Kaleidoscope (34 page)

Mieka shook her head. “All that pink,” she said. “I remember that from when Madeleine and Lena were born.”

“Two of the best days of my life,” I said.

“Mine too,” Mieka said. “We’re lucky, aren’t we?”

“Yes,” I said. “We’re lucky.” I thought of the girl on the gurney turning her back on her newborn. “And so are Madeleine and Lena.”

The three of us looked towards the girls. “Not many little girls have their own ice-cream stand,” Mieka said. She reached out and touched Riel’s hand. “It’s nice to have a man around the house.”

Riel lowered his eyes. “It’s nice to be the man around the house.”

Mieka’s face grew serious. “Margot must feel as if the bottom has fallen out of her world,” she said.

“It has,” I said. “She and Leland were very much in love, and their life together had just begun. But Margot’s handling everything she has to. Riel, I did tell Margot that you wanted to attend Leland’s funeral, and she wants you there.”

“Then I’m there,” Riel said. “If there’s anything I can do …”

“There may be something,” I said. “Margot’s determined that the Village Project, and especially the shared facility, goes ahead exactly as Leland had envisioned. This afternoon, Margot is meeting with Peyben’s board of directors to tell them that there will be no change of direction. Zack and Blake Falconer are with her, but I know your public support would help make the point with the North Central community.”

“Then she has it,” Riel said. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.” His brow furrowed. “Joanne, I have a question. I didn’t know Leland well, but I thought our ‘accord’ was pretty much a marriage of convenience. We were both pragmatists who got what we needed out of the arrangement. But it seems as if the connection with North Central meant more to Leland than I realized.”

“Margot and I were talking about that this morning,” I said. “Leland had a change of heart about the shared facility. At the beginning it was just something to silence Peyben’s critics, but the assault on April Stonechild shook him. He began to realize that the only way to really affect the lives of the people in the area was to work with them directly.”

“I wish I’d known him better,” Riel said softly.

Mieka took Riel’s hand. “So do I,” she said. When their eyes met, the connection between them was electric. For a beat, they both seemed to forget I was there.

“I’d better see how Taylor and the girls are doing,” Riel said finally.

“The girls are already planning the grand opening.” Mieka turned to me. “Madeleine’s written out the invitation list. It’s very exclusive.”

“Did Zack and I make the cut?”

Mieka grinned. “Barely.” Her smile faded. “I don’t think I ever told you that Riel has a sister. I really wanted to invite her, but when I suggested it, Riel was adamant. I’m going to keep trying though. She’s the only family he has, and apparently they were close for many years.”

“What happened?” I said.

“I don’t know,” Mieka said. “My guess is that it was Riel’s activism. His sister sounds like she’s establishment all the way. She was in the police force, then she went to law school. Actually, you might know her. She worked for Falconer Shreve for a while – Sage Mackenzie.”

“We’ve met,” I said. “Actually, Louise Hunter is one of Sage’s clients.”

“One more connection with the Hunters,” Mieka said. “I wonder if Riel knows about it.” She picked up the tea glasses and put them on the tray with the pitcher. “Well, if he doesn’t, I’m not going to be the one to tell him. Whatever happened between Sage and Riel really wounded him. He’s been hurt so often. I don’t want him hurt any more.”

When Mieka went into the house, I followed. “You and Riel seem to have a good thing going.”

“Does that mean you approve?”

“I approve of whatever makes you happy.”

Mieka put the glasses in the dishwasher. “Then maybe this news won’t make you crazy. Riel has moved in with the girls and me.”

“That’s a big step,” I said.

“It is.” Mieka stood and faced me. “And it was unexpected. Riel and I talked about the possibility a couple of times, but we both agreed that until we were sure we were ready for a long-term commitment, living together might not be the best thing for Maddy and Lena. I thought the matter was settled. Then Leland was shot, and that day after Riel finished work, he moved in with us.”

“No explanation?”

“No. He just said he wanted to be with us all the time. Of course, that was fine with me.”

“Have you been worried about your family’s safety?”

“I’m always worried about my family’s safety,” Mieka said. “But it’s nice to have someone there to worry along with me.”

