The Guilty

Chapter 39

I don’t have to stay here,” said Reel.

She and Robie were standing in front of the Willows.

“And this looks a little too fancy for my tastes,” she added. “I’m more into bunk beds and potbellied stoves. Antebellum structures and mint juleps on the verandah just aren’t my thing.”

“Victoria is nice. And there’s really no other place to stay around here.”

“Are you sure she’ll be okay with it?”

“Okay with what?”

Victoria had come around the side of the house with Tyler in tow. He had on shorts and a T-shirt. She had on white Capri pants and a sleeveless, pale blue blouse against the heat.

“With my friend Jessica staying here at the Willows.”

Victoria walked over to them and each woman ran her gaze up and down the other, completing a quick but in-depth appraisal.

Victoria said, “So you’re Will’s friend?”

“Yes.”

“Just got into town?”

“Just.”

“How long will you be staying?”

“Long as Robie needs me.”

Victoria eyed Robie. “Need her for what?”

“For what’s going on with my father.”

“But what can she do? Is she a lawyer?”

“No, just someone I’ve worked with in the past.”

She slowly nodded. “You weren’t here when I came down this morning. Did you go out early again, Will?”

“Something like that.”

“You know if you’re staying in my house I do expect some common courtesy. You’re a grown man and you don’t have to account for your whereabouts, but I was worried about you. What with all that’s going on. I don’t want to have to go tell your daddy that something has happened to you.”

“I’m sorry, Victoria. I should have called.”

Reel looked down at Tyler, who was staring up at her with his finger in his mouth.

“And who’s this little guy?” she asked.

“This is Tyler, Will’s stepbrother.”

Reel shot Robie a glance. “Meaning that you’re his—?”

“—stepmother? Yes, I am. But I’m not wicked. At least to my friends.”

Robie avoided Reel’s piercing look. “So it’s okay that she stays here? She can actually help with what we talked about.”

“You mean security?” said Victoria, looking skeptically at the slender Reel. “How about I just hire some big, burly guys?”

“If you want the JV team, go ahead,” said Reel matter-of-factly.

“Jessica can help us,” said Robie. “I mean really help us.”

“If you say so,” replied Victoria, shrugging. She picked up Tyler. “I need to get this boy some lunch. You two want to settle in and then join us? We’re eating in the pavilion. Get some breezes down there that will feel really good on a day like today.”

She walked off.

Reel looked at Robie. “Stepmother? Did you know before you came?”

“No.”

“Must’ve been a shock.”

“It was.”

“Cute kid.”

“He doesn’t talk. Has some issue.”

Reel stared after Victoria and Tyler as they reached the house and went inside. “That’s too bad.”

Robie leaned against the front fender of his rental. “We need to find Pete Clancy.”

“He might be dead.”

“Don’t think so. He’s on the run.”

Reel said, “Well, then he might be far, far away.”

“You think Blue Man could help us there?”

“I think you need to stop stomping on the good graces of Blue Man.”

“He said that?” he asked.

“No, but I interpreted that. You’ve got me. I think that’s going to be it. He doesn’t even want you down here.”

Robie sighed and stared up at the Willows.

Reel followed his look. “What’s up?”

“I have memories of this place. A…girl.”

“Do tell.”

Robie filled her in on Laura Barksdale and the night he had left Cantrell for good. Or so he thought.

“So Romeo lost his Juliet?”

“Something like that.”

“Whatever happened to the Barksdales?”

“I don’t know,” replied Robie.

“Well, maybe you should find out.”

He shot her a glance. “Why, what does it matter?”

“I can tell that it does, to you. And if you come back to your hometown, you might as well address everything while you have the chance. You might not get another.”

Robie glanced over at her, surprise on his features. “You speaking from experience?”

“What else?”

“I wouldn’t really know where to start.”

“How about with your father?”

“My father? I’m not sure I can talk to him about that.”

“Robie, my father was someone you couldn’t talk to about anything. But unless your dad is a racist murderer like mine, then I think you can probably have a conversation with him.”