Double Black Diamond (Mercy Watts Mysteries) (43 page)

I bit my lip and didn’t answer. There was no answer, no reasonable one anyway.
 

Uncle Morty leaned on the elevator wall and crossed his arms over his belly. “You got the oil and even if that’s all you did it’s good. Let’s get back to Copper. Aaron texted me. He is cooking up a feast. Russian. That’s a new one. We’ve got to get some top-shelf Vodka for the occasion. You need to party. We’ve got about thirty-six hours left in Colorado and seventy-two hours of partying to fit in.”
 

“Since when do you party?” I asked.

“Since when do I ski? A man’s got to try new things,” he said.
 

“You’re ready to start a new book, aren’t you?”
 

“You know it. The sooner we get home, the better. I’m itching to start. Nina gave me some great fodder.”
 

We got to the car and found Wallace yapping her head off inside. She hadn’t peed. I doubt it was because she’d decided to be good. Her tank was probably on empty after spraying my boots. She was going batshit crazy and I wasn’t able to get in until Uncle Morty threatened her a few more times. Then she let me sit, curled up into her donut, and began to snore like she hadn’t just been trying to bite my face off. That dog was as crazy as Jessie and I just didn’t have it in me to spend another day and a half with that nutter.
 

“Let’s not wait,” I said. “Let’s leave earlier. Tonight after the Russian feast. Keegan needs his oil and I have no intention of skiing again. Let’s go home.”
 

Uncle Morty cocked a bushy brow at me. “Home it is.
 

Chapter Twenty-Six

Eighteen hours later Uncle Morty parked on Hawthorne Avenue in front of the Bled mansion. He grudgingly helped me get my stuff out of the trunk, but that was as far as it went. There was no way he was helping me inside. The chances of him meeting with the old bats aka my godmothers was too great. I had expected Fergus to help me in, but he was asleep in the back seat, curled up with Kera. She hadn’t been able to step away from the fear in Copper. Even though she knew Jessie was in jail and wouldn’t be getting out, she’d decided to leave the mountain for parts unknown. When Rodney heard that, he offered her a job at Kronos as a waitress after confirming with me that customers liked pretty waitresses. He wasn’t entirely sure until I confirmed it. So Kera took the job and Fergus decided he’d rather spend twelve hours in the back of a Hyundai Accent than twelve hours in the beautiful Rockies before flying back to St. Louis to continue his stalking of me. Uncle Morty had no problem with giving them a ride which wasn’t like him at all. Generosity wasn’t his middle name. There was something about Fergus that made him want to help the boy. I hadn’t a clue what it was and he made it clear I wasn’t getting anything out of him. So we drove home scarfing down fast food and donuts with two wayward teens in the backseat. I wasn’t sure what Uncle Morty was going to do with the snoozing duo now that we were home and they didn’t have a home, but I was too tired to dwell on it.
 

Uncle Morty peeled off in the rental, still talking about Star Wars game strategy and totally oblivious to the fact that no one was listening. I stood on the walk in front of the wrought-iron gate with my luggage, skis, and Wallace at my feet.
 

The stink dog had ridden home with us because she’d faked an illness and convinced Nancy that she couldn’t be taken on a plane. The illness was eerily similar to Uncle Morty’s illness that he faked, saying that he couldn’t get on a plane and I would absolutely have to drive him home in a rental immediately. I never did ski with Pete and I never told him about Keegan’s oil that was in my purse wrapped in cotton batting.
 

Wallace panted at the mansion behind the gate. She was smiling and it was a big smile.
 

“Don’t get comfortable,” I said. “This is temporary for the both of us. I’ll be back to my tiny apartment and you’re going home to Nancy and Calvin.”
 

Grrr.

“You’re not my dog and this is not my house.”
 

She tilted her head at me as if to say, “Yeah, right.”
 

I punched the code into the keypad and the gate swung open. Wallace tugged at the leash and I let go. She ran yipping into the garden and I trudged behind her lugging skis and my boot bag. I dropped them in front of the door and went back for my suitcase. Wallace had gone completely nuts. She ran circles around me, kicking up her hind legs and leaping into the air. Since she was a pug, into the air meant six inches, but the grin on her doggy lips made it look like she’d cleared six feet.
 

“Calm down. Old ladies live here. I can’t have you knocking them over, you meathead.”
 

Bark.
 

Wallace ran past me and scampered up the stairs to claw at the door. It opened and Philippa peeked out. “Mercy, it’s you. I thought you were flying in tomorrow.” She opened the door and Wallace scampered past her legs and ran into the foyer. She slid on the highly polished wood and spun in a circle.

Bark. Bark.
 

“Oh, you’re okay,” I said and Wallace gingerly walked to the staircase. Once she reached the carpet in the center of the wide bottom stair, she took off upstairs, yipping like crazy as she went.

“You got a dog?” asked Philippa.

“It’s more like she got me,” I said.
 

She came out and hugged me, her eyes watery. “Thank god you’re here. Keegan’s worse. Do you have it?”
 

I nodded, my eyes filling in response to hers. “I do.”
 

“Can I have it? I’ll take it right over to Cecile,” said Philippa.
 

I carried my bag into the foyer and put my suitcase down on the beautiful wood floor. Philippa carried my skis and boots in and laid them next to the suitcase. She had bags under her eyes and looked like she’d lost ten pounds and Philippa didn’t have any weight to lose.
 

“Are you okay?” I asked.
 

“I’ve been staying with Keegan while Cecile works. I’ve never seen anything like it. Tuesday he had so many seizures I lost count. One lasted for four hours. They had to put him on a feeding tube. He can’t eat. He can’t sleep. You really have it?”
 

