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“There’s not much to explain. I was at the Irish Giant having a drink with the guys and got chatting to her. We shared a couple of drinks then went back to hers. I’m sure I don’t need to go into detail about what happened after that. What’s this about a break in?”
“The following evening someone broke into the house and trashed it. At the moment, it doesn’t look like anything was stolen, so we are just making inquiries with anyone that had contact with Miss Thomas.”
“Well, as I said, we went back there after drinks, but I left before the sun was up.”
“So I heard. Did you see anyone else talking to Miss Thomas before you left the pub?” I shake my head. “And what about at the house, did you see anything out of place? Hear anything?”
“No, nothing.” I was kind of busy, but I don’t say that.
“Okay, well, if you remember anything, let me know. That’s all for now,” he says before walking away and getting back into his car. I watch him as he drives away, more than a little pissed that he comes knocking at my bloody door.
Not wanting to drive, I walk the short way into town. After checking the diner, the store and even Morning Kick, there’s no sign of Kennedy anywhere. I guess I’ll just have to wait till tonight. At least she won’t have anywhere to run if she’s already at home.
* * *
Jackson never calledme back but did send a message to say he’ll catch up with me later at Maria’s. And here I am, sitting in my car outside the house and thinking about all the ways this evening could go horribly wrong.
Jackson filled me in on Kennedy’s reaction to finding out his dad is dating her mom, well, a little more than dating seeing as he’s moved in with her. I’m guessing the atmosphere around the table tonight is going to be more than a little tense from all sides.
Kennedy has never been one for surprises and given her reaction to being anywhere near me lately, this isn’t going to be any different.
Finally climbing from the car, I stroll up the path to the front door, but before I can knock, the door opens.
“Asher, how nice of you to join us,” Maria says with a twinkle in her eyes that tells me she knows I’ve been sitting outside her house for the past ten minutes.
“You saw me, huh?” She just nods, a small smile on her face.
“Come in. Everyone else is here, and we are just waiting for Kennedy to come down.”
I step inside and instantly my mouth waters at the delicious smell of a pot roast cooking. “Something smells good, Maria. Thank you for inviting me.”
“Pfft, don’t be silly. You know you’re always welcome here, Asher.”
I follow her into the dining room where Stu and Jackson are seated around the table chatting about football. It’s a conversation that usually ends in some sort of disagreement because they support rival teams. I’m almost sure that Jackson did it to piss his dad off when we were younger and now he’s stuck with it.
“Hey, Asher, good to see you,” Stu says, reaching across the table to shake my hand before I take a seat diagonally opposite Jackson. When I look to my friend, he raises an eyebrow.
“Hey, man. What took you so long?”
I go to reply but am stopped by a voice behind me.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” We all look toward the doorway to see Kennedy standing there with a look of death to all in this room on her face, but especially to her mom.
“Kennedy, language. And that’s no way to treat our guest,” Maria admonishes as she comes back into the room carrying a large pot and placing it in the middle of the table.
“Guest, my ass,” Kennedy mutters as she pulls out the chair directly opposite me.
This dinner is not going to go well!
Dropping down into it, our eyes meet, and I can see how desperate she is to say more. It’s there on the tip of her tongue, but she won’t disrespect her mother like that.
Silence descends as we load out plates up and begin eating.
“So, Asher, how are you getting on with the new shifts at the station?”
I look to Stu. “They’re good. I mean it’s taking some time to adjust to doing twenty-four hours straight, but we don’t get too many call outs, so there’s plenty of down time.”
Stu nods his head, and you can see everyone is struggling to find conversation without mentioning the giant fucking elephant in the room.
