A Black Place and a White Place by Patrice Greenwood

Author:Patrice Greenwood [Greenwood, Patrice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, tea, Georgia O'Keeffe, Ghost Ranch, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Wisteria Tearoom
ISBN: 978-1-61138-875-6
Publisher: Evennight Books
Published: 2019-12-23T16:00:00+00:00

Where are you?

At our casita. The Roans are here. I made tea.

Keep them there. I’ll be right over.

“It’s Tony,” I said. “My fiancé. He’s on his way.” I glanced at the time on my phone, then set it down and returned to sit on the bed.

Lisette looked in my direction, hands still cradling her mug. She raised it, finished off her tea, and held out the mug to me.

“There’s more,” I offered, accepting it and gesturing toward the teapot.

Lisette shook her head. “We should go.”

“Oh, won’t you stay a couple minutes? I’d like to introduce you to Tony. We could all walk over to lunch.”

Lisette turned her head toward her son, who was apparently oblivious, engrossed in his phone. “All right,” she said. A sigh escaped her and she pulled off her shades to rub at her eyes. It was an unconscious gesture, but it a revealing one.

Bruises are harder to discern on dark skin, I realized. While she had her shades on, I hadn’t noticed, but I now saw that she had a shiner on her left eye that extended down onto her elegant cheekbone.

My small, sharp inhalation was involuntary. Lisette looked up at me, realization widening her eyes, and hastily put her shades back on.

“Did your husband do that?” I whispered.

Her face tightened and she gave another, angry sigh, then nodded.

“Dear God!”

The sound of the outer door being unlocked made us both jump. Instinctively I stood, placing myself between the door to the bedroom and Lisette. Tony gave me a questioning look as he came in. I had no answer. He glanced toward Lisette and back to me.

Swallowing, I took one step aside, turning to indicate Lisette with a gesture. Distress made me speak more formally than I’d intended.

“Tony, I’d like you to meet Lisette Roan. Lisette, this is Tony Aragón, my fiancé.”

Tony took a step forward, formality descending upon him as well. Cop formality.

“Ma’am.”

Lisette sat still. She knew, perhaps from our behavior, that something was quite wrong. Her head turned slightly toward her son, then back to face Tony.

Tony glanced at Jeremy, who was still absorbed in his play world, ignoring us adults. “Mrs. Roan, I’m afraid I have bad news,” Tony continued. His voice was gentle, but nothing could soften his message. “Your husband is dead.”

Slowly Lisette’s lips parted. Her brows drew together. “What happened?” She said in a strangled voice.

I glanced at Tony. He was watching her intently.

“It appears he’s been murdered.”

Lisette’s mouth dropped open, her lower lip trembling slightly, a horrified rictus. I wanted to rush to her and hug her. I stayed still.

“The county sheriffs want to talk with you,” Tony said. “They asked me to bring you to the welcome center.”

Lisette looked toward her boy. “Jeremy,” she said softly, then turned to me. It was a plea, not a summons. She was asking for help.

“They’ll want to speak to him, too,” Tony added.

“Would you like me to come with you?” I said.

A swallow moved Lisette’s throat, and she nodded, then stood and turned to Tony.

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