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Luckily, the media had disappeared when I left Pam’s a half hour later. I was getting into my vehicle when a black Jeep pulled up next to mine. The driver glanced curiously in my direction as he got out of the car. Nate. I rolled down the window as he approached my vehicle. “Hi.”
Nate didn’t look happy to see me. “What are you doing here? Don’t realtors ever take a night off?”
Yikes. I reminded myself that he was grieving the loss of his father and not to say anything I’d regret later. “I’m here because your mother asked me to come.”
He placed a hand on my car door. “Right. Your only concern is the commission you can make.”
His words stung like a wasp. “Your mother is worried about you and Max, more so than herself. It looks like your father’s death will be ruled a homicide, and she doesn’t want to leave you two without anything if—” I hesitated. “If she ends up going to prison.”
Nate’s expression turned grim. “She can’t go to prison. She’s innocent. My mother’s been through enough crap the last few years.”
A warm breeze floated through the night and ruffled Nate’s dark hair, making him look even younger and more childlike than someone graduating high school soon. I wanted to reassure him that Pam wouldn’t be going away, but that wasn’t possible. “I can understand how you must feel.”
Nate’s jaw tightened. “No, I don’t think you do. I loved my dad, but he could be a real jerk sometimes. Did my mom tell you that he was hit with one of her golf clubs? That’s why the police are convinced she did this, but there’s no way.”
“Your mom seems to think that Katie did this.”
“I guess she could have. She came by the house the other day. Dad asked her to come over and pick up his mail, so Denise gave it to her. She never came inside.”
Pam hadn’t mentioned this. “Was your mother home at the time?”
“Yeah, she was upstairs.” He stared down at the ground. “She was napping.”
I’d already figured out that Pam napping was synonymous with being too drunk to stand. How sad that her life had come to this. “Do you mean it’s possible that Katie could have gotten into the garage and your mother’s car to grab the golf club?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t watch her leave that day, but yeah, it’s possible. Mom forgets to lock the garage lots of times. Usually, Nate or I will do it when we come home. She told the cops all of this last night, but they still said there was enough evidence to arrest her.”
“If her car was unlocked, anyone could have grabbed a golf club out of it,” I mused, more to myself than Nate.
Nate shifted from one foot to another and wouldn’t look at me. “He hit my mother, you know. Max and I have seen the black eyes. One morning she showed up with a busted lip and said the cat scratched her while she was sleeping. Give me a break. I’m not stupid.”
“Did he hit you too?” I asked gently.
Nate didn’t reply, but there was no need. From the look on his face, I was confident that I already had my answer, so I changed the subject. “Did your father have anyone who wanted to hurt him?”
He frowned. “The only person I ever saw Dad arguing with, besides my mother, was his partner, Carmine. When I was in their office last month, Dad was having a shouting match with him. It was major intense.”
“What were they arguing about?” I asked curiously.
He considered my question for a moment. “It had something to do with money. I guess Carmine owed Dad rent because I heard him shouting at him. He said something like, ‘I told you what’s going to happen if you don’t pay me.’”
My ears pricked up. Nate was only seventeen, so he’d obviously misunderstood the undertone of the conversation, but to me it sounded more like this could have been a case of blackmail. “Did you hear anything else?”
Nate shook his head. “No, but Katie was in the office with me. Maybe she knows something more about it.”
Maybe, indeed.
Nate glanced towards the front door. “I’d better get inside. Mom might need help with Dad’s service for tomorrow.”
This was a surprise. “I didn’t realize that the police had released your father’s body yet.” From what I’d witnessed in the past, this seemed too quick to proceed for a case being considered a homicide.
“It’s not his funeral,” Nate explained. “Mom wants to do a memorial service. My dad knew so many people that she said it would be expected. The funeral will be later on. Mom doesn’t want it to become a circus so she’s making it immediate family only.”
I wanted to ask if Katie would be attending but decided against it.
Nate’s nostrils flared. “All those reporters hanging around are making it harder on mom. They kept asking the police if my mother was the prime suspect. It’s like they made the police arrest her.”
“The police would never pay any attention to them,” I said.
He clenched his fists at his sides. “If those jerks come back tomorrow, I’m going to tell them where to go.”
“It’s probably best if you stay away from them,” I advised. “You don’t want to make things worse for your mother.”
He nodded gave me a halfhearted wave. “Later.”
I watched as Nate started up the porch steps, his shoulders hunched forward as if prepared to do battle. His behavior struck me as a bit odd. Like a faucet, he’d gone from hot to cold in a matter of seconds. He was young, and despite what he’d said, he was hurting deeply from his father’s death and his mother’s arrest.
I started the car and drove home, thinking about the very different conversations I’d had with Pam and her son. My phone buzzed, startling me out of my thoughts. “Hello?”
