The muffled, static voice of the conductor announced 155th Street, and I jumped out of my seat. The doors had barely opened before I shouldered my way out, went through the turnstiles, and hiked the stairs up to the street. I collapsed my cane, shoved it into my bag, and took a moment to gather my bearings. Mid-December meant the sun was already gone…. Which, despite a drop in the temperature, wasn’t really a matter of contention with me.
As I started uptown on St. Nicholas Avenue, I decided it’d be a good idea to do some multitasking. Detective Wainwright’s favorite suspect was me, for no other reason than being the person closest to Calvin. I’d tried to impress upon him to at least do his due diligence on Marc and Ellen, but I wasn’t holding my breath. Myself, on the other hand—I had too many suspects to consider. If I could confirm alibis and knock some names off the list, I would be better prepared to defend myself against Wainwright’s inevitable return. So I took out my phone, did a brief Google search to procure the phone number of A & F Designs out of Philadelphia, and called their office.
“A & F Designs, how may I direct your call?” asked a very professional, borderline robotic female voice.
“May I speak with Marc Winter please?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Winter is out of the office this week. Is there another senior architect I can connect you to?”
“Oh, that’s right!” I answered cheerfully, ignoring her question. “He mentioned that the other day. New York City.”
“That’s right,” she said, and I could hear her smile.
“You don’t happen to have the number for the office I can reach him at in New York, do you? I’ve been working on a project proposal with him….” I feigned hesitation. “No, I suppose I can put it in writing. It’ll take a while, though. I’m a finger-pecker with keyboards.”
She chuckled. Nothing like a bit of self-deprecating humor to lower a stranger’s defenses. “He won’t mind being interrupted if it’s regarding an ongoing proposal. May I have your name, and I’ll transfer you directly?”
“Huh. You can do that? Across states?”
“Technology is a wonderful thing,” she said lightly.
I needed confirmation that Marc Winter had really coordinated this business trip with his office and his ass was planted at a desk in the city. I wanted to be certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Marc had contacted Calvin when he did because he was nothing more than a selfish prick. That he didn’t want to start another new year with this unease between them. And his company’s need to have him in the city right before the holidays was the final push Marc needed to pick up that damn phone and call.
Basically, I didn’t want to believe my in-laws were murderers.
“Er—tell him it’s Sebastian Snow,” I answered.
“Thank you. Please hold.”
Mello guitar music started playing in my ear as I passed the playground of a public elementary school. I’d walked by a few brownstones and reached the end of the block when a familiar voice spoke.
“Mr. Snow?” Marc answered, an impressive combination of both wariness and annoyance in his voice.
“Mr. Snow is my father,” I replied, coming to a stop after crossing the street. “I’m only thirty-four.And, like it or not, we’re going to be legally related soon. Why not giveSebastiana try?”
Was that too bitchy?
“Sebastian,” Marc woodenly stated. “Why are you calling me at the office? Unless it’s to apologize and explain what the—” He paused and then murmured into the phone, as if to keep from being overheard. “What is going on with my brother?”
“Apologize?”
“Yes,” Marc retorted.
“No,” I said simply.
“No…what?”
“I have no intention of apologizing to you. If Calvin asks me to exchange polite small talk with you over dinner, sure. I’ll pass you the salt and pepper with an award-winning smile and even pretend I mean it when I tell you I can’t wait to ‘do this again.’ But I don’t make it a habit of apologizing to bullies.”
“Are youquitefinished?” Marc asked.
“When you’re done making demands, I’ll stop telling you to go fuck yourself.”
Marc was silent.
I stamped my feet a few times and the wind rustled my hair. “I called to see if you were the sort who actually works on business trips, or the one who holds meetings at the hotel bar.”
“Of course I’m working. You know,Sebastian, I really tried giving you the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to do that for Calvin. But you are an obnoxious sonofabitch.”
