no birthmark. I think you’re making this up to try to trap me.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes.”

  Elke stood up. “Well, if you’d actually seen Allison’s body, then you would know whether there was a birthmark or not. We’re done here. Hudson, let’s go.”

  Iain stood up too, looking relieved.

  Together, they started for the door.

  “Wait,” said Bennett, and now there was a hint of desperation in his voice. “It was on her back, right?”

  Elke paused.

  “I am right, aren’t I?” said Bennett, smiling.

  “No,” said Elke. “You’re not.” She turned the doorknob and she and Iain left the room.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Iain insisted he drive back. He told Elke it was because she was probably shaken up after the interview, but it was because he was shaken up. Hearing Bennett say those things about Elke had made him feel strange. He’d never thought of her as a woman before.

  Sure, he intellectually knew she was female, but she was his boss, and he had compartmentalized out any part of her that would do things like have sex.

  Now, he just felt… soiled in some way, like he could never look at Elke the same way, like they’d both been somehow mentally assaulted. He needed to drive to feel as if he was taking back some kind of control over the situation.

  As they pulled out of the parking lot of the jail, he had the thought that maybe Elke was feeling the need to reassert control as well, and that it was probably worse for her, and that he’d been a jerk to insist on driving. He wondered if he should pull over and let her drive instead.

  But Elke spoke up. “Thanks for driving.”

  “Oh,” he said. “Sure.”

  “You’re right, that interview was…” She hugged herself and let out a noisy breath. She looked out the window.

  “I’m sorry,” said Iain. And then he didn’t know what else to say.

  She nodded.

  They were both quiet.

  Iain drove. They were out in a rural area, and he watched fence posts go past on either side, fencing in fields of corn on one side and cows on the other.

  After a while of that, he finally saw the sign for the interstate, and he turn the ramp to the highway. They zoomed down the road at top speed. They still didn’t speak.

  Iain cleared his throat. “Listen, you should know that I won’t ever say anything about…” Ugh. Why had he opened his mouth?

  “I appreciate that,” she said. She squared her shoulders. “So, we can eliminate Bennett. You were right all along. He didn’t do this. He was toying with us for his own amusement. We went through all of that for nothing.”

  “Not for nothing,” he said. “I mean, you were right. We had to pursue all the leads.”

  “Did we?”

  “Yes,” he said. “And besides, it’s good to have eliminated someone.”

  “It is,” she agreed. “Now, if we could only make heads or tails of anything else in this case.”

  “Yeah,” said Iain.

  She turned to him. “Tell me the truth, Hudson. Do you think that Fisher is innocent?”

  He gripped the steering wheel. “I really don’t know.”

  “Maybe everything we’re doing is for nothing,” she said. “And Felix, hell, Felix is ruining everything.”

  “Felix is your ex?”

  “Yeah.”

  Iain felt even more uncomfortable, because things were starting to get emotional, and he wasn’t good with other people’s emotions. He wasn’t even really good with his own. He knew he should say something to console her, but what? “I’m sorry,” he said again. Would that be enough?

  “It’s not your fault,” she said.

  Wrong thing to say. Damn it.

  “But thanks,” she said. “I appreciate the sentiment.”

  So it was all right, then?

  It was quiet again. To some people, it might have felt like an awkward silence, but Iain was glad of it. He felt better without the stress of any more conversation. And anyway, even though it was somewhat traumatizing to have heard Bennett say those things about Elke, and it was disconcerting to see her so distressed, it also made him feel more comfortable with her. It provided a counterbalance for her intensity.

  “You’re not scary,” he said suddenly.

  She laughed a little. “No?”

  “No,” he said.

  She smiled at him.

  He smiled back.

  “Watch the road,” she said lightly.

  He laughed and whipped his gaze back.

  His phone started to ring. Furrowing his brow, he got it out of his pocket. It was Harley. He rolled his eyes and hit the silent button.

  “Did you need to answer that?” said Elke.

  “Well, it’s not safe while I’m driving,” he said.

  “Right,” she said.

  The phone started ringing again. Iain groaned.

  “I could put it on speaker phone for you,” said Elke.

  “It’s my girlfriend,” said Iain. “She’ll probably keep calling until I pick up. But if you hear our conversation—”

  “Well, you’ve heard lots of embarrassing personal things about me today,” said Elke.

  She had a point. Iain nodded. “Okay, put it on speaker.”

  Elke took the phone, and hit the button to answer it and then the button for speaker phone.

  “Hello,” said Iain.

  “Oh, my God, Iain, where the hell are you?” Harley’s angry voice filled the car.

  “I’m, um, at work.”

  “It’s late.”

  “Well, we had to drive out to interview a suspect at Peter’s Ridge, so—”

  “You’re kidding me.”

