No Way to Die by Warren C. Easley

Author:Warren C. Easley [Easley, Warren C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781492699231
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2019-08-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

When I arrived back at the beach house that night, I found Claire on a conference call in her room with the door shut and Nando waiting for me with his bag packed. “I have a property closing tomorrow morning, and I need fresh clothing,” he said. “How did it go with the madam of trucking?” When I finished describing the meeting, he stroked his chin and lowered his thick eyebrows. “So, Maxine continues to deny any knowledge of the Brothers B, an obvious lie.”

“Yep. No surprise there, if our interpretation of the tally sheets is right. She did admit some of her truckers might traffic in dope but played it down as black-market marijuana, something she turns a blind eye to.”

“Such innocence. And she tells you Walter Sanders knew about his wife’s indiscretions.”

“Yeah, that was a big surprise.”

Nando flashed a knowing smile. “It seems Maxine is trying to point us in Walter’s direction.”

“Right. Just like Twila Jenson.” I closed my eyes and massaged the bridge of my nose for a moment. “Who to believe? Max and Walter both have secrets, and we’ve got nothing tangible on either one of them.” I exhaled a long breath and looked at my friend. “Maybe this is a fool’s errand, Nando.”

He shook his head. “It is not. You look tired. Get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“We haven’t talked about your fee yet.”

He picked up his bag and opened the front door. “I am on vacation.”

* * *

Claire had already eaten, but Archie’s doleful look made it clear he hadn’t. I fed him and then threw a quick meal together—a three-egg frittata made with some asparagus spears, the remaining smoked salmon, and a generous amount of grated Gruyere. A bottle of Mirror Pond worked nicely for a beverage. After cleaning up, I wandered back to Claire’s bedroom and knocked.

“What?” The response had an edge to it.

I opened the door and looked in. She was sprawled on the bed with her laptop, surrounded by sheets of paper. Her eyes were red, her cheeks tear-stained. “You okay?”

She looked away. “No.”

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“Everything.”

I sat down on the edge of the bed. “Want to talk about it?”

She stayed mute for a long time, staring at the seashell-patterned wallpaper across the room. Finally, she said, “It’s Gabriel.”

“What did he do?”

“It’s what he didn’t do. He hasn’t called or anything.”

“I thought you broke up.”

She snapped her laptop closed and looked at me, tears welling from her eyes. “Oh, Dad, I thought he was the one. Now it’s all screwed up.”

“Do you love this guy?”

She sighed, sat up against the headboard, and swiped the tears from her cheeks. “Did you know you loved mom, I mean, right away?”

I smiled as the memory rushed back, vivid, undiminished. “It was lights out for me the first time I saw her. I was on campus, the Bear’s Lair, wolfing down a sandwich at one of those little stand-up tables. She came up and asked if she could share the table. I

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