The following morning, Dannel left Osian to sleep in for a second morning. He’d promised his uncle he’d sweep out the staircases. Given they got such a break on rent, they always tried to help out where possible.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Dannel eased the headphones out of his ears and leaned over the railing to spot his mum below. “Up early.”
“Is it a short sentence kind of morning?” She climbed the stairs up to meet him. “Can we chat?”
Dannel leaned his arms on the top of the broom. “About Myron?”
“Always so perceptive.” She reached out to pat his arm gently. “Your auntie and I have been baking a few treats for the shop. Want to come down for a quick breakfast while your Ossie sleeps?”
No, I don’t.
Dannel knew he couldn’t avoid the topic forever. He hated being ambushed early in the morning. “Fine.”
“Fine as in you’re humouring me because you don’t want to say no, or fine as in you’re looking forward to sharing breakfast with your loving mum?” She smiled softly at him. “We don’t have to chat about your dad.”
“Fine.” Dannel shrugged.
“Why don’t you finish sweeping up first? Give yourself time to decide if you’re hungry.” His mum patted his hand one last time, then headed down the stairs. “We’ve got a fresh pot of coffee going as well.”
With a barely audible grunt in response, Dannel returned to his sweeping. He made his way quickly from the top floor all the way down to the ground. Ian poked his head out to wave cheerfully and offer a fresh-baked biscuit.
Dannel wrapped up the sweeping and finished the biscuit. He never knew what to expect from family talks. Might as well get it over with. They’ll catch up with me eventually if I don’t.
Maybe I should wake Ossie up.
The ambush didn’t start as painfully as Dannel feared. His mum, auntie, uncle, and Myron sat around one of the tables in the corner of the shop, enjoying coffee and cake while chatting cheerfully. He still wanted no part of it.
Most of the time, Roland provided a distraction for their parental types. Dannel appreciated his efforts. He’d hoped the older they got, the less it would be necessary.
Well, over the top with a bayonet.
Maybe I have been playing too much Battlefield.
“Hello, sweetheart. We saved a corner slice for you.” His mum gestured to a plate and a mug in front of one of the empty chairs. “Get some coffee in you. You’ll be awake in no time at all.”
“I’m awake now. Swept the stairs and everything.” Dannel added an extra sugar cube to his coffee. Osian was the only one who ever made it perfect. “I don’t sleepwalk either.”
“Not what they meant.” Osian stepped up behind Dannel, draping an arm over one shoulder and resting his chin on the other. “Are you having brekkie without me?”
Dannel’s stress lowered almost immediately. “There’s cake.”
“So.” Osian paused to grab a large slice of cake. “What’s on the secret brekkie committee agenda this morning?”
“Breakfast?” Myriam raised her mug at them. “There’s room at the table for you both.”
Osian didn’t take a seat. He kept Dannel from sitting as well. “Is the brekkie committee ambushing Dannel without warning?”
“Ossie,” Dannel muttered. He didn’t necessarily disagree with the accusatory nature of the question. They’d had a few conversations over the years with family about not springing things on him. “It might just be breakfast.”
“It isn’t.” Osian sounded utterly confident in his assessment.
“I only want a chance for a chat with my son.” Myron chose to break into the conversation, drawing Dannel’s attention. “A simple family breakfast.”
All of the stress in Dannel broke almost instantly. He’d spent months, years even, trying to maintain peace without expressing his feelings on what had happened. Being ambushed after a stressful day left him without his usual internal buffer.
“You can’t force a close relationship. You swanned off on us. You and Mum decided it was better for Rolly and me to get used to being a family of three. I get adults can grow apart. I understand the decision to divorce now. I’ll never grasp how you figured keeping your distance would be good for us.” Dannel slammed his hand on the table to stop Myron from interrupting. “All you did was confuse us. Me. You left me feeling as though I’d done something wrong. You made a mistake. People do. I forgive you. But there’s no magic wand to wipe away the painful memories of inadequacy. Quit trying to make me fit into your timetable. We’ll get there. Eventually.”
And with that, Dannel ran out of words. He’d practised telling off his father so many times in his head and in front of the mirror. The verbal tsunami had been brilliant and exhausting.
Now what?