  “No, why would I do that?”

  “You forgot, didn’t you?”

  “I guess so? What did I forget?”

  “It’s the dinner with my grandmother tonight.”

  “Oh, right,” he said. “Well, I can still make it. I’ll be a little late, but—”

  “You never make anything to do with me a priority, Iain. Anything.” And then she hung up.

  Iain winced.

  Elke raised her eyebrows.

  Iain felt himself blushing.

  Elke gave him back the phone. “I’m not saying a word.”

  He glanced at her sidelong. Was she laughing at him?

  “Better get moving,” she said. “You’ve got to get to Grandma’s.”

  Iain sighed.

  * * *

  “Well, fi
nally,” said Mary Wood, Harley’s grandmother. She was a thin woman wearing a lot of makeup over her wrinkled skin. Her hair was bleached blond. She sucked on a cigarette. “We’ve been waiting nearly a half hour for you.”

  Iain was still in his suit from work. “I’m sorry I’m late, Mrs. Wood. I got tied up at work—”

  “Harley says you clean forgot all about coming,” said Mary.

  Iain cleared his throat, shooting a questioning glance at Harley. Why was she making this worse?

  “Let’s just eat, Grandma,” said Harley.

  “Oh, fine,” said Mary. “Everything’s cold as a witch’s tit, but why should that matter?”

  Harley was already heading through the house, which was decorated with a lot of purple cats. She called over her shoulder. “No one can go back in time and make Iain get here earlier. No use bitching about it.”

  Mary pressed her lips together. “You mind your tone with me, girl.” But she turned and went after Harley.

  Iain, not sure what else to do, followed.

  They emerged in a dining room, where there was a platter of fried chicken in the middle of the table. Next to it was a bowl of baked potatoes and another bowl of green beans with bits of bacon in them. On the far side of the table was a plate of rolls.

  Harley was already sitting at one of the place settings.

  Mary sat down too, at the head of the table.

  That left a spot opposite Harley for Iain. He went there and sat down. He felt very out of sorts. As bad as it had been earlier in the car with Elke, this was shaping up to be worse, he thought. He tried to shake the thought, after all, it was groundless speculation, but he was pretty sure that he was reading the situation correctly. No one in this room was happy with him. This probably wasn’t going to be pleasant.

  He looked out at the food. “This looks delicious, Mrs. Wood.”

  “Well, Harley cooked it,” said Mary. “She’s been here since this afternoon, saying everything had to be perfect.”

  Iain hung his head. He’d done this again, had he? Not showed up for another of Harley’s meals? Well, at least he was only late this time, not completely absent.

  “It’s fine,” said Harley. There was an artificial brightness to her voice.

  He looked at her.

  She smiled at him. “I just got to remember that if I want you to do things, you need lots of reminders.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said again. He felt like that was his mantra today or something.

  “Oh, you always do know how to pick them, Harley,” said Mary. “Pass me the chicken. Guess it’s not too bad. After all, fried chicken is just as good cold.”

  “I don’t think it’ll be that cold, Grandma,” said Harley, handing down the platter of chicken.

  Using her fingers, Mary took several chicken legs and then handed the platter to Iain. “You were supposed to be the good one, though, that’s what I thought. Right?” She looked pointedly at her granddaughter. “This is the one you used to always talk about? The one who was always so good to you?”

  Yeah, Iain was pretty sure things were about to go bad now.

  “Give me the chicken,” said Harley.

  Iain had only had the chance to serve himself one small piece, but he handed it over, anyway.

  “Thank you,” said Harley, snatching the platter. She began piling piece after piece of fried chicken on her plate. “He is good to me, Grandma. But he has an important job, and he can’t always be at my beck and call.” She slammed the platter back on the table. It was nearly empty.

  Iain flinched.

  “You went on and on about how he helped you out when you shot your husband,” said Mary.

  Harley sat up straight. “Grandma—”

  “But you said he only wanted to be friends. Oh, how you pined over him.”

  Iain raised his eyebrows at Harley. That was not exactly the way things went between them. They weren’t officially in a relationship before now, but they’d never been strictly friends.

  “Now,” Mary continued, “you finally nab him, your very own white knight, and it turns out he’s just as much trash as the rest of the worthless men you’ve been with.”

  Iain stiffened. Trash? He’d been a half hour late for dinner. Wasn’t Mary being harsh?

  “Stop it, Grandma,” said Harley, glaring at the woman. “You promised me we would have a nice dinner.”

  “I don’t know what else you can expect, though,” said Mary, picking up a chicken leg. “When you’re trash yourself, you attract trash.” She bit into the chicken.

  Iain furrowed his brow.

