Angie’s voice shifted to attorney mode. “Who’s killing those women?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
Angie frowned, an old sign her mind turned over all the variables. “Be careful.”
The gruff warning triggered a stab of emotion she’d not expected. “I can take care of myself. Don’t worry about me.”
“I do.” Angie stared at her, her expression as solid as stone. She handed Eva a card. “If you need anything, call me.”
Eva took the card, letting her thumb trace the gold embossed letters. “Thanks.”
Angie pulled out her cell phone and prepared to type. “Do you have a cell in case I need you?”
Eva shook her head. “You can reach me here.” She rattled off the number.
She typed in the number. “What’s your cell?”
“I don’t have one.”
Angie looked at her as if she’d just grown a third eye. “Why not? You need to have a phone. Everybody has a phone.”
“Not everybody. And I’ve always been able to get my hands on a phone when I really needed one.”
“You should have a cell.”
“People have survived for thousands of years without one.”
Angie hesitated, clearly wanting to argue but deciding against it. She put her phone away. Eva shoved her hands into her pockets.
They stared at each other, both uncertain of how to end this meeting. A handshake, hug, even a Have a Great Life didn’t suit them. What should have been natural didn’t come easy to either one of them.
Finally, Angie nodded. “Okay.”
“Right.” A hug, which should have been natural, somehow didn’t feel right.
“I’ll call you.”
“Sure.”
Angie nodded, turned and left.
Eva stood in the center of the pub, the crushing weight of abrupt solitude squeezing her chest. Angie was hurt. Damn. Eva couldn’t have messed things up better if she’d tried.
Eva’s thoughts turned to Deacon Garrison. He’d meddled where he shouldn’t have. “Asshole.”
Shoving out a breath, Eva moved into the kitchen. The smells of chili mingled with the scent of the apple pies in the oven. Bobby sat on a stool wearing an oversized apron. He peeled potatoes. King stood to his right, doing the same. Whereas the boy had a small paring knife, King wielded a large knife that had a seven-inch blade on it.
“Why isn’t he in school?” Eva said.
“Teacher workday or something,” King said.
“Look, Eva,” Bobby said. “I’ve almost got the peel off this one.”
The potato looked as if it had gone through a meat grinder. Half the peel remained on, and what he’d managed to get off lay in thick uneven chunks on the counter. But none of that really mattered. The pride shining in the kid’s eyes got to her.
She smiled and winked. “I bet you could run this place in a few weeks if King gave the okay.”
King expertly carved away the potato skin. “The boy can do just about anything. He helped me bake pies yesterday.”
“He’s a smart guy.” Eva began peeling a potato.
“So who was that I heard you talking to?” King said. No missing the keen interest in his voice.
She hesitated. “Nobody.”
“It was somebody. ”
Eva glanced at Bobby, and winked but her comment was directed to King. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I worry.” King glanced down at Bobby. “Eva is a lot like you, kid. She doesn’t like to talk about her family or her past.”
Bobby glanced up at Eva, his face a solemn mask.
Eva frowned. “That’s not true. I’d talk about my family if I had something to say.”
“That expression,” King said to the kid. “She gets that expression just like you. It’s a don’t-ask-me-no-more-questions look.”
Both Eva and Bobby suddenly became very interested in the potato they were peeling.
“Two peas in a pod,” King said.
Eva concentrated on the way her knife sliced under the potato peel. Up until this moment, her silence hadn’t hurt anyone but herself. And that had been an acceptable trade-off. Now her silence not only hurt her, but Angie, Bobby and Garrison’s investigation. As comforting and safe as the silence had been, she could no longer afford it.
She tossed her potato into a pot of water. “That woman you just heard me talking to is my sister.” She glanced from Bobby to King. “Her name is Angie Carlson and she’s an attorney in town.”
King grunted. “She looked mad.”
Eva arched a brow. “You were watching us?”
“Bobby and I peeked through the kitchen door. But we couldn’t hear anything.”
“You were spying on me?”
King showed no repentance. “We’re nosy because we care. Right, Bobby?”
Bobby nodded. “Yeah.”
Slowly, she picked up another potato and started to peel it. She could feel Bobby’s gaze on her. “I’ve been back in town six months and I never told Angie I was back. I should have told her. It’s not good to keep secrets from family.”
“How’d she find out you were here?”
“Detective Garrison put the pieces together. He told her.”
“Why would he do that?”
Because he thinks I’m key to a murder investigation. “I don’t know.”
King glanced at her as if to say you know. “So how’d it go out there?”
“Better than expected, I guess. Awkward. Real awkward.”
King walked around the counter and wrapped his big arm around Eva. “I learned one thing about growing up with a houseful of sisters. ”
Tears welled in her eyes and one rushed down her cheek. “What’s that?”
“They fight like cats and dogs, but they always forgive each other.”
God, how much she wanted to believe King. “This isn’t a fight over clothes, King. The hurt runs deep.”
He turned her to face him. “Give it time. You’ll both find a way back.”
She wanted to melt into his arms and press her face against his chest. She wanted him to hold her like her father did when she was a little girl, and chase away the demons. But her father’s love had faded when the pressures of home life were too much and he’d left. His abandonment had taught her at a young age that she had herself to rely on.
Eva swiped away a tear. “Thanks.”
“She doesn’t believe me, Bobby,” King said. “But she’ll see that I’m right. And you, boy, will see that I’m right too. It’s always better to trust someone.”
Bobby’s gaze darted between Eva and King. He didn’t speak, but the hard line that always seemed to furrow his brow had eased. “My mom died,” he said quietly.
For a moment Eva didn’t dare breathe for fear he’d shut down.
“I miss her,” he said.
“How long has she been dead?”
“A long time.”
“How did she die?”
“She got sick.”
“What was her name?” Eva said.
“It doesn’t matter.” His shoulders crumpled forward and she had the sense that the window he’d just barely cracked open had closed. “I can’t bring her back and I want to stay here.”
“We want to protect you,” Eva said softly.
Bobby looked at her, his eyes watery.
“I know you’re scared,” she persisted. “But you’ve got to tell us about your family. ”
Bobby looked like the secret inside of him clawed to get out. Just a few more minutes and she might actually get some information out of him.
Then King smoothed his hand over the boy’s head. “We’ll figure something out, kid. Don’t sweat it.”
Bobby grabbed the out King had just given him. “I don’t have to tell.”
“Not until you’re ready, pal.”
Eva glanced at King as if he’d lost his mind.
King puffed out his chest, defensive. “No sense making it a bi
g thing. ”
Eva kept her tone light for Bobby’s sake but right now she’d gladly have throttled King. “Kinda is a big thing.”
“A problem for tomorrow. ”
Eva could see what was happening. King had fallen into the role of father and he didn’t want out. And arguing with him right now would be pointless. She’d catch him later and chew his ear.
Hanging around here would drive her a little insane. “I gotta get going,” Eva said.
King arched a brow. “Where you going?”
“I’m not making headway here now so I can at least track down that rat-bastard Garrison.”
Chapter 16
Monday, April 10, 12 Noon