“Lovely to see all of you. We’ll just take the cake.” Osian stretched an arm out to grab the platter off the table. He caught Dannel’s hand and led him out of the shop. “You stunned them into silence. We’ll sneak upstairs with our spoils of war.”
They made it to their flat without anyone following. Dannel fully expected a family invasion. Quiet acceptance wasn’t in their make-up on a genetic level.
Sinking onto the sofa, Dannel stared up at the ceiling. He heard Osian pottering around in the kitchen. His morning had started out so well.
“Coffee?” Osian held up a mug in front of Dannel.
“What?” Dannel blinked in surprise at the N7 mug hovering near his head. “Sorry.”
“Gave you twenty minutes to process but heard your tummy rumbling. Coffee. Cake.” Osian handed the mug over, then paused when a knock sounded. “Bugger. We’ll ignore them.”
“Oi. Open up, you two. Olivia and I want a word,” Roland yelled through the door, pounding on it again. “C’mon. It’s just us.”
Once Dannel nodded, Osian went to let their siblings in. Olivia shoved in by her brother. She lifted up a large sack of muffins, grabbing one and handing the bag to Roland behind her.
“By the by, I warned Mum not to listen to Dad on his plans.” Roland rummaged around in their fridge and came out with a bottle of juice. “He mentioned wanting to do a get-together. I said to wait. No one ever listens to me about family gatherings.”
“That’s because we all remember the time you suggested a joint family vacation. You rented the house. Claimed it was practically a country estate.” Osian grabbed the sack of muffins to find a chocolate-cherry one for himself. “And what happened? It was a one-bedroom cottage with a leaky roof and no working loo.”
Olivia ignored the squabbling pair and sat next to Dannel on the sofa. “How are you doing?”
“I yelled at my mum.” Dannel rubbed at his chest, trying to ease some of the lingering tension. “And Myron.”
“You’ve gotten it off your chest. All those frustrations you bottled up inside. Now, you can heal on your terms.” Olivia snagged the muffin out of Roland’s hand when he walked by to sit in an armchair. She winked at Dannel, who chuckled. “We’ve had a word with the parents. They’re suitably apologetic for springing it on you.”
“She did her disappointed teacher thing.” Roland stole the muffin back from Olivia. He handed it back when she glared at him. “Terrifying woman.”
“That’s my little sister.” Osian grinned proudly.
“Right. Enough about the drama. Parents will be parents. They’ll sort themselves out.” Roland caught the sack of muffins from Osian and got one for himself. “What’s going on with your investigation? The one you swore wasn’t happening, and I won’t mention to the detective inspectors, so I don’t wind up on Glastonbury duty.”
“Don’t fancy trudging around in the mud dealing with drunk partiers?” Osian squashed on the sofa next to Dannel. “We’ve narrowed our pool of suspects to two.”
“Because the other two were murdered,” Dannel added. He still didn’t know for certain how Howard or Niall figured into Birdie’s death.
“Try not to get yourselves murdered in the process.” Roland had obviously given up on stopping them from investigating. “And for heaven’s sake, don’t go alone if you’re poking your nose into stuff.”
“How’s your head?” Olivia asked Osian when it was clear no one had a response to Roland. “Stitches driving you mad yet?”
Osian bent his head forward for her to inspect. “I’ve got a week maybe before they can come out. Itches like mad, though. Sodding hate stitches.”
“Do amateur sleuths get hazard pay?” Roland bit into his muffin and winked at his brother.
“Don’t be snarky.” Dannel nudged Roland with his foot. “Can we get accident insurance?”
“I loathe all of you. Wankers.” Osian feigned a pout while reaching out to snag another muffin from the bag. “Here’s what I’d like to know. Do we have one murderer or two? Did Howard or Niall kill Birdie? Or is there another person who did all three?”
“Oz.” Roland dropped his head forward into his hands. “Maybe let the detective inspectors figure this out, yeah? It’s what they get paid to do.”
“Here, look at this.” Osian went over to grab the laptop off the table. He showed them the note along with the comparisons they’d made. “I can’t tell if there’s a similarity or not.”
“Have you checked in with Chris? Did his video catch anything interesting?” Olivia ignored the glare Roland sent her way. “What? That you think we had a chance of stopping their curiosity is hilarious.”
“Hope springs eternal.” Roland sighed.