Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“I’ll tell you when I see you.”
He disconnects. I look at the phone for a minute, hearing myself tell Ophelia I won’t keep anything from her. With a sigh, I shove the phone in my pocket and drive to Eddie’s. Horatio is right about it being a hole, and I wonder how he even knows about it. It’s old, and clearly no one bothered to update it ever, but people barely glance at me. Most are on their own.
I order two beers and take them to one of the high tops to wait for Horatio, who shows up as I’m taking a seat.
“What the hell happened to you?” he asks, and I realize I haven’t so much as glanced in a mirror since my ‘meeting’ with Ethan. I reach up to touch the tender spot on my face and notice the dried blood on my knuckles.
“Nothing. I’m fine. Ethan’s worse.”
“You two still at it?”
I shake my head, still thinking about that ring and what it could mean, trying to wrap my brain around the idea.
“Doesn’t matter. What’s going on? Why do we have to meet in this gem?” I ask as he takes the seat across from mine. Although it’s only been a couple of hours since I saw him, he looks like he’s had a long day. “When did you say you talked to Ophelia by the way?”
“Just got off the phone with her. Why?”
“I took her phone.”
He shakes his head. “Well, she called me from the same phone number she’s had for years.”
“Ah.” I sip my beer and guess Ethan gave her her phone back when he came to Nigella’s house on his impromptu visit. “She neglected to mention she still had that phone.”
“Why wouldn’t she have a phone?”
“Nothing. What’s this about?”
“She plans on going to Texas.”
“She can plan all she wants.”
“We’re on the same page then. She shouldn’t go.”
“What’s your deal with Gordon? Where do you stand now?”
“We do have a common goal, all three of us. We want Phee safe. I can deal with the old man. What happened with Claire happened a long time ago and he knows about Chandler of course, so that changes things.”
“Speaking of, what did Gordon mean that he wouldn’t bother Ophelia?”
Horatio sighs, then drinks a big swallow of the watery beer and makes a face but shrugs and drinks another sip. He sets the half-empty glass down and looks at me. “I think Chandler’s dead.”
“What?”
He exhales loudly. “This is what no one understands about Gordon Carlisle-Bent. He didn’t get to be as powerful as he is because he’s a nice guy. Now, he wants to do right by Phee, but that doesn’t change what he is.”
“You’re saying the old man…” I trail off, not quite believing what I’m hearing.
“Had Chandler killed,” he fills in, not missing a beat.
“Murder? He may not be a nice guy but murdering his own son?”
“Stepson. He’s not blood.”
I shake my head, trying to process when a text message comes in. I take my phone out and read it. It’s Nigella telling me she has someone working on the video, but it’ll be a few days. I tuck the phone back into my pocket.
“He loved Chandler’s mother. Even I could see that, and I wasn’t even paying attention. I’m sure it’s why he adopted Chandler as his own. For her. And for her part, she was younger than him and I do think she loved him but if one of them had the upper hand in that relationship, it was her. Her name was Claire too, did you know that?”
I shake my head. Why does this matter?
“No, you wouldn’t.”
“Anyway, what he did for Chandler, he did for his wife, not for the boy. And Chandler knew it, that much I did pay attention to. He used his mother to manipulate his adopted father.”
“And you think Gordon had him killed? Still not sure I’m with you.”
“I think Chandler pushed too far when he showed up at The Grande the night Ophelia met Higgins.”
“He knew about that?”
He drinks more of his beer. “Fucking soap opera. Chandler was likely having Phee followed and Gordon was having Chandler followed.”
I thought staying at Nigella’s house was enough to keep our location a secret, but I see now I underestimated all the players in this game. Ethan had told her Wells had given him the address. Why would Detective Wells do that? I mean, he might, but why? Beyond that, it’s not too far-fetched to think Ethan or Chandler might have Nigella followed knowing she’d lead them to me eventually. It was a stupid assumption on my part and I’m glad we’re now at the brownstone.
“You need to be sure, Horatio.”
“Gordon’s deal with Chandler was that he stay away from Phee and disappear altogether. When he agreed and then turned around and broke his word, Gordon wouldn’t have been left with a choice. It was probably a test all along, if I know the old man. When I was there, just before you arrived with Phee, he received a call. He had the medical team leave the apartment before he took it and whoever was on the other end only said a few words then disconnected. It’s done. That’s it. And he smiled at me and told me Chandler would no longer be a problem.”