Page 112 of Caught in the Axe
In Bangor?
I sat up and gaped as Karen Souza stepped up beside her, along with her husband, the goddamn chief of police.
What were they doing here?
Finally, a tall, well-groomed man joined the group.
I was pretty sure Gus had pointed him out to me once or twice. He was some local bigshot who probably used to rub elbows with my father.
And then he put his hand on the small of my mother’s back.
Anger rippled through me. Who the fuck did he think he was?
I stood, clenching my fists and itching to fight. It only took a couple of heartbeats to realize howstupid I must look. In a rush, I dropped back into my chair and ducked my head. But it was too late. Mom had spotted me and was headed over.
“Owen.” She greeted me with a big smile and a hug.
She was wearing a dress and lipstick and smelled nice. Suspicious.
“Mom, what are you doing here?”
“Just out to dinner with some friends. Come say hello.”
The last thing I wanted to do was speak to Chief Souza, but I had no interest in upsetting my mom. “Sure.”
As she led me toward where the hostess had seated them. I typed out a quick text to Lila.
Code red. My mom is here. With other Lovewell people.
My phone vibrated in my hand almost immediately.
Fuck. I’ll hide in here. Let me know if I have to climb out the window.
My mother tugged on my arm before I could reply and presented me to the table.
“Obviously you know Chief and Mrs. Souza.”
I shook the chief’s hand and tried to hide my grimace. He had done nothing but crawl all over us since the incident with that poor kid. According to Gus, he was still in a coma. Lila had probably saved his life by finding him that day.
I trusted the chief even less now that the security cameras that his “friend” had installed had failed to catch any evidence of the crime.
I bent down and kissed his wife on the cheek. “Good to see you, Mrs. Souza.”
She swatted at me and smiled. “Please call me Karen. You’re all grown up now. We’re so happy you’ve come back to town.”
My mother, who still had hold of my arm, pulled me closer. “And this is Charles Huxley.”
The tall guy stood and shook my hand. “Such a pleasure to meet you. Debbie has told me so much about you.”
A shudder worked its way through me. One I hoped I’d hidden from him and my mother. It took everything in me not to run to the bathroom and scrub my hands. The guy gave off a sleazy charm that made my stomach churn. His teeth were blindingly white, and no one in Maine had a tan this time of year.
“I’ve been trying to fix your mom up for years,” Karen said, beaming. “And now she’s finally double-dating with us.”
My vision blurred a bit at that word.Dating? This fucker?
The prick was wearing an Hermes tie. That alone made me vow to myself that I’d burn all mine when I went back to Boston. I wasn’t sure I could wear them without vomiting.
“Mom,” I said. My tone was tense, but there was no helping it. “You’re dating?”