“How’s my number one realtor doing?” Jacques wanted to know.
His voice always made me smile. “More like your temporary realtor.”
Jacques scoffed. “Don’t say that. You need to come back to real estate for good. Now tell me, what’s the latest?”
I turned onto the highway and relayed my visit with Pam. “Things aren’t looking good for her. She has everything stacked against her. I also spoke with Max briefly, and then on my way out, I ran into Nate.”
“Did they have anything useful to add?”
I changed lanes in order to pass a woman doing the minimum forty miles an hour. “Nate’s got a lot of built-up resentment towards his father. He was abusive to the entire family. Kevin also had a gambling problem, and he and his partner were having issues over money. It sounds like selling the house would have given him some dough that was sorely needed.”
“He was a top criminal attorney,” Jacques protested. “That means he should have had money to burn.”
“He was a defense attorney,” I corrected. “They usually don’t make as much money.”
Jacques made a harrumphing noise. “What gives then? How did he afford that beautiful house, and that car?”
“Who knows. Maybe he bought them with credit. A lot of people do. Something about the whole situation seems off.”
“Did Pam ask to get out of the contract?” Jacques wanted to know.
I took a left-hand turn onto my street. “No, and that’s another thing that I thought was kind of strange. I figured she’d be happy to have her house back, but she told me that she still wants to go ahead with the sale.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. “What’s wrong? I thought that would please you.”
“It does,” Jacques murmured, “but the house might be a difficult sale now. Oh well, at least he didn’t die in the house. What else did Pam have to say?”
“She wants me to talk to Kevin’s girlfriend tomorrow. She thinks Katie is responsible for his death.”
Jacques chuckled. “Oh my, it’s just like old times. Your reputation is preceding you again, dear. Are you going to do it?”
“I said I would help. Pam’s my friend and I feel like I owe her. She did a lot of nice things for me, especially when we were in college. After my mother died, she let me stay at her house for an entire summer.”
Jacques’ voice was gentle, but firm. “Cynthia darling. No one is forcing you to do this.”
“Yes, I know, but I want to help her. Will you come with me tomorrow to talk to Katie?”
“Of course,” he said grandly. “We’re still a team, right? Sherlock and Holmes are back in business. What time do you want to go?”
I pulled my car into the garage. “How about nine thirty? I can meet you at the office, and we can leave from there.”
“Well, I don’t have any appointments until noon, so I’ll be there with bells on. Now try to have a restful evening with the fam, dear.”
“Yeah, right,” I laughed. “That’s not going to happen. Darcy came home unexpectedly last night and announced she’s not going back to school. Greg and I need to find out what’s wrong with her.”
“Oh my, there’s always something interesting happening at the York home,” Jacques teased. “With that girl, I’m guessing it’s related to boys, and not her studies.”
I let out a groan. “Yeah, I think you might be right.”
“See you in the morning, dear.”
When I entered the house, I found the twins lying on the couch, watching television. Darcy was in the kitchen, texting on her phone, and Greg was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s your father?” I asked her.
“He’s upstairs reading Grace a story.” Darcy didn’t look up. She always gave the iPhone her undivided attention, a habit that irritated me.
Impatiently, I waved a hand in front of her face. “Could you please forget about Snapchat for a moment and look at me when I’m talking to you?”
Darcy sighed and stared up at me with a bored expression. “What is it, Mother?”
“Where’s this attitude coming from?” I turned on the Keurig and waited for it to heat up. “For starters, I’d like to know why you want to leave school. I thought things were going well.”
She pursed her lips together. “I thought we were waiting for Daddy.”
“Here I am, right on time from the sound of it.” Greg gave me a swift kiss on the lips. “Grace fell asleep before I could even finish the story.”
“I guess all the excitement from having her big sister home must have worn her out.” I pulled a cup down from the cupboard for Greg, but he shook his head and sat down next to Darcy.
Darcy narrowed her eyes. “Okay, fine. I’ve decided that I need a break from school. But I’m not leaving for good. I just want to take a break for a year, and then I’ll go back.”
“No way.” Greg shook his head. “If you leave now, you won’t go back.”
She made a face. “Why are you both being so unreasonable?”
“It’s our job,” Greg remarked.
I removed my cup from the Keurig and sat down on the other side of her. “There’s got to be more to it. For starters, why do you want a year off?”
Darcy shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “The classes are too hard. And I’m tired of studying all the time. I want to be on my own and get a job. Sort of like what Liam did.”
“Liam?” Greg’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.
