hand of hate 01 - destiny blues (19 page)

I wanted to scream. “You can’t be serious. You can’t be marrying my brother, you’re not in love with him.”
 

She arched her neck at me. “He’s not your anything anymore. He’s mine now. And when I say jump, he asks me how high. We’re going to make a lot of money together. You don’t have anything to say about it.”
 

#
 

My fury kept Rusty’s pedal to the metal as I drove out to Sterling to confront Lance. In my whole life, I couldn’t recall ever being this mad at him. He’d hidden his relationship with Zoey, and now this affair with Andrea. I didn’t like her one bit. If I’d stayed a minute longer, I would have slapped her. Better to save it for Lance. What was he thinking? Why didn’t he tell me?  
 

Sheesh. The thought of Lance and Andrea was just awful. She wasn’t one bit interested in Lance. When it came to marriage, Andrea Gregson was a four-time loser. I could just see her draining Lance’s bank account and taking off when someone better came along. She was using him. She was poison.
 

My cell phone rang.  
 

“Hello, Mattie? Garr Russ here. Your friend Karen introduced us the other day at my restaurant.”
 

My stomach fluttered. Be still my heart.  
 

“Oh hi.” I struggled to keep the car on the road. “Of course, I remember.  I enjoyed meeting you.”
 

The flicker of thrill quenched somewhat by guilt over my near-naked shower with Rhys. Don’t be silly Mattie. Man oh man, here was my potential future boyfriend actually calling me.  
 

“I’m planning a little sunset cruise out on the lake this evening. Just a few friends and a couple of bottles of wine. Would you be interested in joining us?”
 

I went all tingly. A real date. My thoughts returned Rhys. Handsome as he was, Rhys seemed to be pretty involved with Madame Coumlie, Cavewoman Barbie, the FBI, and a whole universe of dark things that didn’t belong in my world. Garlan Russ, on the other hand, was a respected member of the community, an entrepreneur, and heir to a huge fortune. Any girl would be flattered to go out with him.  Too bad it was tonight. “It sounds wonderful, but I’m afraid I’ve already got plans for this evening.”
 

“I’ve got a thirty-eight foot Bertram. You’ll love it. You don’t get seasick do you?”
 

“Sounds great.” I imagined myself sipping champagne and nibbling appetizers as the sun drifted toward the horizon. I had a short white skirt that showed off my legs. I wondered what his friends would be like. “Can I take a rain check? How about next week?”
 

“Let me tell you something, Mattie. When I see something I want, I go after it. I’d like to spend some time with you. What about tomorrow? Dinner?”
 

Wow. Determined, wasn’t he? “I’m flattered, and I’d love to go out with you, Garr. Really. But I’m going to be kind of busy for the next few days.” I hoped he knew just how hard it was for me to turn down his invitation.  
 

“Ah. There’s someone else?”
 

“Not exactly. It’s a family issue. I’m not sure if dinner tomorrow will work for me. I’d hate to say yes and cancel at the last minute.”
 

“Breakfast then. You’ve got to eat. Come on Mattie. Give me a break here. I’d like to get to know you better.”
 

Why not?  “Breakfast I can do. Where do you want to meet?”
 

We agreed to meet at Killer Dave’s the following morning, and I hung up feeling more cheerful than I had in days. I had a new yellow sundress I hadn’t worn yet. That would be perfect. Then I remembered the black eye. Oh, right. I checked the mirror, and it was all kinds of purple and ugly. Tomorrow wouldn’t be any better. Oh man. I couldn’t let him to see me like this. No way.  
 

I started to call him back to cancel, but decided to wait until after I talked to Lance. One thing at a time, Mattie. After talking to Garr, my anger at Lance had almost evaporated, but I still had to convince my brother to square things with the FBI. He had to turn himself in. I was positive that this whole thing could go away in about a twenty-minute conversation with the authorities. Obviously, they had the wrong guy.  After that, we could focus on the House of Cards fiasco, getting him the hell away from Andrea Gregson, and rehab. What a mess.  
 

CHAPTER 21
 

I parked in the visitor lot, and hiked through the field to the entrance of the Sterling Renaissance Festival, metaphorically putting on my armor for the confrontation with Lance. I promised myself I wasn’t leaving until he agreed to come with me to talk to the FBI and then go back to rehab.
 

The Festival site itself is permanent, with a gift store, outbuildings and wooden amphitheaters designed and built in the style of a 16
^th
century Elizabethan village. I’d quit coming when I’d gotten my job with the city, so I hadn’t set foot on the grounds in years.  
 

The theme for this weekend was obviously Pirate Invasion. Lots of blokes with black eye patches ran around brandishing cutlasses and shouting ‘Argh’. I headed for the jousting field, as this would be the most likely place to find my brother. I followed the dirt path past the dunking pond, the village of vendors, the washerwomen, and the nut man, to the spectator grounds in front of the jousting ring. People were already starting to leave, heading out early to beat the traffic, but a decent sized crowd remained seated in the shade. The smell of dust and sweat and manure greeted me as I watched a pair of knights on horseback collide at a full gallop. The crowd groaned when the loser hit the dirt and applauded as his pages helped him to his feet.
 

I spotted Lance right away, surrounded by a bevy of damsels and pirate wenches. He wore his Jack of Spades costume; a form-fitting black leather outfit with thigh-high boots, a jeweled dagger, a Zorro-type mask for a disguise and a wicked dueling blade at his side. I picked up a couple of marble-sized rocks, and hefted them in my hand as I waited for a shot.
 

