Secrets and Specters

by Raven Snow

  Chet’s smile faltered. Frankie was sitting on the other side of Conners. He reached out and gave his arm a squeeze. “It’s fine dinner conversation by me. I know Conners here doesn’t like to talk about it. Otherwise, I’d still be shouting what happened from the rooftops.”

  “It’s fine,” Conners said, though Lady doubted that was true. No doubt he was only saying that for the benefit of them finding something out tonight. “Don’t go shouting it from the rooftops or anything, but you don’t have to walk on eggshells. It’s fine. Seriously. It’s been a while.”

  “It has been a while, hasn’t it?” Frankie sighed, his gaze going distant like he was doing the math right then and there. “Feels like it only happened last week sometimes.” He shook his head. “Something like that really sticks with you, I guess.”

  The door opened again and Shannon entered with an armful of drinks. Chet was closest and rose to help her before she spilled something. “Anyone need anything else?” asked Shannon. When no one had any requests, she took a seat on the other side of Chet. “Well, let’s dig in, shall we?”

  “Were you there that night, Chet?” Lady asked.

  Chet looked up from spooning lasagna onto his plate. “Where? Oh, you mean… I was out, actually.”

  “Everything that was going on, I didn’t think to call him,” Frankie elaborated. “I can’t imagine what it was like getting back here with cops swarming the place.

  “Terrifying,” said Chet. “And that’s putting it mildly. I’m just glad everyone was okay.”

  “Well,” Lady began, feeling awkward that she had to point it out. “Not everyone was okay.”

  Frankie snorted. Dom had said that Lawrence’s death had upset him, but it certainly didn’t sound like it right now. “Everyone that mattered was.” He cringed as soon as the words had left his mouth, like he had forgotten he had company. “I’m sorry,” he said, looking to Conners and the others. “I know you tried to save him, and obviously all life is sacred. It’s a shame what happened. Not that he gave you much choice.”

  “And it broke our hearts that you got hurt,” Shannon added.

  Frankie’s eye widened. “Right, I didn’t mean to imply that—”

  “No,” Chet added, joining in with his brother. “Obviously, I wasn’t saying you didn’t suffer.”

  “It’s fine.” Conners took a drink of his water. Lady bet he wished it was something a lot stronger right about now. “Lawrence definitely got the short end of the stick.”

  “Yeah,” Lady chimed in. “Honestly, I feel the sorriest for his family.”

  That was a sentiment Frankie seemed to be able to get behind. “Oh, definitely. I can’t imagine what they went through. You offered them help, didn’t you Conners?”

  “I did.”

  “It’s a shame the wife didn’t take it. They had kids, didn’t they? Should have taken the money for the kids, at least. Pride can really trip you up sometimes.”

  “The wife died recently, actually,” said Lady. When Chet and Frankie both gave her an odd look she continued. “It’s just something I heard about. It happened recently.”

  “A shame.” Frankie didn’t sound like he really meant that. He said it around a mouthful of lasagna. “I hope the kids are all right.”

  “Just the one kid, actually. A son,” Conners corrected.

  “Well, I hope the boy is all right.” Frankie took another sip of his wine.

  “You knew him, didn’t you?” asked Shannon, casting a sidelong look at her brother-in-law. Lady was thankful she had stepped in. She would have to say as much later. “That Lawrence fellow, I mean.”

  Chet reached for the wine bottle. “We went to high school together.” He poured himself some more. “He dropped out, I think. We didn’t see each other a whole lot after that. He fell in with the wrong crowd.”

  “Happens with too many kids these days, I’m afraid,” said Frankie. He gave the rest of the table a wink. “Though, I’m proud to say crime rates are down since I came into office. More after school activities for the kids now. That’s important. Idle hands are the Devil’s playground and all.”

  “Did you keep in touch with the family?” Lady asked Chet.

  “Hmm?” Chet was drinking more than he was eating. “Oh, no. Can’t say I did.” He cracked a smile. “Gosh, this is maudlin. What do you say we talk about something a little more cheerful? Shannon, how is work going? I hope you’re treating her right, Conners.”

