AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Wine?”
Hale flicked a look Savvy’s way before going to fill his mother’s request. As soon as he was out of earshot, Janet’s gaze narrowed on Savannah, and she sensed an inquisition coming.
“Hale doesn’t like me denigrating Preston or Declan, but as far as I’m concerned, they can both rot in hell. I’m sure Preston’s already there, and Dad’s not far behind.” When Savannah remained silent, Janet said, “I’ve shocked you. You’re just too well trained to show it.”
Savvy could faintly hear the sounds of Hale getting another bottle of wine open for his mother. “I already told you I can’t talk about the investigation, if that’s what you want.”
“Do you know who your sister was having an affair with?”
“No.”
“My husband had an affair when we were married. Did you know that? That’s why I divorced him. He knew how I felt about her, but he just couldn’t resist the conniving bitch. He said he tried, but come on . . . He wasn’t that powerless. He could have let it go, but he wanted her.”
Hale returned with a glass of wine in a large goblet for his mother, the dark red fluid catching the light in a ruby glow. “Leave Dad alone,” he said shortly.
“I know. You think I should have stayed with him, even after he screwed that crazy witch.” She settled her bitter gaze on Savvy. “You grew up around here, right?”
“The Tillamook area,” Savvy admitted. She eased a hand toward her bag. She could probably steal into the bedroom for some privacy for a few minutes before she hit the road and headed home.
Janet was on her own track, however, about to launch into a tale she’d clearly told often, the needle groove deepening in the record with each telling.
“So you know that freak show they call Siren Song?”
“Savannah and I were just talking about Cath
erine Rutledge,” Hale said.
“Oh, yeah? Why? What’s she done now?”
Savannah looked at Hale warily, wondering what he was going to say. He hadn’t said how he felt about what she’d told him of his grandfather and Catherine’s relationship. Nor had he mentioned what he thought of Mary’s son, Declan Jr., who, according to Catherine, believed Hale’s grandfather was his real father. Nor had he responded to Catherine’s fear that he was targeting her nieces, Declan Sr., maybe Savvy, and God knew how many others.
He hadn’t said anything at all.
But now Janet had brought up Siren Song, and the topic was on the table. Hale didn’t react for several long moments, and instead of responding to Janet’s question about Catherine, he said, “I put your suitcase in my bedroom.”
“Oh, for God’s sake. I told you I’d sleep here.”
“I’ll take the den,” he stated firmly.
“We’ll see.” But if Hale thought he’d effectively turned the conversation away from Siren Song, he found out that was wishful thinking, as Janet said, “Catherine’s not near as saintly as she would have everyone believe. What a goddamned hypocrite. Those dresses! That hair. That holier-than-thou attitude. She had a thing for Declan, only that bitch Mary took him away from her, too. First my husband, then Declan. Mary had to have them both. I don’t care that Mary’s been dead for years. Whenever I think of her, it’s like I want to rip her eyes out.”
Hale made a sound of disgust, but Savvy found herself riveted. On the heels of Catherine’s revelations about her relationship with Declan, and the son of Mary’s who she believed was responsible for Kristina’s death, now Janet was saying Hale’s father, Preston St. Cloud, had had an affair with Mary Beeman? She was afraid to meet Hale’s eyes, so she just kept her gaze pinned on Janet.
“I know, I know,” Janet said. “You think I’m making it all up. But Mary had sex with both of them. I already knew about Declan, but then I caught Preston with her, and the look on his face . . . And this was years after they’d had the affair. We were in a coffee shop, and she walked in, and he . . . he was still dying for her. And she was so fucking smug.” Janet bared her teeth at the memory. “I went through school with that sick bitch, and she stole every boy I ever had a crush on. Preston wasn’t from here, but we stupidly stayed around Deception Bay, even though I begged Preston to leave, but no . . . Declan talked him into working for him at Bancroft Development. Just like he did Hale. And when Mary found out I loved Preston, she took him, too. Just because she could.”
Janet almost echoed Catherine’s words to Savvy about Mary, how Mary had warned Catherine to let Declan go, or she would take him from her. How Mary had gathered men like trophies all her life. Just because she could.
“It’s lucky she’s dead, or I don’t doubt she would have come for you, too,” Janet said to Hale.
“You’re obsessed with this. Let it go,” Hale told her flatly.
Savvy saw that he’d never credited anything his mother had said before; maybe he’d even felt she divorced his father for crimes he’d never committed. She wondered what he was thinking now, after the things she’d told him about Declan and Catherine and Mary.
“Your saintly father screwed Mary Rutledge,” Janet declared coolly. “I know you never wanted to believe it, but I’m not making it up. I didn’t find out myself about Preston until years later, but when I did, I left him and your grandfather and Deception Bay. Thank God for Peter. He took me away from this hellhole before Mary could find out about him, and I still won’t bring him anywhere near that lodge and her demon-seed daughters.” She drank half the glass of wine as if it were water, looked down into the wine that was left, then knocked the rest back. “God, I forgot what it feels like being so close to them. You’ve got to move, Hale, before one of them turns into their mother and comes for you.”
“You’re really over the top,” Hale told her.
“I wish that were true,” she answered, then held out her wineglass for a refill.
