Scarlet Nights (Edilean 3)

Luke showed his shock at Mike’s word of “family.” “There are more people here than just Mitzi?” When Mike just looked at him, Luke drew in his breath. “It’s Greg, isn’t it? How is he involved?”

“He’s Mitzi’s son.”

Luke gave a low whistle. “Does Sara know?”

“No. I want her to trust me more before I tell her.”

“From what I’ve seen, she couldn’t trust you more than she does now.”

“Yeah?” Mike couldn’t stop his grin.

Luke arched an eyebrow at him. “You are aware, aren’t you, that if you hurt our Sara we’ll murder you?”

“And what happens if my heart is broken?” Mike asked.

“I have a staple gun in the truck.”

Mike laughed. “At least tell me it’s a big staple gun.”

“A pocket-size mini.”

As they got to the door they were laughing, and an adolescent young man came out. He was as tall as Luke, but outweighed him by about a hundred pounds—and all of it looked to be muscle.

The boy didn’t say anything, but when he saw Mike, he stopped and stared. He took Mike’s chin in his hand, turned his face to the side, and ran his finger down Mike’s nose. It had been broken several times but rarely repaired. As a result, he had a slight hook at the top of it that he’d been told looked like an axe blade.

The young man said nothing, just removed his hand, and kept walking. Waiting by the big pillars into Edilean Manor was a sleek little Mercedes convertible. Sitting at the wheel was a slim, extraordinarily pretty young woman with an abundance of dark red hair. She waved at Luke, stared at Mike, and waited while the boy got into the passenger seat, then spun away in a flurry of gravel.

“Who the hell—?” Mike began.

“Fraziers.” Luke went into the house.

“The big kid …?”

“Shamus. He’s drawing the gypsy cards.”

“Why was he looking at me?”

“He likes faces, but who knows what a Frazier is thinking?”

“The girl’s a looker.”

“That’s Ariel, and she’s a terror. She has the Frazier temper.”

“I guess I’m better off with Sara,” Mike said.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Does everyone in this town work at matchmaking?”

“Not Mr. Lang,” Luke said instantly.

As Mike laughed, they heard the voices of the women and went into the drawing room, where Joce and Sara were.

As before, the evening was very pleasant. Mike could almost forget the case as they talked about food and Luke’s trip to the gym that morning.

“Forty-six minutes of hell,” Luke was saying. “Who would have thought you could do so much damage in so short a time?” He put a hand on his shoulder. “My delts will be sore tomorrow.”

“You have strong lats. I’m going to have to work to keep up with you.”