  Conversation devolved into small talk. Lady couldn’t really see a way to steer the conversation back to where she wanted it to go without being obvious about it. She was forced to smile and nod and answer questions when asked.

  The lasagna was nothing special. Lady wasn’t entirely sure that it hadn’t come from the supermarket frozen. Maybe she was just spoiled by Ms. Poole’s home cooking. It wasn’t like she would have been able to do any better.

  Lady did notice that Frankie and Chet polished off the bottle of wine on their own. Chet was noticeably tipsy by the time dinner was wrapping up. There might be hope for getting some answers this evening yet.

  “I hope no one has plans to head home yet,” said Shannon once everyone was finished. “Having everyone together like this is so nice. Let’s go sit down somewhere more comfortable. I made dessert!”

  “Happy to stay and socialize,” said Chet, rising from the table. “I just need to go hit the head first. I’ll be right back.”

  “Everyone go on.” Shannon stood as well. “Get comfortable. I’ll bring dessert to you.”

  While everyone was filing out of the room, Lady trailed behind Shannon. The kitchen was huge, bigger than Ms. Poole’s even. There were a couple of islands and what looked for all the world like a walk-in freezer. It was a lot of space for a family that didn’t seem like it cooked much. Shannon opened the fridge and took out a pie tin wrapped in foil. She jumped when she turned, nearly dropping the whole thing onto the floor. “Lady!” She clapped a hand over her chest as she got a hold on the tin and carried it to the island. “You scared me. I didn’t hear you following.”

  “Sorry. Thought I would come help you. You only have so many hands, you know?” She looked around, not sure where the plates or silverware were kept.

  “Oh, you’re sweet, but you didn’t have to.” Shannon went to a cabinet and opened it up to reveal dinnerware. She grabbed a stack of plates. “I appreciate it, though. Forks are in that drawer there if you want to grab some.”

  Lady went to the drawer and retrieved the forks. “Thanks for trying with Chet.”

  Shannon shrugged. She had pulled the tinfoil off the pie tin and was frowning at the contents. It looked like some sort of cheesecake that had come out of a box. It had gotten a little lopsided in the chilling process. “I’m afraid this night might be a bust. But, hey. At least you’re here for dinner. It’s nice! We should do this more often.”

  “Totally.”

  Shannon began cutting the cheesecake into slices and placing those on the plates she’d brought over. “I know I’m not the best cook, but I really do enjoy it. I used to cook for my girls, but they hardly ever eat their meals here anymore. When they do, they’re usually on some sort of juice cleanse or some nonsense like that.” She passed a couple of plates to Lady. “I really am sorry I can’t be more help with Chet. I’m not even entirely sure what you’re hoping to find out.”

  “I’m not either,” Lady admitted.

  “Well, take those to the boys. If there’s anything I can do, you just let me know.”

  “I will,” she turned to leave the kitchen but paused and added another, “Thanks.” She liked Shannon, though how much she liked her varied wildly from moment to moment.

  ***

  The boys were in the study. Lady spotted Dom first. He was standing near the door, a drink in hand. “You need to do something,” he said when Lady was close enough.

  “Do something?” She paused, confused. “Like what?”

  “Have you seen Chet?”

&nb
sp; “He’s not in here with you guys?” Lady looked past Dom and into the study. Frankie had pulled his chair around to the front of his desk. He was sitting in it across from Conners. The two were deep in conversation about something or another.

  “He’s still in the bathroom, I think.”

  Right. He’d gone to the bathroom. “Okay. What do you expect me to do?”

  Dom inclined his head and raised his eyebrows, hinting at something. She wasn’t sure what. “You know,” said Dom when Lady didn’t have a response for him. “Use your… feminine wiles.”

  “What?!” Lady said that louder than she probably should have. Frankie and Conners both looked at her.

  “Shh,” hissed Dom. He took Lady by the arm and pulled her to one side of the doorway, out in the hall. He kept his voice at a whisper. “He obviously likes you.”

  “Obviously?” That was news to Lady. “How do you know that?”