  Harley’s nostrils flared, but then Iain also noticed a little tremble to her lower lip.

  Iain turned to Mary, and his voice was low. “I don’t think that was the kind of thing a woman should say to her granddaughter.”

  Mary laughed. “What, that she’s trash? You don’t agree with me? She’s a train wreck. She can’t hold down a job. She drinks too much. She shot her damned husband.”

  “That was self-defense!” Harley’s voice was high pitched.

  “Oh, sure it was,” said Mary.

  “Harley’s not a train wreck,” said Iain.

  “Right, because you’re in love with her, I guess,” said Mary.

  Iain licked his lips.

  “Oh, not in love?” said Mary.

  “I care about her,” said Iain, lifting his chin.

  “Don’t,” said Harley, shaking her head at Iain.

  “I’m not going to listen to her say these things about you,” said Iain.

  “Don’t,” said Harley. “Let’s have a nice dinner. Everyone shut up.”

  “Well, that was gracious,” said Mary.

  Harley dragged her hands over her face. “Why can’t you just be kind once in a while, Grandma?”

  “Because I’m old, dear. I don’t have to do anything I don’t want.”

  “Well, if you’re going to be so rude and hurtful,” said Iain, “I don’t see any reason for us to stay here.” He got up from the table.

  “Iain!” said Harley, shaking her head.

  “What?” he said. “Why are we subjecting ourselves to this?”

  “Can you pass the green beans?” said Mary, smiling up at him.

  Iain held out a hand to Harley. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  “You just got here,” said Harley. “Now you’re leaving?”

  “We’re leaving,” he said.

  “Speak for yourself,” said Harley. She picked up the bowl of green beans and marched them over to her grandmother, where she set them down with a clatter.

  “Wait,” said Iain. “What do you mean?”

  “If you’re leaving, go,” said Harley, glaring at him. “Get out of here.”

  “Listen, if you don’t want me to leave—”

  “Get out.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “What the hell, Iain?” Harley was at the door to his apartment.

  After she’d kicked him out of her grandmother’s house, he’d had no choice but to go home, where he discovered that he was starving, so he made himself a hamburger and a salad and ate it, feeling bewildered and lost.

  Now, not even an hour later, Harley was here.

  He opened the door wide to let her in. “I could say the same thing to you.”

  She stalked inside and threw herself down on his couch. “What the hell is wrong with you? How could you talk to my grandmother that way?”

  “She was saying horrible things to you,” he said. “I could stand it when she was insulting me, but when she started saying that stuff about you—”

  “That’s just what grandmothers do,” said Harley.

  “No,” he said, folding his arms over his chest. “It’s not.”

  “Yes, it is,” said Harley. “Grandmothers are old ladies who are angry and take it all out on the people around them.”

  “Neither of my grandmothers are like that,” said Iain.

  “Right,” said Harley. “Because you’ve g
ot two. And your mother knew who your father was. And so, you’re just so much better than me.”

  “I never said I was better—”

  “Why were you late?”

  “I’m sorry about that.”

  She hugged herself. “I should have told you not to come. It was all ruined.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. Then he ambled over and sat down next to her on the couch. He made his voice soft. “Harley, if your grandmother is always like that—”

  “Stop,” said Harley.

  He sighed. “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

  “You were going to say that I should just stay clear of her, weren’t you?”

  “Well… she’s not very nice. If she’s always so mean—”

  “I don’t have a lot in the way of family, Iain. My mother’s gone. I never had any brothers or sisters. Grandma and my aunt and cousins are about it. I can’t just cut them off, you know?”

  He wasn’t sure what to say. But he thought if your family was, well, abusive, you were probably better to have no family at all. Hell, if Harley’s mother had been raised by that woman, she was probably all kinds of screwed up, and then Harley’s mother had screwed up Harley, and it was no wonder she’d fallen in with someone like Dale. He felt sorry for her. He put his arm around her.

  She shoved him off. “Don’t. You ruined everything tonight.”

  “I did?”

  She nodded. “You were supposed to show up there and be perfect. You were supposed to be the thing that showed her that I wasn’t a complete screwup. But then you were late—”

  “Harley, a woman like that is always going to find some reason to insult you. It’s not about you. It’s about her.”

  “Stop trying to convince me not to see my grandmother!”

  He raised both of his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry.”

  She shook her head. “You know, sometimes I think that you and I come from such different worlds, there is no way that we can ever be together like this.”

  “We don’t come from different worlds. We live in the same city.”

  “You know what I mean,” she said. “You don’t understand anything about the way things work for me.”

  “So, explain it.”

  She shook her head.

  “It’s not different worlds, Harley, it’s just that I’m not good at this stuff. You’ve always known this about me. You’ve known I was different and awkward and stupid with people.”