“All right.” She clicked off just as Collette opened the slider and stepped onto the deck.
“God, it’s cold out here!” She closed the door and peered back inside, as if making certain she wasn’t followed. “But quieter. I thought it was a good time to escape. Sarina’s boys just got home.” She rolled her eyes.
Pescoli looked through the glass to verify that yes, Sarina’s sons, two blond boys who each took after their father, had joined the group. Their backpacks and jackets had been slung unceremoniously onto the couch near the baby carrier. Fortunately Tucker was still sleeping.
That wouldn’t last for long.
“Too much testosterone for me,” Collette said with a mock shudder. “Besides, I wanted to talk to you. Alone.”
“What about?”
“Paul’s boys. Macon and Seth. I didn’t want to say too much in front of Sarina. You know how she is—kind of a Pollyanna. She always wants to see the best in everyone.”
“Not so much with Denny’s girlfriend.”
“Well. That. She’s pretty wounded right now. And they’re still married. Just you wait, though, give it time,” she said, as from a nearby condo a dog began to bark. “Even that will change.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it.”
“Hey! Bruno!” a male voice yelled. “No barking! You get in here! Aw, Geez, not on the deck! Oh, no . . . come on! Inside. Now! Sarah? You’d better take your dog for a walk. Now. Come on, let’s go.” Then the distinctive sound of a slider door slamming shut.
Collette, distracted slightly for a second, continued, “Anyway, the point is Macon and Seth really are trouble. Where Sarina’s boys still have some, oh, I don’t know, not exactly innocence to them, maybe more like naivete, Paul’s kids are different. Trust me, I’m not just saying that because they’re not related by blood. That’s not it. It’s just that Macon’s as explosive and deep-down angry as Paul was. A chip off the old block. And dear Lord, how he loves all of Paul’s weaponry. The man had a damned arsenal, you know.”
“Yeah.”
“Still,” Collette went on, “Macon and Paul were like oil and water. Macon couldn’t stand to be in the same room with his father for more than about five minutes. And, I think, the feeling was mutual. Macon was opposed to everything Paul stood for, especially his money, if you can believe that.”
“He didn’t like the wealth?”
“I think he didn’t like the ostentatious show of it because he sure as hell always had his hand out. Anyway, I think we already discussed this.” She adjusted one of her earrings and stared at the curtain of rain pouring from the heavens. “Macon is like a time bomb about to go off.”
“You think he’s capable of a double murder?” Pescoli asked, glancing into the room where Macon, the oldest of the cousins, was holding court, Sarina’s boys and Seth taking in his every word. Even Bianca was listening intently as Macon spouted off about something.
“I’m saying I don’t know and I hate to admit it.” She let out a long, drawn out sigh and walked to the railing, ran her finger along its wet edge, and retreated to the covered area near the door. “But at least he’s not leaving, yet. He’s cooling down a bit, so maybe you can talk him into speaking with the police.”
“If he doesn’t, they won’t clear him.”
“I know. He has to figure it out.”
“Yesterday you told Paterno and Tanaka that he wasn’t all that violent.”
“I toned it down, but truthfully? I just don’t know how far he would go,” Collette said, obviously disturbed. “You saw how he was when he came in, all militant and ready to punch walls. He’s always been like that as far as I know.”
“What about Seth?”
“Oh, pfft.” Collette fiddled with one of her earrings, tightening the back. “He’s not in the same category as Macon, not nearly as mercurial. But there’s something off with him, too. He does okay in school and he at least accepted his parents’ divorce a
nd Brindel as a stepmother, but he’s soft around the edges, kind of a mama’s boy, if you know what I mean.”
“He’s close to his mother.”
“Oh, yeah. He and Katrina, Paul’s ex?” she asked, then held up her hand, her middle finger crossing over her index finger. “Just like that. Tight as you can imagine, and at his age, you know, it’s a little weird.”
“Did Katrina have a problem with Paul or Brindel?”
Collette shrugged. “They seemed civil enough. They weren’t palsy-walsy, but after the initial shock of Paul’s affair with Brindel, Katrina seemed to get over it. Moved on. Didn’t remarry, but dated, and Brindel said they all ‘got along.’ That’s how she described it. Whatever that means. But back to your question. I don’t think Seth is capable of murder,” she said, staring through the glass at her nephews. Her gaze traveled to the larger of Paul’s sons. “But Macon? Him, I’m not so sure.”
Chapter 9