Growing up as the daughter of the town prostitute, I got bullied a lot by older boys who persistently wondered if I had the same proclivities. Lance taught me to how to protect myself, and as long as I had a rock, I always had a weapon. Before long, the boys stopped bothering me. I was still a dead shot. My first throw hit the dirt on the outside edge of his boot, kicking up a wisp of dust. Lance winced, stepped back, and caught sight of me in the crowd.
 

He nodded, noted my black eye, but he didn’t leave his post. I waited in the shade, watching the jousting and ogling the men in tights. I had to wait another hour before the jousting finished and visitors and performers alike began to drift away. I made my way from the berm to the foot of the stage and waited for him to finish chatting up some of the other actors. He seemed to be deliberately dragging out the conversations; anything to put off facing me.  
 

Come on, Lance, enough already. The pressure inside me began to build. Finally, after everyone else drifted away, he turned to me.  
 

“Hey sis,” he sounded tired, as he draped a sweaty arm across my shoulders. I stiffened, but allowed him to guide me through the trees out to the actors’ camp. “Where’s Mina?”
 

“I didn’t bring her.” Even his Zorro-mask couldn’t hide my brother’s paleness.  
 

“Where is she?”
 

“She’s fine.  Safe.”  
 

“You look like hell.”
 

“Getting beat up will do that for you.” This conversation wasn’t going the way I wanted, and I couldn’t seem to broach the subject.  
 

“No, I mean something’s different.” He studied my face with interest.
 

I ignored him. “What’s going on Lance? No more bullshit.”
 

He swung around and started back up the hill toward the faire. “Why don’t we get something to eat first?  The food court will be closing up soon, and I’m starved.”  
 

I bit my tongue and followed behind as he bought us each a couple of big beef ribs and strawberry shortcakes. We sat on a stone bench and Lance ate while I tried to curb my impatience. I couldn’t eat. I had no appetite for what was coming. I waited until he finished eating before I lit into him.
 

“The FBI came to my house this morning, looking for you. You’re a person of interest in the Night Shark case.” He swore and started to protest, but I interrupted him. “You have to go talk to them.”
 

“Where is Mina?”
 

“Don’t change the subject. You’re gambling again. Those goons from House of Cards didn’t beat the crap out of me for no reason. Your friend Hector told me he’s coming after Mina next. I can’t believe you’d endanger your own daughter for something so stupid.” Now that I’d started, I couldn’t seem to stop myself.  “And why the hell does Andrea Gregson think you two are engaged? Are you serious? When were you planning to tell me about that?”
 

He wouldn’t meet my eyes. “This doesn’t concern you.”
 

“Like hell it doesn’t.”
 

“Tell me where Mina is.”
 

“Not until you tell me.”
 

“This isn’t like you, Mattie,” he said. The muscles in his lower jaw clenched rhythmically. I imagined the wheels turning as he tried to decide how much to say. I hadn’t seen that crafty expression on his face since the last time he’d been in the grip of his addiction.  
 

“It breaks my heart to see you like this, Lance. I thought you were all over this. You’re ruining your life, and Mina’s too.”
 

“I can take care of myself.”
 

“Fine.  Just tell me what’s going on. Because you’re digging yourself into a deep hole, and the whole thing is about to cave in on you. You have to talk to the police, Lance, you have to clear this up. And I don’t care what Andrea Gregson says, you have to go back to rehab. This has got to stop.”
 

We fumed at each other in silence for a few minutes. I’d never spoken to him like this before. Violet had always been the bad guy, giving Lance the ultimatums and the third degree. I’d always sided with Lance, and refused to acknowledge how he’d allowed his gambling to become more important than his family.  Violet never trusted me to give Lance an ultimatum. Maybe she was right, back then. But not anymore.
 

“It’s not what you think. Something came up, and I’m helping out a friend, is all.”
 

“Explain it to me. Please? Why is the House of Cards looking for you? Andrea Gregson is not your friend.  She thinks you’re buying her a two-carat diamond ring. She thinks she’s your business manager, for cripe’s sake. She thinks she owns you. She’s not the one with the black eye here, Lance.”
 

He wouldn’t look at me.
 

“Andrea’s got something on you. Tell me what it is. I can help.”
 

He shook his head. “No, no you can’t. Not now, maybe never.”     
 

The raw expression on his face was a shot to my heart. It was no use. He wasn’t going to tell me. I tried a different tack.
 

“The FBI wants to talk to you. They think you have something to do with the Night Shark murders.”  
 

He still wouldn’t look at me. A sick feeling curdled my gut as the silence stretched between us. I could see the internal struggle on his face, but for the life of me, I couldn’t read him.  
 

“They’ve connected you to two of the victims.”  
 

“I’m not even going to answer that.”
 

“You need to talk to them.”  
 

“Not until after I finish playing tonight.” He gathered up the napkins and paper plates and dumped them into the trash. “A couple of days isn’t going to make any difference.”
 

“What is the matter with you?” Why wouldn’t he listen to reason? “The Sentinel named you as a person of interest in the case today. You made the front page, Lance. You want to know where Mina is? Violet got an emergency court order rescinding custody. She came and got Mina this afternoon. Mina is gone.”
 

Lance cursed and slumped against the bench. “Of course she is.” His eyes glinted with unshed tears.  “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”
 

I handed him the FBI agent’s card and my cell phone. “Call them now, while you’re still in one piece. I’ll drive you into town myself. You can get this cleared up, get yourself out of whatever mess you’re in, and get yourself into rehab. The sooner you straighten this out, the sooner you can get Mina back.” I crossed my fingers and silently prayed he would make the call.
 

Lance stared at the card, turning it over and over in his hand, but in the end, he handed me back my phone.