After we had our swim, Taylor stayed behind to work on the ice-cream stand, and I grocery shopped, picked up wine for dinner, and drove back to Halifax Street. Ed was bringing our meal again, so my only task was to set the table. That left plenty of time to read and catch a few rays in the roof garden, but first I had to make a phone call.

Jill Oziowy was relieved when I told her that Nation
TV
could continue tracking the changing relationship between Riel’s group and Peyben. “I’ve been afraid to call you to ask,” she said. “Leland Hunter’s death was such a tragedy. And you were right there. Pressing you about a
TV
production seemed insensitive. But since we’ve crossed that bridge, let’s deal with reality. The hook for this show was going to be Leland Hunter and Riel Delorme, up close and personal. Now we don’t have a face for Peyben.”

“Well, no guarantees,” I said, “but I’m relatively certain that Margot Wright will do it.”

Jill was incredulous. “You’ve got to be kidding. She’s prepared to sit down with Riel and explain how his group
reached an accord with Peyben? Margot’s husband was killed two days ago. She must be made of steel.”

“She’s not, but Margot’s convinced that this is what Leland wanted so she’s going to see it through. There’s so much drama here, Jill. Margot is fighting Peyben’s board to make certain they don’t change direction on the Village Project. If they don’t go along with her, she’s prepared to fire them.”

“Holy shit. This will be amazing
TV.”

“I know, but it’s amazing
TV
about real people. Both Margot and Riel will have a great deal on the line here.”

“So I should back off?”

“No, just be fair. And in the interest of fairness, or at least full disclosure, I should tell you that Mieka and Riel Delorme are now living together.”

Jill whistled. “And how do you feel about that?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

I took my book of essays up to the roof garden, pulled a chair close to an arbour of lemon-coloured roses, and read M.F.K. Fisher until my eyes grew heavy. The shrill of my cell awakened me. It was Zack. “How are you doing?”

“Fine,” I said. “I’m in the roof garden, getting a sunburn, breathing in the scent of roses, and reading about food.”

“Sounds better than my afternoon,” he said.

“The meeting didn’t go well?”

“Margot came out on top, but the members of the board didn’t make it easy for her,” Zack said. “This has been one hell of a day.”

“The evening will be better,” I said. “Ed’s bringing lamb biryani.”

Zack brightened. “Margot wanted to know if she could bring Laurie’s husband, Steve, to dinner tonight?”

“Of course. Ed is a generous cook.”

“I’ll pass that along,” Zack said.

“Good,” I said. “Zack, do you have a second?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

“Debbie Haczkewicz called just after you left for the meeting with the board. I didn’t suggest she call you then. I figured whatever news she had would wait, and you and Margot and Declan had enough on your mind.”

“True enough. So what was the news?”

“Leland’s body will be released this weekend.”

“Well, I guess that’s good. Anything else?”

“Yes. Riel finished building the ice-cream stand. Taylor’s over there now, putting on the finishing touches. And Riel and Mieka are now living together.”

“Whoa! So a martini night.”

“You bet,” I said. “A night for doubles if ever there was one.”

Zack, Margot, and Declan were back at Halifax Street before five. Margot went to her condo to call Norine about getting the funeral details settled, and Declan volunteered to pick up Taylor at Mieka’s, leaving Zack and me with some welcome time alone.

After Zack made our drinks, we took them out to the terrace. There was enough breeze to ripple the leaves on the nearby ficus. We positioned ourselves so we faced the late-afternoon sun. Zack leaned back and inhaled deeply. “We have to build more time for this into our day,” he said.

“Agreed,” I said. “But I guess for a while, you’re going to be spending a lot of time on Peyben business.”

“Looks that way,” Zack said.

“What’s going to happen there?” I said.

“Nobody knows for sure. But I can make some educated guesses. I think Margot will ask Blake to take over as
CEO
until a new
CEO
is chosen. That’s not what the board had in mind but a lot happened today that they didn’t have in mind.”

“Like what?”

“Like the fact that Margot was sufficiently in command to recognize what they were up to. The gentlemen of the board underestimated her. Margot’s a helluva lawyer, but of course those bozos never took the time to check out her track record. They were condescending and smug, and they thought they could snow her with statistics and business jargon. She let them roll for a while and then she restated what they’d said – except she hosed the bullshit off the orotund phrases. That’s when the board members knew she was on to them and started scrambling to take control of the situation.”

“That must have been entertaining,” I said.

