Page 45 of Dirty Looks

“We’re sorry to be the bearers of bad news,” Jack told her as we walked toward the door.

I paused and looked back at her. She was still sitting on the couch, frozen in her shock and pain.

“You might see your grandmother,” I told her. “She’s taking Evie’s death pretty hard. And they’re not sure Kitty is going to make it either.”

She nodded and said, “I’ll go see her. She’s probably full of whiskey and sound asleep by now.” She tried to smile, but it was difficult for her. “She didn’t approve of Alan. She kept telling me he’d lead to no good. But she never told my father about us. I asked her not to.”

“It sounds like you’re close,” I said.

“She’s the best.”

“Lizzie,” I said, knowing what I was about to say was never easy for anyone to hear. “Did you and Alan have unprotected sex?”

Her face flushed with embarrassment. “A couple of times,” she said, shrugging. “But I’m on the pill so I didn’t worry too much about it.”

“You probably need to be tested,” I told her. “Some things showed up in his blood work you should be concerned about.”

She nodded, but I could tell the information hadn’t really hit her yet.

“Let us know if you think of anything else,” Jack said. We let ourselves out and closed the door behind us.

“Is it just me or was it weird that she didn’t ask how Alan died?” I asked Jack once we’d gotten back into his unit.

“Or why we’d asked about him being in Astrid’s apartment,” Jack said. “Let’s head back to the station and see if Martinez is ready to interview Astrid. We’re going to need Doug tonight. I’ll swing by and pick him up and bring him back to the station. It’s going to be a late night for all of us.”

I was speechless. If Jack went to pick up Doug he was going to find out about Oscar. I didn’t know Oscar on a personal level yet, but I hoped he hadn’t made himself too comfortable.

I looked at Jack and opened my mouth, hoping something convincing would pour out, but it didn’t.

“I know about the dog,” he finally said. “Cole told me. I also know about the sofa. I’m reserving judgment on Doug’s cleaning skills, but we can deal with the mess once this case is solved.”

“That was much more painless than I expected it to be,” I told him. “You’re mellowing in your old age.”

“Nah,” he said. “I’ve just learned not to sweat the small stuff. When you lived in as many life-or-death situations as I have, it puts other things into perspective.”

“I guess when you put it that way…”

We were almost back to the station when Jack got a call on his personal cell.

“It’s Everett Lidle,” he said, holding up the phone so I could see and then he answered, “Jack Lawson.”

“Jack, it’s Everett Lidle.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Everett,” Jack said. “You know if there’s anything Jaye and I can do for you and your family we will.”

I’d forgotten that Jack knew the Lidles, on a personal and a professional basis. It seemed like Jack knew everyone. It was me who was the recluse. I grew up in Bloody Mary, but the first chance I got I left to go to college and then on to medical school. It wasn’t until my parents’ scandal that I moved back home. Being a recluse at that point of my life seemed more of a necessity than anything. Every time I walked down the street I could hear people talking about “that Graves girl” like I’d steal their silver if they had any.

But things had improved when I’d married Jack. Not that I’d ever cared, because to me, he’d always just been Jack, but his family name and his reputation meant a lot and my circle of acquaintances now included people like the lieutenant governor of the state of Virginia and other influential names. And from time to time, we had to dress in fancy clothes and rub elbows with people Jack didn’t necessarily like, but it was important to keep relationships cordial. I’d never understood politics, but I also knew that elected sheriffs in the state of Virginia had a lot of power, and everyone wanted a piece of it.

All that to say, it was no surprise that Jack could talk to the Lidles on an intimate and comfortable level, and on the other side of the coin there was me who’d never met any of them and only heard about them on the news.

“We’re a mess, Jack,” Everett said. “Would you mind…would you mind coming by the house? I think it might help Jenny if she heard straight from you how things are going.”

“Jaye and I are in the car now,” he said, flipping on his blinker and cutting across two lanes of traffic to take an exit. “We can be there in about fifteen minutes.”

“I really appreciate it,” Everett said. There was a catch in his voice and then he simply said, “Thanks,” and hung up the phone.

We wound our way through the manicured streets of Nottingham until Jack turned onto the Lidles’ street.

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