Lethal Affair (50 page)

At the door Rita pulled her aside
while the men did their male bonding back slapping
thing.

“
Kylie, sweetheart, you
mustn't allow Drew the kind of power you're giving him. He's ruling
your head. I can tell.”

“
He's inside my head no
matter how much I try to evict him.”

“
That's what he wants, to
control you from afar, to keep you on the edge of your seat. Try to
shake it off. See that car parked there? Those are Crane's
operatives and they do rounds every fifteen minutes. One stays and
the other goes on foot.”

Kylie didn't remind her that Stacie
Hoyle had been executed that way, but Rita read her mind. “They
keep strict communication open between them the whole time, which
is something Stacie Hoyle didn't do. A mistake that cost her her
life.”

Kylie hugged her fiercely. “I love
you, Mom. Arm your alarm.”

Later that evening in Will's bed,
Kylie asked him what he'd been discussing so earnestly with her
father on the patio.

“
He gave me his blessing to
marry you.” He watched her eyes roll. “It's a guy thing. I've got
old fashioned values.”

She laughed and wiggled her eyebrows.
“I'm surprised you've had your way with me before the
wedding.”

“
I'm not that old
fashioned.”

Lying in the crux of his arm, Kylie
realized that his values were firmly developed, making him
unwaveringly loyal and trustworthy. It was a powerful package, and
she had hit the lottery.

“
I guess there's one more
male we need to get a blessing from,” she said.

His arms tightened around her. “Yeah,
and he might not be as complying as your father was.”

“
Guess I'm the one on tender
hooks now, aren't I?”

“
I'm thinking you have an
edge, considering you saved his life and all.”

“
Yeah. But that could go
either way, couldn't it? He might associate me with fear and decide
he'd rather not have me for a... wow, a step Mom.” She marveled for
a second, her thoughts derailed. “I'm going to be a step Mom. You
do get that I'm in love with Max too, don't you?”

“
Guess we'll have to share
you. If he can handle it, so can I.”

*

“
Amazingly enough,” Ethan
Crane told Will and Lyle in the office over the Village diner, “we
have no reports of foul play last night other than the usual
Hallowe'en pranks. That doesn't mean we're going to let down our
guard. Mr. Delaney, no vigilante stuff. Got it?”

Will grimaced. “Yeah, but if he comes
anywhere near Kylie and I'm there, I won't hesitate to do what I
have to do. You got that?”

About to speak, Crane's cell phone
went off and he answered.

“
Easy boy,” said Lyle
quietly. “Listen to the man. He's only trying to keep your
rebellious ass alive.”

“
There's got to be a way to
corner him. Kylie's on the edge of her sanity. It's wearing her
thin.”

“
Literally so. Jolene says
the seamstress had to take Kylie's wedding dress down a whole size.
Don't tell me you haven't noticed.”

“
I've noticed. She's a
walking skeleton. Can't eat, her sleep is shallow and fraught with
nightmares. With her ankle still on the mend she hasn't had the
luxury of a run to burn off the tension.”

They watched as Crane's body went on
full alert. Speaking in police codes he growled out orders, then
testily stabbed end on his phone.

“
Damn. The department up in
Nanaimo has a double murder. They think it's the same M.O. as
Hammond. I'm headed up there now.”

Will tensed. “Why do they think it's
Hammond?”

“
I can't give you details.
If it turns out to be true, we know where he spent
Hallowe'en.”

*

Kylie got off work early and with
police escort went to Will's house for dinner and a night of video
calls.

Will kept Crane's possible news to
himself. She was edgy enough without adding this latest ingredient
to the mix. He tried to fatten her up with a creamy linguine
Alfredo. Lyle had provided a vanilla bean mousse. Hell, she still
had a healthy sexual appetite, so he'd save it for later and smear
the stuff on himself if need be.

The first video call went out to
Will's parents in Uruguay, Nina and Mortimer Delaney. Nina's bubbly
personality complimented Morty's less intense enthusiasm as they
expounded upon their upcoming visit to their old digs. Finally
Kylie left the room so as to give Will some private time with his
parents.

“
Son,” said Morty, “she's a
doll. It's a shame all this bad stuff is happening. If you need
anything, don't hesitate to ask.”

“
You two being here will be
all we need Dad,” Will assured him. “She's a trooper. Anyone else
might have broken down by now, but she's got balls. Pardon the
expression Mom.”

Nina laughed. “She proved it when she
went after Max. Just for that I love her. She'll make you a fine
life companion, Will.”

“
Don't I know
it.”

When they completed their call, Will
put one in for Max in Vancouver. Julia and Tom came on first.
“You're getting married before we are,” said Julia. “What's the
rush?”

“
No one wants to wait. Will
you be here? We're renting rooms in the Empress Hotel for all out
of town guests except my parents. They'll be staying here with
me.”

“
Ooh, the Empress. That's a
yes, Will. Max doesn't know about this yet. Let me go get
him.”

While she was gone, Will asked Tom,
“How's he doing? Any signs of trauma?”

Jovial socially, a formidable law
opponent professionally, Tom gave Will a candid reply. “He's doing
incredibly well for a kid who came close to having his life ended
before it really began. You've done a good job with him. I hope you
won't begrudge me my time with him too. I want us to be friends,
but if you fill his head with bullshit about me, that won't happen.
You're not that kind of guy, are you Will?”

Will let out a long breath. “I can see
where you're coming from and I guess I'd be making the same speech
if things were reversed. So I'll say this: don't do anything to
hurt my boy and I'll be happy to share him with you. But I'll
always be his Dad, and I expect you to honor that.”

