Page 113 of Deadly Misfortunes

"All right."

Then they ended the call.

“Maria was worried about us,” Gregory said.

“She is so sweet.”

After wandering through the mall for an hour, Gregory took her to a couple of museums. One featured all kinds of sculptures. The other, paintings.

“I don’t think you’re dull at all,” Sascha said, taking his arm and walking with him.

“She just wanted to be with Brendan, and anyone she went out with would have seemed dull to her.”

Sascha laughed. “I agree.” Then she glanced at her watch. “We never ate lunch. Do you want to return to the creperie restaurant for dinner?”

“Yeah, sounds good. By the time the three hours that it will take Brendan to drive down here, we’ll have an hour to have dinner and then be ready if Janie calls us.”

They drove to the restaurant and were seated, then ordered chicken Florentine crepes with mushrooms, cheese, and chicken and a Ratatouille crepe of eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, and garlic finished with goat cheese.

They were both eating their dinner, glancing at their watches, checking text messages and emails, nothing from home or from Brendan’s girlfriend.

They finished their dinner. “We could get a hotel room and wait there in case she notifies us later,” Gregory said. But then he got a text message from Janie.

Janie texted: He’s here.

Gregory called her. “We’re on our way.”

“He’s wearing a beard and his hair is red.”

Red. “Can you take a picture of him and send it to me?”

She took a photo of Red locking his truck, then heading for her apartment.

“It’s Red.” Gregory showed Sascha the photo of him.

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I am too. Let’s go.” He paid for their meals, and then they headed out to the car.

When they finally reached Janie’s apartment, Gregory saw Red’s black pickup, which confirmed Red was here.

Gregory knocked on the door, and Red answered it. His face fell. “What, why, what are you doing here?”

He looked totally puzzled.

“They came to see me earlier,” Janie said. “Invite them in.”

“This is a damn setup.”

Gregory pushed his way in and shut the door. “Why don’t you take a seat?” He took hold of Sascha’s hand and brought her to the couch while Janie and Red sat on another.

“I guess I’m losing my job.” Red sounded disappointed.

Gregory couldn’t figure him out. “Why did you try to kill me?”

Red ran his hands through his hair. He didn’t say anything for a while, like he was trying to come up with a good reason, but he couldn’t offer one.

Gregory raised his brows. “Let me set you straight right here. Number one, you are not the Landrys’ son. It was proven by DNA. If you want to have us retested against my parents’ DNA, I’m willing to do so.”