  Dom rolled his eyes. “‘Go to Paris, Lady. Promise me you’ll go to Paris.’”

  “He was just being friendly,” said Lady. Though, now that she thought about it, he had been a little handsy. “Besides, he’s old enough to be my dad.”

  “I don’t think that bothers him any,” Dom muttered with a furtive glance down the hall. “Heck, doesn’t bother some women either. Play your cards right and maybe you’ll nab yourself a sugar daddy.”

  “Ew,” said Lady, not because she was opposed to an older man or being showered with cash but because Chet was gross. “I’m not going to seduce anyone… I don’t think I’m capable of seducing anyone. I’m not much of a flirt.”

  “You’ll do fine. I should know. We were engaged for a while, remember?”

  “Shut up.”

  “Seriously.” Dom offered Lady his drink. “I don’t think you’ll even have to try that hard. Just get the guy alone and be friendly. He strikes me as the sort of creep who’ll consider that flirting.”

  That sounded about right. Lady leaned forward and took a sip of Dom’s drink while he held it. It was whiskey and it stung on the way down. “Fine. But you owe me for this.”

  “I don’t owe you anything,” Dom said to Lady’s back as she walked down the hall in search of Chet.

  ***

  Lady knew where the downstairs bathroom was. The door was open when she got to it, though. “Chet?” She spun around. She hadn’t passed him in the hallway, had she? Darn it. How had she screwed this up already?

  Lady turned and headed back down the hallway, towards the study. She was ready to get an earful from Dom and ready to give one right back to him if that was the case. She’d tried, hadn’t she.

  “Hey.”

  Lady froze and turned. Chet was standing in the door to the living room. “Hey,” Lady said right back to him.

  “I was wondering where everyone was.” He turned and headed back into the living room, going to the sofa. Lady hesitated but ultimately followed.

  “You want dessert?” Lady asked. She was still holding a couple of plates after all.

  Chet flopped down onto the sofa. “What is it?” he asked, looking past Lady when he spoke, like he expected everyone else to come in after her at any minute.

  “Cheesecake, I think?” Lady offered him one of the plates and a fork. She started to take the chair across from him but then remembered what Dom had said. Steeling herself, she chose to sit next to Chet instead. There was half a cushion’s worth of space between them, but it still felt a little too close for comfort.

  “Looks good.” Chet smiled at Lady when he took the plate. It was a smarmy smile, one that Lady wanted to smack right off his face when his eyes moved down for a second, looking her over. God, Dom might actually be right. “Thanks.”

  “Hey, Shannon cooked it. I’m just the delivery girl.”

  “Well, thanks all the same.” Chet gave her a wink and took a bite of the cheesecake. “It’s good… Hey, do you know where everyone else is?”

  “I think they’re all in the study.” Lady saw no reason to lie to him, though she hoped it wouldn’t prompt him to leave… Or did she? She was kind of unclear on what it was she wanted right now. “I don’t think Conners is crazy about this room.”

  Chet scanned his surroundings. He was definitely still tipsy, a good thing for Lady’s purposes. “Why?”

  “The, uh… the shooting?” Lady thought it kind of weird that she had to remind him.

  “Oooh.” Chet scanned the room again, slower this time. “Of course. It looks so different now, I forgot.”

  “You don’t come here often?” As the mayor’s brother, Lady had assumed that he would have been around for the redecorating.

  Chet took another bite of cheesecake. He didn’t completely wait until he was finished chewing to answer her. “I travel a lot. I come here for dinner when I get back from a trip. It’s tradition. Beyond that, I mostly just see my brother at political functions or the country club.” The way he paused after speaking seemed to suggest that he expected her to be impressed by mention of political functions and country clubs.

  “That’s a shame. This is a gorgeous house.”

  Chet nodded in agreement. “I agree wholeheartedly. In fact, I used to live here.”

  “Really?” Lady made a conscious effort to sound impressed and hated herself a little for it. She scooted closer to Chet on the sofa, closing some of the distance between them. “This house is so big and old. If I lived here, I don’t think you could ever convince me to move.”

