Hannah went over to his wall of shelves, where the stereo had a prominent place in the middle. But there were no CDs with an Irish theme. “Do you have something against the Irish? There’s not a hornpipe or a reel or a fiddle here.”
Caleb came up behind her, picked one, and slid it into the player. He held out his hand. “Will you settle for a round of Scottish bagpipes and the drums instead?”
Her arms went around him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man striptease to bagpipes before.”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
Twenty-Six
Sydney’s end-of-the-week party turned out to be a large backyard event that overflowed with such a crowd she had to scramble to defrost more hamburger meat.
“Thank goodness everyone brought a side dish,” she exclaimed, flitting from kitchen stove to the outdoor grill where Quentin kept searing more hot dogs.
“It’ll be fine,” he assured her. “Brent and River brought a casserole, Nick and Jordan brought a rib roast, Thane and Isabella brought pizzas, and Kinsey and Logan stopped and picked up cake and ice cream. I don’t think anyone will go home hungry.”
Ethan slapped him on the back. “And Hayden just had to make up a batch of her chocolate chip cookies. I’ll no doubt leave here five pounds heavier.”
“It seems like you invited the entire town,” Hannah remarked, looking out over the backyard.
Sydney lifted a shoulder. “Word of mouth has a way of spreading. Now that we don’t have to worry about a peeping Tom, everyone just wants to relax and enjoy themselves. They all hired sitters to watch their broods while they live it up on a rare night out.”
But Caleb noticed it didn’t take long for the guests to slant their conversations to the situation at Bradford House. Especially the group of men who stood around Quentin at the grill. They were full of questions aimed directly at Brent.
“Any word yet on who that baby was?” Logan said to Brent.
“The lab assures me they’ll have Quentin’s DNA back by next week.”
Nick was just as curious as every other guy. “Lots of ideas floating around. The probability is high that the baby belongs to Douglas. His property. His playboy lifestyle.”
“No one’s substantiated anything to me yet. You know something I don’t?”
Nick shrugged. “I wasn’t living here back then. But people talk when they come into the bank. Everyone seems to agree the former mayor had quite the social life.”
“I’m aware Douglas entertained on a rotation basis. I’m trying to hunt down the list of people he entertained. Any names pop up during these conversations?”
“More than a couple. But the women’s names don’t mean much to me since they’ve long since moved out of town. Some say Flynn McCready is the guy you should talk to.”
Brent stared at Nick. “Really? That’s a new direction. How so?”
“Prissie Gates told me that Flynn and Douglas were thick as thieves back then,” Nick provided.
“I thought Jack Prescott was Bradford’s best friend.”
Nick shook his head. “Jack was supposedly happily married. Think about it. Unless Jack fooled around on Belle, the horndog mayor would likely be drawn to a best friend with no attachments, someone just like him, someone he could party with. In my book, that description fits what I know about Flynn perfectly.”
Brent took out his cell phone to make notations of everything Nick had given him.
Quentin brought over a cooler containing beer and began handing them out to the men.
“Just the guy I want to see,” Brent said. “Did you get a chance to talk to the coroner?”
“Late last night. After he sent me copies of the slides from the autopsy, we agreed the images show a hairline fracture across the baby’s skull. That makes it another type of evil. He’s convinced now it was homicide. I suspect that’s probably what he’ll ultimately list on the autopsy. Is that what you wanted to know? Does it help?”
“It does, gives me a leg up on the investigation. Thanks.”
“Is it true you’ve decided to ditch the house because of all this?” Logan asked Quentin.
“Still kicking it around. Shame too. Beckham seemed to be settling in there. He likes that spot on the beach where he was inducted into the Miwok tribe. He doesn’t complain about it, but we know he’s missing his room there.”
“Then why don’t you hold a cleansing ceremony that covers the entire grounds?” Kinsey suggested. “Call out Marcus Cody or one of your own, like Nonnie and Stone. Get them back in town to perform the ceremony. Cleanse the place of the evil. Make a big deal out of it.”
Quentin cocked his head to stare at the lawyer. “That’s not a bad idea. Natives do that all the time.” He met Logan’s eyes. “How is it you so keenly married someone who’s so obviously ten times smarter than you are?”
Logan’s face broke into a wide grin. “Let me tell you it took some adjustment. What makes it especially hard is that she never rubs it in my face.”
“Much,” Kinsey tossed back, a sparkle in her eye. “The ceremony could act as a rebirth, not only for you guys but for Bradford House as a whole. Invite the entire town to participate. You might even consider renaming it Blackwood Manor.”
“I don’t know about that,” Quentin returned. “It sounds about as pretentious as Bradford House. I’ll kick it around with Sydney and Beckham. Those two always come up with a list of great ideas that would never occur to me.”
Jordan sought out Hannah and pulled her aside. “I wanted to thank you. Nick and I had this long talk last night until the wee hours. Turns out, he’s as unhappy as I am about the long hours he’s spending away from Promise Cove. He wants to make changes to his schedule, take more time off to spend at home. I…we owe it all to you.”
“Don’t be silly. I’m just happy that it’s something Nick wanted as much as you did. This way, I won’t worry about you out there by yourself after I start my new job.”
“Does Durke know yet?”
“Not yet. That’s on my to-do list. I have a question for you, though. Have you had the opportunity to use Faye DeMarco to dog sit Quake?”
“No, unfortunately we’re too far out of town for her. But if you’re interested in getting to know her, she’s right over there sitting next to Beckham under that giant oak tree.”
Hannah tugged Caleb away from the buffet table to go with her to meet Faye. It became apparent to Hannah the closer they got that the two teens were holding some type of ceremony using Buckley, a lab, golden retriever mix, as some sort of stand-in for the ritual.