I stole a sideways glance at him. It was no secret that Greg couldn’t stand Liam Harris. He thought the man was a bad influence on Darcy, and I had to agree. She’d met him over the summer at a local party, shortly after her breakup with Ryan. At the age of twenty-five, he worked part-time at a fast-food place and lived with his parents. Liam had no goals that I knew of, except to play video games all day and party all night. Darcy’s attraction to him was puzzling, but I’d hoped he was only a rebound boyfriend. I figured that the less fuss we made about him, the more likely she might be to move on to someone else. It looked like I was wrong.
“I thought you weren’t seeing him anymore.” Greg’s nostrils flared.
Darcy shrugged. “He came down to Florida to visit me at school.”
A muscle ticked in Greg’s jaw. “Where did he sleep?”
“Daddy!” Darcy’s mouth dropped open in shock. “He stayed in a hotel with a friend. Why do you always suspect the worst of me?”
I gave Greg a subtle nudge in the side. “That’s not true, honey.”
“Yes, it is.” Darcy’s mouth set in a stubborn line. “You both hate Liam.”
“We don’t hate him,” I added.
Greg gritted his teeth together. “I do.”
“You don’t even know him,” she protested. “At least give him a chance.”
Frustrated, Greg shook his head. “What’s the fascination with this guy? He’s twenty-five years old, Darcy, and still sponging off his parents. He doesn’t even have a full-time job. What does he want to do with his life?”
She tossed her head in defiance. “He’s making an album with his band, the Stinks. They’re awesome. As soon as they get a record deal, he’s going to move out and get his own place.”
I blinked once, okay, maybe twice. Greg sat there in silence like a volcano, waiting to erupt at any moment. It was a bit ironic that Greg had gone from the calm, cool parent to the overprotective father, but that had been before he knew there was a member of the opposite sex involved.
“Did Liam tell you to leave school? Is he offering you a gig as their main singer?” Sarcasm dripped from Greg’s mouth.
Darcy gave her father a murderous glare. “Liam didn’t tell me to leave college. He only said that it was a waste of time.”
“A waste of time?” Greg repeated. “That guy is a waste of time.”
Greg seemed to have forgotten about our daughter’s stubborn will. If Darcy knew how much we disapproved of Liam, she would continue to date him in order to spite us. I tried to reason with both of them. “Liam’s never gone to college, right? Then how can he know that it’s a waste of time?”
Greg threw his hands up into the air. “All right, that’s it. I forbid you to see that guy again. And come Sunday, you’ll be on a flight headed back to Florida. Do you understand?”
“Greg,” I murmured.
“I don’t care, Cin. This is it. I’m done trying to be fair.”
Darcy pushed her chair back from the table and rose. “You can’t make me go back to school.”
“We’ve already paid your tuition for the semester, and at this point, we won’t be able to get much, or any of it, refunded. Are you sure there isn’t another reason why you don’t want to go back?” I examined her face closely. Even though my daughter had made some impulsive decisions in her life, she’d done well in college and had seemed to be enjoying her classes. It didn’t make sense that she was suddenly swinging back and forth like a pendulum. If this had to do with her breakup with Ryan like I suspected, she might not want to talk about it in front of her father.
While I made every attempt to keep my voice on an even keel, Greg did not. He pointed a stern finger at Darcy. “You’ll go back to school on Sunday if I have to drive you there myself.”
“You just don’t understand!” she cried dramatically. “I can’t talk to you when you’re being so unreasonable!” She turned on her heel and ran out of the room. A few seconds later we heard the door to her bedroom slam.
With a sigh, I put my empty mug in the dishwasher. “Some things will never change.”
Greg stared at me in disbelief. “How can you be so calm about this? The next thing we know, she’ll be shacking up with that loser!”
“Again, it’s funny how our roles have reversed,” I mused. “What happened to the man who told me this morning that our daughter would come around if we gave her time?”
He scratched his head. “Yeah, well, that was before I knew there was a guy involved.”
“Don’t you realize what you’re doing? By telling Darcy that you disapprove of Liam, you’re only pushing her more in his direction!”
Greg folded his arms across his broad chest. “Look, Cin, I realize what you’re saying, but I can’t help it. I don’t trust that guy. He’s too old for her. And what’s the deal with her lately? Last spring, she was dating a guy who had a future. Ryan’s going to be a doctor, for crying out loud. And now she’s hanging out with this bum. Where did we go wrong?”
Before I could respond, he walked out of the kitchen. I started to follow him upstairs then decided to wait. Deep down, Greg was having a tough time letting Darcy go. And I suspected that Darcy, who’d inherited his stubborn genes, was going to rub Liam in our faces every chance she got.
Darcy had been unhappy all summer, but whenever I brought up Ryan’s name, she’d insisted that she didn’t want to talk about the breakup. “It’s in the past,” she’d said. If I could get her to open up to me, perhaps she’d be willing to go back to school, before the decision affected her future.