  “It was only a temporary thing. This place is huge, but in the end, I was still living with my brother and his family. I didn’t want to impose for any longer than it took me to get my own place.”

  “I bet it was hard to live here after everything that happened, too.” Lady sat her plate of cheesecake on her knee. She was trying to focus, and cake was distracting. “It’s lucky you weren’t here when it happened.”

  Chet’s self-assured smiled had faded. “It is,” he agreed, spearing another bite of cheesecake on his fork but not bringing it to his mouth. “Especially since my plans fell through.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I was supposed to have dinner with Frankie that night. Instead I ended up going out with his mother-in-law. Nice woman, mind you.” He added that last part quickly, like he was afraid Lady might have actually met and liked Shannon’s mother. (She hadn’t and didn’t.) “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I got home.”

  “When did you find out you knew the guy who had done it?”

  “Hmm?” Chet took a bite of his cheesecake and then another, finishing it off. He leaned forward and put the empty plate on the coffee table. “Oh, after the fact, I guess. Really broke my heart.” He didn’t sound too choked up about it. His movements had grown a little stiff, though. At the very least, it made him uncomfortable.

  “Did you know he was the guy repairing the A/C?”

  “Can’t say that I did.” Chet leaned back against the sofa. He had either forgotten that everyone was in the study or he no longer cared. “Though, I can’t help but feel a little responsible. I was the one who found the place in the phone book. You know, I’m not sure Lawrence even knew I was living here when he robbed the place— or tried to, anyway.”

  “And you really don’t know the family?”

  That got a raised eyebrow from Chet. “What do you mean?”

  “His wife and kid, anyone else in the family. Sorry, it’s just that Conners has been thinking about reaching out to them ever since Beatrice died. He’s understandably nervous about it, and I’ve been trying to think of ways to make the whole thing easier.”

  “Ah. Sorry, can’t say that I knew him long enough to ever meet his family.” Chet propped his arm up on the couch cushion behind Lady’s head and leaned into it some. He gave her a sympathetic half-smile. “You and Conners… You’re pretty close, huh?”

  “We’re just friends,” Lady said quickly, realizing too late that Chet might take that to mean she was single and wanted him to know it.

&nbs
p; “I see.” Chet looked like he might have something else to say, but the door to the living room opened, startling them both.

  “There you are,” said Frankie. “You took so long in the bathroom, I was starting to think you fell in. Turns out, you just got lost.”

  Chet stood and Lady did the same, hoping it hadn’t looked like anything compromising had been going on when Frankie came in. The way his gaze lingered on her for just a little too long made her think Frankie had his suspicions.

  “Just making friends,” Chet said, still smiling. “Forgot you guys were in the study. Lady here came to clue me in, and we got distracted talking. He took a step towards the door then hesitated. “Though, while I’ve got you here, do you think we could have a word?”

  Frankie came into the room, arms crossed over his chest and apprehensive. “What about?”

  Chet motioned him over. “Just another investment opportunity I’ve had my eye on.”

  Lady couldn’t help but notice how Frankie’s expression darkened when his brother spoke. He came over to the sofa anyway. “Go on and join the others. They’re still in the study.” He nodded Lady toward the door.

  Lady went, although reluctantly. She considered eavesdropping from the hallway, but the brothers were too observant for that. “It’s fine,” Chet called when her footsteps didn’t fade down the hall. “We won’t be long.”

  With a sigh, Lady did as she was told. She was nearly to the study when she realized she’d left her cheesecake. If Dom still had his, she was going to steal it. Darn it, she had earned some cheesecake tonight.

  Chapter Twelve

  It took a lot of convincing, but Lady managed to get Conners to agree to spend the night at the inn. It may have been more accurate to say that Ms. Poole managed to convince him. He’d refused Lady initially but had eventually caved under Ms. Poole’s uncompromising stare.

  Conners had gone to bed immediately, but Lady stayed up in the sitting room with Ms. Poole. She sat very still, afraid Ms. Poole would give her something to do if she brought too much attention to herself. Besides, it wasn’t like she had a shortage of thoughts to get lost in.