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Ten minutes later, I left Ray behind the diner, crying over his broken wrists, and headed back to my car. I’d left the ring and my phone. It was nearly time to take Eve home.
I glanced through the window of the diner and froze.
There was a woman dressed all in white, sitting in a booth. Her blonde hair and talon-like nails gave her away, even before she leaned forward and her face came into view. She wasn’t smiling, but talking intently to the person sitting across from her. She pulled a large yellow envelope out of her bag. It bulged, and I had a fairly good idea of what was inside.
Money. She was paying someone off.
Colette smiled at her dining companion, unaware they were being observed, and I staggered into my car, fighting the urge to throw up.
It wasn’t the sight of Colette sitting in the Chickadee Diner that hollowed out my heart, however.
It was the sight of the woman sitting across from her, calmly accepting the fat envelope of cash.
Eve.
Eve
I’d thoughtthat Ray slapping my ass and burning my hand on the stove were the worst things that could happen to me today, until Colette walked into the diner and sat in my section.
She glanced around disdainfully and caught my eye, gesturing me forward. I ducked into the back and set my phone to record before slipping it into my pocket.
Then I headed out to greet the worst woman I’d ever met.
“What can I get you?” I asked tightly.
“A few minutes of your time.”
“I’m working.”
“Then order me the most expensive thing off the menu, or the whole menu if you want…does that entitle me to five minutes?”
I sat, fully intending on charging her for the entire menu. “How can I help you?”
“I know you heard that unfortunate conversation between me and Beck the other night. We should talk about it, before you get any silly ideas in your head.”
“I don’t think there’s anything to talk about.”
“Oh, but there is. You see, you have to understand that Beckett has a long history of lies and manipulation. He planned right from the very first day I married his father to find a way to get me out of his life. What you heard is simply the way he schemed to achieve it.”
I shifted uncomfortably. “Are you telling me that conversation was all lies? You never said anything like that to Beckett . It sounded like you really did abuse your stepson when he was a minor.”
“I was playing along, dear. Beck is unstable. We were together, but he instigated it, and thought he could turn around and pretend to be a victim after the fact. Don’t let him fool you. The times we were together were the highlight of his fumbling, inept life, and if he says anything else, he’s a liar. A body’s response doesn’t lie…”
“He was a kid. A body’s response doesn’t matter…he was a kid, and you’re a criminal.”
Colette scoffed. “Your inexperience is showing, Eve. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Spare me your childish accusations. It’s boring.”
I stared at her. I wanted to rant and rage and disagree, but what were the chances that Colette would break and confess to me that she abused Beckett? There was no way. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t pin something on her. Maybe something that could fuck her life up just as much.
“When I saw you come in, I assumed you were here to talk to me about Professor Jefferies and the affair you’re having behind Soren Anderson’s back.”
Colette glared at me, unmoving for a moment. She was deciding how to react. She was cold blooded, chillingly so.
“What makes you think it’s behind Soren’s back? Something you couldn’t possibly understand is that amongst the upper classes, the odd indiscretion is nothing.”
She was bluffing, I was sure of it.
“Look, I don’t want to take up your whole shift. I just came to give you this,” she said and took an envelope from her bag and slid it across the table.
