Page 59 of A Little Bit Whiskey
“You don’t know?” Noir narrowed his stare, studying his mother for any hint of recognition.
“I wouldn’t be asking if I knew.” His mom cocked her head.
“I take it you know.” His father pushed from the desk and strolled toward the window that overlooked the gift shop. “On the one hand, whatever this item is, you having it could be the thing that proves we had nothing to do with your mom’s murder. Or it could be the thing that allows someone to set us up for something we didn’t do.”
“I believe it’s both,” Tamsyn said.
“This is a dangerous game and I don’t like it.” Noir plopped himself in the big leather chair. “Can you please just tell us whatever it is you have planned.”
“I one hundred percent believe neither one of you had anything to do with my mother’s death. I do believe that my biological father did and I think he’s going to be here tonight.”
“Wait a second.” His father turned. “No one on our potential list will be here tonight.” He held up his hand. “And why on earth would there be two items?”
“I have two different theories on that,” Tamsyn said. “He has an accomplice and they didn’t communicate. Or we have two different crimes for two different reasons.” She held up the pendant. “This was my mother’s. Although, I don’t know if this one was hers or the one found with the body. The point is, I need a little help gauging people’s reactions and since my instincts tell me you’ve never seen this before, and the three of you are the only people I trust, I need you to keep your eyes and ears open. If anyone—”
“We need more than just us.” His mom took both of Tamsyn’s hands. “My son loves you. So do we. And so does everyone else in this family. You’re part of us. This is bigger than finding out who is setting us up. This is about finding who killed your mother. Let us enlist the rest of the family.”
Noir leaned forward. “My mom’s right. We can add Tamsyn to the adult family text string. Mom’s going to be busy with the showcase, but the rest of us will be wandering and chatting with everyone; we can be your eyes and ears.”
“I don’t know. The more people who know what—”
“Tamsyn. Let us help you.” His dad pulled out his cell. “Whoever is doing this will assume we’re so busy with the Holiday Showcase they could easily believe it’s the perfect time to put the final touches on their plan.”
“You’re going to pull the rest of your kids in whether I want you to or not, aren’t you?” Tamsyn asked.
“Yes,” his dad said. “While finding out who killed your mom is priority number one, I’m not letting my wife go to prison for something she didn’t do. Not on my watch.”
“I don’t like any of this.” Noir rubbed his temples. “Especially the part that puts Tamsyn in the middle of a cat and mouse game.”
“Son, she’s a cop. It’s what she does,” his mother said.
Noir sighed. Every morning she walked out that door in her uniform, he worried. But this was different. Now his entire family was in jeopardy and his mom’s freedom hung in the balance.
Tamsyn
The Holiday Showcase had winded down and Tamsyn had lost hope in finding her biological father, who murdered her mother, and who set up the Rivers. She snagged her glass of wine and took a big gulp as a few more guests shuffled out of the winery.
Anna had been busy all night acting as if she’d saved the showcase. It had been comical to watch and if Tamsyn hadn’t been so preoccupied, it would have been funny. Fred had been avoiding her all evening. He hadn’t even said hello and that pissed her off. There was no reason for him to do that. She didn’t care that they were at odds professionally. Maybe even personally.
He wanted them to be a family.
But he wasn’t acting that way.
“Hey.” Eddy, her colleague, strolled over. “I have some bad news for you.”
“Not sure I want to hear it.”
“You need to,” Eddy said. “I shouldn’t be telling you, but Fred’s making the wrong call.”
“Why? What’s he doing?”
“He’s going to arrest Weezer after everyone leaves.”
“For what?” Tamsyn set her drink on the table.
“Murder,” Eddy said flatly.
“That’s insane. He doesn’t have enough evidence to do that. Sure, he can haul her down for questioning as a person of interest, but there isn’t enough evidence to warrant an arrest.”
