Page 34 of A Little Bit Whiskey
9
NOIR
Noir waited for his coffee and doughnut, feeling like every pair of eyes in the Green Bean were on him and they were filled with judgment. He took off his cap and stuffed it in his coat pocket. Six inches of fresh snow had fallen since last night. The police had roped off part of the vineyard and the access road. A skeleton CSI team were still out there, doing God only knew what.
“Excuse me,” a familiar female voice prickled his ears.
His body stiffened. Alison Token was the last person he wanted to chat with on any given day, but especially today. She’d been stirring up trouble for weeks with her so-called reporting. Interviewing anyone who had an opinion on Tamsyn’s missing mother, the activity at the vineyard, and even the controversy over the showcase.
He turned, forcing a smile. “Hello, Alison.”
“Noir,” she said. “Would you mind giving a statement? On the record. My camera crew is just outside.”
“I do mind.” He did his best not to tighten all the muscles in his face. He didn’t want to give away his anger and frustration, but he did want to get his point across.
“Silence is a strong message. Don’t you want to say something about what’s happening in your life right now?”
“He gave you your answer, now go away,” Caleb Ransom said.
“I wasn’t talking to you.” Alison planted her hands on her hips.
“I’m not giving any kind of statement.” Noir said, snagging his sugary treat and tall coffee.
“Stop gossiping,” Caleb said. “Half your story was bogus.” Caleb was no stranger to being accused of something he hadn’t done. He’d been one of the main reasons Merlot had chosen to become a parole officer in the first place. Even though Caleb had been vindicated, it didn’t stop a few idiots in Candlewood Falls from glaring and whispering behind his back.
But today’s town grumbling had been all about the morning news regarding the human remains found at The River Winery. Alison even had to mention Tamsyn and Noir’s relationship status and the old rumor about her possible connection to the River family. Alison was nice enough to say that rumor was defunct, but she still put it out there for all to judge.
However, Alison went too far when she showed the video of Noir’s mother fighting with Elizabeth. It was sensationalism. She did it solely to get the network bigwigs to notice her and for ratings. All it did was create speculation.
And now she sat three tables over with one of the ladies from the hair salon.
Fucking wonderful.
Noir sat across from his brother-in-law Dax, who had been holding the table since the Green Bean was packed. Typical for a winter morning when the patio couldn’t be open. He took out his doughnut, setting it on the napkin. His stomach twisted and turned. Tamsyn had to go into the station and fill out a bunch of paperwork. Then she had a meeting with his parents.
That made him nervous as fuck.
After that, all she wanted to do was sleep for ten hours. He couldn’t blame her, but at least she was willing to do that in his bed.
“You’ve been staring at the doughnut for the last five minutes,” Dax said. “Are you going to eat it?”
“Would you like it? Because I’ve lost my fucking appetite.” Noir pushed it in front of his brother-in-law. “That witch, Alison, is staring at me like a fucking vulture. She was outside my parents’ house this morning. My father pulled his lawyer shit on her, and she left, but she’s relentless. The worst part is she barely covered the important part of the story. As in, someone put human remains on the vineyard.”
“That right there has Brooklyn freaked out,” Caleb said. “That part of the winery butts right up against the alpaca farm. We told Fred and Tamsyn the night in question, Lucy was going nuts. And that wasn’t the only time. We told the police that. However, we did have a problem with raccoons for a bit.”
“So did we.” Noir lifted the lid of coffee. He inhaled the rich aroma before taking a slow sip.
“Carter and I are going to put up cameras on the access road. I’m also adding more along my side of the fence. We just never have because it felt like we’d be invading Weezer’s time with Alpacino.”
Noir’s lips defied him and he smiled. “I’ll never understand her relationship with that animal.”
“It is unique, that’s for sure.” Caleb glanced over his shoulder. “Your dad would probably be pissed if you gave her a statement, wouldn’t he?”
“That would be putting it mildly,” Noir said.
“We’re under strict orders not to speak to the media or the cops without Carter or Ben present,” Dax said. “Shit. Don’t look now, but here comes Anna.”
“Fucking great.” Noir reached across the table and snagged the treat he’d given to Dax. He needed something to focus on. He broke off a piece, dunked it in his coffee, and popped it in his mouth. He kept his gaze on the glaze floating in his brew.
