AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What did you say to that?” Tate asked.
“I said that was true. We disappear them instead.”
Cooper had a habit of not coddling their father. He was blunt as hell with Joel Winslow, and simply let the chips fall where they may. Zack’s brother hadn’t cared about their father’s approval since he was about eight years old. And maybe not even then.
“I’m surprised you even walked out of that conversation alive,” Tate remarked. “Dad must have been furious.”
“If he wants to judge me, he needs to understand that shit is a two-way street,” Cooper replied. “I’m not going to take any crap from him just because we share some incidental DNA. And he didn’t get mad, by the way. He just turned around and walked away. Which tells me that he has a guilty conscience.”
“You don’t honestly think that our father killed our mother, do you?” Zack demanded. “Because that’s crazy. Joel is an asshole of the first degree, but I don’t think he’s a killer.”
“I don’t think he’s a killer,” Cooper agreed. “But I think he knows more about Mom’s disappearance than he’s told the cops. He knows something. I’ve seen the guilt in his eyes on more than one occasion. He’s not telling everything.”
Zack had seen that same expression on his father’s face in the past. Did Joel Winslow know more about his wife’s disappearance than he’d told the police?
It was a distinct - and very sad - possibility.
3
“I’m going to take these cakes over to Tate’s,” Lucy said to Jane. “Piper was in a hurry, so I offered to do it.”
It wouldn’t hurt to get some sunshine and fresh air either. It was a beautiful day, and she wouldn’t mind taking a little walk, too.
“I’ll watch the store. Have fun.”
Tate’s Tavern was just down the block, and it only took a minute to get there. It was summer and most of the students were gone, so it wasn’t all that busy inside when she pushed open the door. There were a few tables of people, and some at the bar.
To be specific, it was Tate and his two brothers, Cooper and Zack. It had been at least a decade since Lucy had seen Zack Winslow. He’d been a year ahead of her in school, while Cooper had been a year behind, and Tate had been three years behind. All the Winslow siblings had been born almost exactly two years apart.
All the kids looked like their mother - dark hair, blue eyes, and good-looking. There wasn’t a homely one in the bunch. Lucy had always thought that Zack, however, was the handsomest by far. There was something about how he carried himself, confident and self-assured. He always seemed like he knew where he was going, and he had life all figured out. Maybe he did. She’d heard from others that he had a high-paying job on Wall Street, and he dated supermodels.
“I told Piper I’d drop these off for her,” Lucy said, placing the cake boxes on the gleaming oak bar. Tate ran a tight ship, and everything was always clean and inviting. No sticky floors or beer smell was allowed. “I think it’s a coconut cake and a cheesecake.”
“What did she drop off for you?” Tate asked with a smile. “Let me guess. Pineapple upside-down cake?”
“Nope, angel food. The customers are eating it up. There won’t be any left by closing time.”
“I love angel food,” Cooper sighed. “She didn’t bring me any.”
“If you hurry to the store, you can grab a slice,” Lucy teased. “But you better shake a leg. Jane said something about saving the last piece for her and I to share.”
“I’ll let you guys have it. I can probably convince Piper to bake one just for me.”
“Wait a minute,” Zack said. “Piper is making you cakes? What for?”
“Lucy owns the bookstore,” Cooper explained. “It has a little coffee shop inside. Piper makes the cakes for it because she’s always baking for her YouTube show. She sends the extras here to the bar, too. You knew our little sister was a social media star, right?”
Piper had a YouTube baking channel that was extremely popular which meant that she baked every day.
“I knew but I didn’t even think about what she was doing with all the stuff she baked.”
“She couldn’t eat it all herself,” Tate said. “We made a deal with her that I’d buy her extras. They’re very popular. Right, Lucy?”
“I can’t keep her baked goods in the case,” Lucy affirmed. “They’re delicious. I’ve had people just hang around the coffee shop waiting for Piper to deliver something good.”
“I’ll put these in the back,” Tate said. “Lucy, can I get you something to drink?”
“I can’t stay long. Jane is watching the store.”
