The Secrets She Kept. Brenda Novak

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СКАЧАТЬ was a dynamic person,” she said as she left.

      Keith fell back on his pillows. Even Pippa had admired Josephine but couldn’t quite say she’d liked her. “Pippa?” he called in an effort to catch her before she could move out of hearing distance.

      Now that she’d done her duty by letting him know he had a visitor, his door inched open only as far as necessary. “Yes, sir?”

      “I’d like to talk to you after Maisey leaves. Will you be around?”

      “I’ll be here as long as you need me. With Maisey’s permission, I stayed home for the past few days. I was too upset to do much else. But I was grateful you offered to have me back today. I’ve been coming here for so long. And the place needs looking after.”

      “I understand. I’d rather you stayed on and continued to do your job. I’ll see to it that you get paid. I’ve told Tyrone the same.”

      “Yes, I saw Tyrone on my way in, sir. It was a comforting sight. I believe it’s a good decision to keep him. We couldn’t have the yard here at Coldiron House getting overgrown.”

      Obviously, she took great pride in where she worked. “No. That would be a real tragedy.”

      She hesitated, as if she could tell he was being facetious, even though his first tongue-in-cheek comment about the impropriety of Maisey’s coming to his room had sailed right past her. She seemed to be waiting for some further cue from him, so he said, “That will be all, thanks,” and she left without additional comment.

      He waited for the sound of her footsteps to fade before he got up. Then he burrowed through his suitcase for a pair of boxers, jeans and a T-shirt. When he retrieved his phone from the nightstand, he could see that he’d missed several calls from Maisey, as well as a few texts, because he’d turned it on Silent.

      Coming, he wrote and sent it to her, although he was confident Pippa had already conveyed that information, and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and hair.

      By the time he hurried downstairs and entered the drawing room, Pippa had served Maisey tea and biscuits with honey and jam. He wasn’t groggy anymore, but traipsing around Coldiron House without his mother in residence felt odd. She’d always taken complete command of her home, even when his father was alive. She’d been such a dominant presence for so long, it was easy to forget Grandpa Coldiron had lived here first.

      At the sound of his approach, his sister swallowed the bite she’d just taken and looked up. “Morning.”

      “Same to you,” he said.

      “You sleep okay?”

      Her skeptical expression told him he didn’t look rested. “Not really. You?”

      “Sort of.”

      “Where’s my niece and my nephew? Are the kids with Rafe?”

      “They’re at his mother’s. He’s repairing the vestibule of that old church near the marina today.”

      “Will you bring the family over later?”

      “Of course.” She lowered her voice. “I’d rather Laney didn’t hear us talking about her grandmother the way we need to this morning. Laney might be one of the few people who’s never felt conflicted when it comes to Grandma Josephine. And, oddly enough, Mother loved her. Inexplicably. Diligently. Even kindly.”

      “That’s somewhat redeeming.” He helped himself to a biscuit without bothering to sit down or get a plate—something his mother would never have tolerated. “Have you heard anything new?”

      “I stopped the autopsy.”

      He’d received her text last night, which was why he hadn’t set an alarm to get up early this morning. “I saw that.”

      “And just a few minutes ago I got permission to call in our own pathologist. I also made an appointment with the new chief of police. I guessed you’d want to talk to her.”

      “Old Man Reuben finally retired?” Keith was fairly certain Maisey had mentioned it. She’d kept him abreast of the more noteworthy changes on the island. But he’d had no particular reason to remember that. He’d rarely had to deal with Chief Reuben himself. His mother had interceded whenever he got into trouble. She’d exacted her own retribution afterward, which was arguably worse than what he would’ve received had he been remanded to the police. But she would not allow scandal to befall the Coldiron name—another reason he couldn’t accept that she’d kill herself. What could be more scandalous than suicide? That had been her primary complaint when, in desperation, he’d felt it was his only escape.

      “Yeah. We have a woman now. The city council’s showing how progressive they can be.”

      “A woman, huh? How old is she?”

      “Can’t be more than forty-one. Attractive, too. Really attractive.”

      “Any good at her job?”

      “Seems to be. There was a big write-up in the paper when they hired her. The article made her sound like a solid candidate. She’s from Chicago.”

      “She have a family?”

      “No. Her husband was in the military. Died in Afghanistan before they could have kids. They’d grown up two blocks from each other. Gone to high school together. I suspect that was part of the reason she was willing to leave the big city behind. Too many memories.”

      “I can see wanting to leave, but what brought her here, of all places?”

      “A kinder, gentler existence. Lots of sun and sand. Less violence. And there was a job for her, I guess.”

      “What time do we meet with her?”

      She checked her phone. “Yikes! We’ve only got twenty minutes—barely enough time for you to shower.”

      “So that’s why you’ve been trying to get hold of me!”

      “Yes.”

      He broke off part of his biscuit, popped it in his mouth and slipped the rest onto her plate. “I’ll be down in fifteen.”

      He was halfway up the stairs when Pippa stopped him. “Mr. Lazarow?”

      The tone of her voice seemed uncertain, which made him curious. He turned to face her. “Yes?”

      She opened her mouth, then seemed to reconsider. “Never mind.”

      “What is it, Pippa?” he pressed.

      “I...I was wondering what you’d like for dinner, that’s all.”

      He could tell that wasn’t what she’d had on her mind, but Maisey had come out of the drawing room, and Pippa seemed hesitant to speak in front of her. “What’re my options?”

      “Salmon? Steak? Chicken? Pasta?”

      “I’ll have salmon.”

      “Will СКАЧАТЬ