“
Agreed. The way it should
be. Okay, here comes Max. Take care, Will. We'll be in
touch.”

Max came onto the screen, his eyes lit
with excitement. “Dad! I got an A on my science test. Miss Carolyn
says I'm gonna make a great biologist. See? I can even say it right
now.”

Will's heart soared with his son's
triumph. “Alright! That's so cool. High five!”

They slapped palms on screen and Will
felt a tug on his heartstrings. “I miss you, Maximus. I can't wait
to see you again.”

“
Did they catch that bad guy
yet?”

Will searched Max's eyes for ghosts
and shadows and saw none.

“
Not yet. But they will. In
the meantime I have some news, so get ready to hear it.” He paused
as Max seemed to brace himself. “Kylie and I want to get married.
What do you think about that?”

Max's eyes went huge. “You're asking
me?”

“
Your opinion is important
to us.”

The weight of the question had Max
leaning away from the screen as he thought the idea through. Will
could see he was giving it fair consideration.

“
You're gonna live
together?”

“
Yes. We'll build a life
together, and maybe even give you some brothers and sisters. Does
that sound good?”

“
It sounds like what Mom's
been saying about her and Tom.”

Uh oh. Slippery ground
here.

“
Are you still having a hard
time getting used to having Tom around?”

“
Nah, he's alright. He makes
Mom happy so I'm okay with it.”

If Max's therapist had anything to do
with his new attitude, then Will was silently grateful. Sometimes
all it took was some authoritative input from a neutral
party.

“
Same goes for me and Kylie.
You like Kylie, don't you?”

“
She's pretty brave for a
girl. She wouldn't let that bad guy hurt me. How could I not like
her?”

It did sound like something his
therapist might have drummed into his head, but he wanted Max's
approval to come from his heart.

“
Okay, but let's say none of
that happened. Would you still like her?”

He digested it for a few seconds, then
began nodding his head. “Yep. Still like her. She's cool. She sent
me some soapstone animal figures. I like the seal the best. It has
real whiskers.”

“
Did you thank her for
them?”

“
Not yet.” Then, shyly, “Is
she there now? Can I talk to her?”

Will waved Kylie over, who had
remained out of sight until now. She took Will's place.

“
Hi Max. How are
you?”

“
I'm good. I forgot how
pretty you are. Dad says he wants to marry you and make brothers
and sisters for me.”

Kylie nearly choked. “Uh, something
like that. Are you okay with it?”

“
If it makes Dad happy, it's
all good. Oh, and thanks for the little carved animals. I really
like the seal, but the other ones are cool too.”

“
You're welcome. Still want
to be a biologist?”

“
More than ever! It's the
coolest job on the planet.”

“
Guess what? We thought it
would be great to take you and all our family members out for a
whale watching tour. Does that sound good?”

Max bounced in his seat. “Yes! When do
we go?”

“
It'll be a part of the
wedding stuff. That's one of the cool things about weddings, you
get to have all kinds of parties first.”

“
And a big one right after,”
said Will, joining them.

“
Cool!”

After they'd signed off, Kylie
commented, “That's a lot of cools. Lingo for this decade I
guess.”

“
Took the place of
groovy.”

Will's phone went off. Watching his
body language as he listened to the caller, Kylie's heart
sank.

Clicking off, Will rubbed his face,
suddenly weary. “That was Crane,” he announced. “There was a double
murder in Nanaimo. He's one hundred percent convinced it was
Hammond.”

A tremor passed through her.
“Nanaimo's an hour and a half from here. He's still on the island
but branching out. What happened to them?”

Will gathered her in. “Crane said it
was done imaginatively. I don't even want to imagine what that
means.”

Kylie clung and they stood for some
time in contemplative silence as Will enveloped her in a protective
embrace.

The Langford Diner was
ready.

Strategic ads had been placed. Local
TV channels, radio, digital and stationary billboards. Topping this
off were newspaper inserts and pamphlets handed out at mall
entrances. They'd posted on the various social networks via the
internet with links to their upcoming menus and a contact for
making reservations.

The grand opening gala was open to all
ages, a glamorous affair with open bar service and a scrumptious
buffet of gourmet foods produced by their kitchen.

The new staff was trained and Kim had
a new sous chef assistant with whom he felt comfortable. Young
Tyler Bailey was fresh out of an elite cooking school in Vancouver
and was eager to integrate his new profession into his life on the
island. His specialty was desserts, which suited Kim's
entrepreneurial mind just fine.

Will spent time in his new office
above the restaurant fussing with last minute details. Closing out
files on his computer, he paced over to the two way mirror
overlooking the floor below and spotted Kylie. He headed down. Her
tight body language spelled out her all too constant tension. A
diversion might help.

“
How about we decorate the
shit out of this place and give the biggest, baddest party
Langford's ever seen?” he spouted.

She tried to shake off her repressed
anxiety. “Did you get that band? Can't have a kick ass party
without a live band.”

“
Their contract is signed
and sealed. They have yet to deliver, but I'm sure they'll put on a
helluva show. How about balloons? Glitzy ones.”

“
We'll put on the Ritz with
the glitz. Since there will be children we should have a special
corner for them to play in while their parents indulge in adult
fun. We'll get toys and games, hire some qualified babysitters to
interact with them.” She paused, suddenly on a roll. “You should
alert a taxi service to have a fleet on hand for afterward. Can't
have any drunks behind the wheel thanks to us, can we? We can put
up a sign at the entrance stating if they're too tipsy to drive,
they're welcome to leave their vehicle in the parking lot
overnight. What do you think?”