The Interior (Red Princess 2)

“Anne,” Matt implored his daughter, but she ignored him.

“I talked to him that day too, you know.” Her voice had shifted into something hard and edgy. Her eyes stayed steady on David as she waited for him to respond. How much did Anne know? Was she, like David, worried about her brother’s reputation? All he knew was that he didn’t want to talk about these things in front of Keith’s parents.

“My brother was in anguish. His girlfriend had just died…” Anne began to cry.

His girlfriend? Keith hadn’t mentioned anything about that. Could David have misread the evening? No, not if what the Times said was true.

“We haven’t thanked you for calling that night,” Keith’s mother said. “It meant a lot to us that it was a friend and not the police. I don’t think I could have taken that.”

“If the situation had been reversed, I’m sure Keith would have done the same for me.”

“Do you think so?” Anne asked.

“Of course I do.”

“What I mean is, do you think the situation could have been reversed?”

“Anne,” Matt Baxter gently pleaded with his daughter.

Anne took an angry swipe at her tears, then turned impatiently to her father. “What is it, Dad? Do you want me to forget that my brother died because of this man? Well, I’m not going to forget that. I don’t think anyone here—except for maybe you and Mom—is going to forget that.”

Hearing those words, David felt his gut tighten. Was this how people would think of him from now on?

“Excuse me.”

They all looked up to see Special Agent Eddie Wiley, sounding extremely official. “Mr. Stark, I need for you to step this way.”

David rose. He kept eye contact with Anne but spoke to her parents. “Again, I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am.” He tipped his head, broke away from Anne’s hard gaze, and followed Eddie into the cabana.

“Thanks,” he said.

“No thanks required. You looked like you needed rescuing.”

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

“You’re going to have to learn how to deal with shit like that.” When David regarded him in puzzlement, Eddie explained, “With people asking questions that they really don’t want the answers to.”

“And?”

“Shine them on.”

David frowned. “Could I do that? Could you?”

“It’s part of the job.”

“Maybe yours…”

Eddie didn’t respond. He didn’t have to. They both knew how many deaths the Rising Phoenix had brought to David’s job. “Eddie, can you do something for me?”

“You know I can.”

“I want to meet alone with Keith’s sister.”

“What? In the fucking greenhouse or something? I don’t think so.”

“I have to explain to her about that night.”

“No, you don’t.”