Recluse (Wolfes of Manhattan 2)

“I know. But so did we all, if you want to go that route. He didn’t sexually abuse Rock, Reid, and me, but he sure abused us physically. And mentally. And emotionally.”

Mentally? Emotionally?

Physically, yes. I knew about that, and I ached for Roy and the others for it. Mentally, though? Emotionally?

Roy Wolfe was more complex than I’d imagined.

“I’m so sorry all of you had to go through that.”

“We lived,” he said, “but I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend the rest of my life in prison for something I didn’t do. And I don’t want my siblings to either.”

“Rock has an ironclad alibi.”

“The rest of us don’t, including Lacey.”

I nodded. I didn’t know what to say.

“I need help, Charlie.”

His voice wasn’t weak. It was strong. He was asking for help from a position of strength.

“What can I do?”

“I need to remember, silver. I need to remember.”

My skin went cold. “What do you need to remember, Roy?”

“I need to remember what I saw, but God, I don’t want to remember.”

“What you saw? What are you talking about?”

This was it. This was what I sensed upon our first meeting and what got stronger the more time I spent with Roy Wolfe.

He was hiding something, and now…

Now he wanted the key.

That painting in the lobby when I’d first interacted with Roy. It was so beautiful and haunting. Something was hiding in that painting, and I’d been looking for a key.

Until Roy had said, “There is no key.”

“Does this have to do with your father?” I asked.

“Yes, my father. My father and…someone else.”

My phone buzzed. Damn! Not now. But it was Lacey, probably about work, and this was still my first week on the job.

“Go ahead and take it,” Roy said.

“No. This is more imp—”

“I said take it.” His tone wasn’t angry, but it was harsh.

I bit my lip. What to do? I answered the call. “Hi, Lace.”

“I’m sorry to bother you this late,” she said, “but I had a breakthrough, and Rock wants us all to meet back at the office.”

“I’m at dinner. With Roy.”

“I hate to interrupt your dinner, but this is big. Really big. Roy needs to come too.”

“Can’t you tell me over the phone?”

Crap. Did I really just say that to my boss who was paying me quadruple what I’d been making before?

“Sorry,” I said. “We’ll be there.”Back at the office after nine p.m., still dressed in my uncomfortable work clothes. Rock and Lacey were both in jeans, but Reid, of course, still sported his tailored suit. He probably hadn’t gone home yet.

“Thanks for coming,” Lacey said.

“Thanks for dragging us away from a nice dinner,” Roy said sarcastically.

Rock went rigid. “Hey.”

“I don’t mean any disrespect to any of you,” Roy said, “but I’m starving. All I had was some bread and a few calamari.”

“We can order in,” Lacey suggested. “Rock and I have already eaten.”

Roy suppressed an eyeroll. Don’t ask me how I knew. I just knew.

Lacey turned to me. “Can you order us some food?”

This time I suppressed an eyeroll. I understood the importance of what was going on, but I had just been at dinner. And now I was supposed to order food for the group? At nine o’clock at night?

Still, I said, “Sure. What do you want?”

“Anything,” she said. “Whatever sounds good to the rest of you. I’m not hungry.”

“Pizza?” I suggested.

“Works for me,” Reid said.

“Me too,” from Roy.

I ordered the food quickly.

“Now,” Roy said. “You’re going to tell Charlie and me why you interrupted our dinner.”34RoyReid regarded me, his eyes wide.

“That’s right,” I said to him. “Charlie and I were having dinner together.”

I purposefully didn’t say we were on a “dinner date.” I wasn’t sure how Charlie would react to that, and I didn’t want to rock the boat any more than I already had. I’d let her inside my head a little, and though it was uncomfortable, I felt pretty good about it.

But I didn’t want to scare her. Not now. Not when I needed her.

Not when I loved her.

I had to take it slow and easy with Charlie Waters.

Hell, I had to take it slow and easy with myself. I was a fucked up mess, and Charlie deserved a hell of a lot better than a fucked up mess.

Reid didn’t reply.

“Anyone have anything to say about that?” I asked.

Four heads, including Charlie’s, moved side to side.

“Good. What’s up?”

“We were eating dinner, and Lace remembered something on that signature page.”

“Yeah,” Lacey said. “There were three signatures. One was Derek’s, I assume, and the other was the woman Blaine mentioned, the one with an unusual name. Then there was a third.”

“A third?” Reid asked.

“Yeah. The agreement was between three people. I can’t remember the woman’s name. Not yet, anyway. But I’m pretty sure the other man’s name was James.”

“First or last?” Reid asked.

“First. I can’t recall the last name. I just remember thinking at the time that it was the same name as James Earl Jones. I’d just watched a documentary that he narrated, so he was in my head. You know, his voice kind of permeates you.”