Zack brightened at the memory. “It was a sweet moment, and Margot seized it. While the board was figuring out how to regroup, Margot gathered up her papers and told the board they were done for the day. She said the purpose of the meeting had been to take one another’s measure and they’d done that. She also said that anyone who wasn’t happy with the direction the company was taking should resign immediately. Then she gave them her barracuda smile and said, “Same time, same place, tomorrow?”

“I wish I could have been there.”

“I do, too. Margot really was magnificent.”

“How did Declan do?”

“He played it smart, too – shook hands, made eye contact, took it all in, and never left Margot’s side.”

“Declan’s really coming into his own with this, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he’s the one who suggested that he and Margot and Blake and I meet tomorrow before we face the Peyben board again.”

“Leland would be proud.”

“Yeah.” Zack’s voice was hoarse with emotion. He
cleared his throat. “I should probably call Norine and Debbie. Catch up on the latest.”

“I’ll go in and make the salad,” I said. I picked up our glasses and leaned over and kissed Zack’s forehead. “This was nice,” I said.

“Nothing like a time-out,” Zack said. And then he hit speed-dial.

Zack’s conversations were lengthy. When he finally came inside, he wheeled over to the salad bowl and picked out a cherry tomato.”

“Anything new?” I said.

“Nothing at the office that can’t wait. But Debbie did say there’s a rumour going around North Central that a member of Red Rage was paid to kill Leland. It’s all she has, so she’s hauling in the bad boys one by one, but she’s not optimistic. Gang members have a tendency to protect one another. Besides, the shooter has probably vamoosed by now – he could be anywhere.” Zack turned his chair towards the hall. “Now I’m going to get out of this coat and tie.”

All at once, the image of Louise Hunter, shaky and miserable, flashed through my mind.

“Hang on a minute,” I said. “Zack, the night of the All-College, Louise told me it would be easier for her if Leland was dead – that way she wouldn’t have to imagine his life with Margot. At the time, I just thought it was alcoholic self-pity, but now …”

Zack winced. “We’re going to have to tell Debbie this.”

“There’s more,” I said. “When Margot and I talked just after she found out that Leland had died, she told me that he’d had death threats – one from Louise, the night before the wedding.”

Zack picked up his BlackBerry. “You can’t sit on information like this, Joanne.” He hit speed-dial and handed the phone to me.

I could tell Debbie Haczkewicz was taking notes as I told her about my conversation with Louise, and about Louise’s threats to Leland. When I was through, she said, “I appreciate this, Joanne. I know you’ve been through a lot lately.”

“Others are going through worse,” I said.

I handed Zack back his BlackBerry. He’d been watching my face closely. “You do realize you didn’t have an option,” he said. “You had to tell Debbie.”

“I know, but I feel as if I betrayed Louise. That night at Luther, the other parents were congratulating Margot on her marriage and admiring her ring. Everything Louise wanted was slipping away. She was desperate, and desperate people sometimes say terrible things.”

“And sometimes they
do
terrible things, Joanne. You told the truth. Leland deserves that. If Louise had no connection with Leland’s death, she’ll have the unpleasant experience of being questioned by the police, but after they check out her story, she’ll be fine.”

“And if she did hire someone to kill Leland?”

“Then she’s in big trouble, and she deserves to be. The Latin motto on my law degree is clear on that point.
Fiat justitia
. Let justice be done.”

There was a knock on our door, and I shrank. “When do we tell Margot and Declan?”

Zack squeezed my hand. “In an ideal world, we could wait till morning.”

“This isn’t an ideal world,” I said. “But we can at least wait until after dessert.”

It turned out to be a good evening. As Zack poured the wine and we gathered at the dinner table to share Ed’s savoury lamb biryani, there was a feeling of family. To one degree or another, we were all mourning something we had lost and
would never recover, and that loss united us. The mood of the evening wasn’t dark. Most of the conversation was easy and aimless. Only once did the grief break through. When Steve handed around his camera with the seeming endless series of pictures he’d taken of Hunter that day, Zack ribbed him gently about being a proud papa. Margot said, “Leland would have been worse,” then she dissolved in tears. Steve was sitting next to her, and when he put his arm around her, Margot buried her face in his chest. “That’s good, Margie,” he whispered. “Let it out.”