I opened my purse, took out my wallet, and then gave her the purse. Philippa looked inside and then gingerly put the straps over her shoulder. “Can you stay here, so I can go?”
 

“Of course she can,” Millicent said as she came down the curving staircase.
 

Philippa and I stared up with our breath held. How much had my godmother heard?
 

Millicent smiled and continued down. She couldn’t have been more elegant. Her silver hair was curled and tumbling over one shoulder of her cashmere sweater. “Was that a dog running down the hall?”
 

“Technically, yes,” I said. “I call her a wrinkled bag of evil. She’s Pete’s mother’s dog.”
 

“I see.”
 

I didn’t know how she saw, but at least she didn’t look upset at Wallace running around the house.
 

“You’re up,” I said.
 

“I am. Philippa’s a wonderful nurse. She’s been stuffing me like a holiday turkey. I gained six pounds.” She hugged me and I kissed her velvety cheeks.
 

“That’s good,” I said.
 

“So they tell me,” said Millicent. “Darling, you can stop looking so fearful. I’m a Bled. The ends always justify the means. I’m sure whatever you did, it’s for the best.”
 

I wasn’t sure what to say. My parents wouldn’t be so accommodating. I almost asked her not to say anything to them, but The Girls didn’t keep secrets from them and asking might encourage Millicent to mention it. So I said nothing. Neither did Philippa, who stood beside me white-faced.
 

Millicent extended her hand and Philippa took it after a moment’s hesitation. “Dear, you take Mercy’s purse and go wherever it is you need to go. Dinner is at six. We’ll expect you. Mrs. Hadley is making a German feast tonight in hopes of continuing my weight gain.”
 

Philippa nodded, apparently not trusting herself to speak, and quickly disappeared down the hall towards the garage in the back of the property.
 

“And you,” said Millicent, “will go straight to bed.”
 

“I’m not that tired,” I said.
 

She laughed and hooked her arm through mine. “Then I know you better than you know yourself. Up we go.”
 

I let my godmother lead me up the stairs and with every step I felt a tiredness sink into me. By the time we got to my bedroom on the far end of the second floor, I was yawning. Millicent stopped at the door, kissed my cheek, and ordered me to bed. I went inside the bedroom that I’d been born in and had occupied ever since. The wallpaper was original to the house and was a stylized hand-painted butterfly pattern The Girls’ mother had picked out. The jewel tones went well with the dark wood of my bedroom suite even though it was from an earlier era, 1840s Empire.
 

I opened the highboy dresser and found the clothes I’d brought from my apartment, but I didn’t want to sleep in an old tee as I usually did. I opened the drawer above and chose a pair of pale green silk pajamas that Myrtle had given me. The luxury slipped on, so light I felt almost naked. A wonderful feeling as I crawled under the covers and felt myself sink into the thick pillowtop. My mind said I should call Spidermonkey. I should be going to meet him, not snoozing away the rest of the day, but I couldn’t help myself. My bed so comfortable. Spidermonkey would just have to wait and my eyelids fluttered shut.

The smell of coffee woke me. Millicent sat on the edge of my bed, next to a tray laden with fresh fruit, an ornate coffeepot, and a dish of thick yogurt. Millicent held up my phone. “It’s been buzzing nonstop, dear.”
 

I couldn’t tell if she’d looked at the recall. She wouldn’t know who Spidermonkey was, but that name would pique her curiosity. I fixed an expression of unconcern on my face and sat up. A smile flickered at the edge of her lips and she gave me the phone. As I feared the last few texts and calls were from Spidermonkey. He wanted to know how to proceed, but he hadn’t given any specifics.
 

“Your parents are coming for dinner,” said Millicent. “It will go much better if you could look less…concerned.”
 

“I’m not concerned,” I said.

She smiled and pushed the tray toward me. “I’m often wrong.”
 

Millicent was rarely wrong and she knew it. A lifetime rich in experience ensured that.
 

“What time is it?” I asked.
 

“Four. You should eat and come down. Your dog won’t stop barking at the Gobelin tapestry.”
 

“Which one?”
 

“The one with the cat,” said Millicent, slipping off the bed and heading for the door.
 

I went bolt upright. “Where’s Skanky?”
 

Millicent laughed. “Don’t worry about him. He’s watching the dog like a specimen in a lab from atop the curio cabinet.”
 

She left and I sipped my coffee, a rich Costa Rican blend and very smooth. I wasn’t hungry, but I forced myself to take a few bites of cantaloupe in order to delay the inevitable. I had to hear what Spidermonkey had to say, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for it. Had he found out where Dad and Josiah Bled went and what happened to Josiah? The fact that my parents hid their acquisition of our house and Dad’s trip for the Bleds didn’t bode well.
 

My phone vibrated and I looked at the name. Philippa. Whew.
 

“Hi,” I said.
 

“It worked,” she said.
 

“Already?”
 

“Cecile gave Keegan his first dose and twenty minutes later he stopped seizing.” Philippa got choked up and it took a minute for her to be able to speak again. “He hasn’t seized since. Can you come over? Cecile wants you to meet Keegan.”
 

“How about tomorrow?” I asked. “I’m not working for a couple more days.”
 

“I’ll text you the address and, Mercy, Keegan spoke.” Her voice got tight. “The first time in months.”
 

“What did he say?”
 

“Mama.”
 

We hung up and I laid back on my pillows. Something had been lifted off my shoulders. I hadn’t even known it was there before it was gone. I guess it was fear that the oil wouldn’t work. It didn’t always work. The oil was Keegan’s only hope and I broke the law for that hope. It might’ve been for nothing. I’d have hated to do that for nothing.
 

My phone buzzed again. This time Spidermonkey. I sucked down my coffee and answered, trying to sound unconcerned and failing.
 

“Miss Watts, it’s about time,” said Spidermonkey.