Brown-haired Faye was no bigger than a sprite. The girl had huge brown eyes that looked too big for her face. Faye held a turtle, the size of a small dog, on her lap that seemed at home around humans, or maybe just used to the girl’s feeding and handling of him.
Caleb broke the ice. “Hey, Beckham, how the heck are you? Haven’t seen you since Christmas. What are you guys up to?”
“We’re getting ready for a Miwok celebration. It’s a tradition practiced during the winter to mark the seven constellations that make up the Big Dipper. The time is right when the stars are at their brightest.”
“It’s the start of the tribe’s spiritual year,” Faye supplied. “A very important somber occasion that requires the right music and traditionally prepared food. We’re putting it all together.”
“Ah. You’re certainly getting into learning about your new Native customs,” Caleb remarked.
Beckham nodded with pride. “Now that I’m a true Blackwood—and the court says I am because we filled out a bunch of paperwork—Faye and I research all the customs at the school library. We’ve already scheduled them on the calendar for the entire upcoming year.”
“Every month our goal is to celebrate a new one,” Faye added. “It’s fun mapping out all the different traditions and assigning them a month.”
“Not to mention we get extra credit for it in social studies,” Beckham owned up.
&n
bsp; Hannah chuckled at their enthusiasm. “It’s still amazing that you’d go to the trouble of doing that, shows initiative.”
She sat down next to Faye on the grass. “I spoke to Cord, the veterinarian. It seems you come highly recommended as a first-rate dog sitter and dog walker. Since I have a new puppy, I’m in the market. I’ll probably be needing your services soon.”
That perked Faye up. Her face turned from concentrating on the task at hand to Hannah’s compliment. “Sure. What kind of dog do you have?”
Hannah went into a description that showed her pleasure at having a dog in her life. “Her name’s Molly and she’s about five months old, still growing, a cross between an Airedale and a Jack Russell, which I suppose makes her some kind of small terrier.”
“Molly sounds sweet. If I’m not available on Saturdays and Sundays—I’m limited to taking paying jobs on the weekends because of school—my brother Andy can dog sit.” Faye pointed to a man standing next to the grill helping Quentin with the burgers and hot dogs.
Hannah followed the track of Faye’s eyes to a tall man with a mahogany mop of brown hair. Her jaw dropped. For several long seconds, she couldn’t take her eyes off Faye’s brother. “I’m sorry, what did you say his name was?”
“Andy.”
“Andy DeMarco,” Hannah said aloud. “That sounds Italian.”
“Pretty much. Andy and I don’t look a lot alike though. My hair’s much darker than his. He has more reddish brown for some reason. It’s odd because neither one of our parents ever had red hair. They’re originally from someplace in Italy, Palermo, I think.”
Hannah swallowed hard enough to get the words past her lips. “And where are your parents? Are they here tonight?”
“They died in a car accident two years ago.”
“Oh, honey, that’s terrible. I'm so sorry.”
“Hannah already knows my grandmother died before Christmas,” Beckham explained to Faye. “I told her the first time she came to Bradford House. That’s where I met her, but Hannah had already heard about it. I guess the whole town had.”
Caleb noticed Hannah still staring at Andy and leaned over to whisper, “What’s wrong with you?”
But Hannah couldn’t stop staring at Andy. “I’m…nothing. You know, the first time I showed up to clean Bradford House and Beckham was there, I shared my story with him. I lost my parents when I was six. I know how rough it can be. How old is your brother, Faye?”
“Andy? He’s twenty. Did you get dumped into the system when your parents died? Because Andy didn’t want that to happen to me. He’s a lot older than me. That’s why social services wasn’t much interested in shipping him off to live with strangers. They didn’t much care what Andy did. All I know is that Andy could stay put in Pelican Pointe no matter what. But me, if I couldn’t stay with Andy, I’d have to go live with a foster family. Good thing he wanted to keep me around.”
“That’s really nice of Andy.”
“Oh yeah. Andy’s super smart and takes care of everything at home. He does everything a parent does, even checks my homework before I go to bed. He makes me follow the rules, though. So, did you? Did you get dumped in the system?”
“I did, for a little more than three years or so. Then I got adopted. I thought it was a miracle at the time. You sound very worldly for a girl your age, talking about social services like that.”
“At my age—I’m almost fourteen—I’m way too old to get adopted by anyone now. And I wouldn’t want to leave my brother alone anyway. That’s why I’m lucky to be here, living with him. This way, I get to stay in my own room and see Beckham and go to the same school and nothing much changed for me. But it could’ve been…horrible.”
“It sounds like you’re very lucky to have Andy. But you know, social services isn’t as terrible as you make it out to be. Those social workers have been known to do good work for kids by finding them decent homes, sometimes more stable than the ones they had to leave. Were your parents good to you and Andy when they were…alive?”
“Sure. I guess. But they always worked too hard. They never had any time to come see me at school or go to parent-teacher conferences. The day it happened, they were racing back to their jobs in Vegas when they were killed, probably going too fast and driving carelessly.” Faye put the turtle down on the grass and the animal began to nibble the ripe blades of St. Augustine. “My birthday’s in two weeks. Andy says I get to have a party like this one. Would you and Caleb like to come?”
“We’d love to. Where do you live?”
Faye rattled off an address on Cape May. Suddenly chatty, Faye went on, “We’re planning to plant a garden out here. We had plotted out a place at Bradford House, but…that might not happen now. And if it gets closer to spring we’ll need to have a backup plan.”
“I find a garden is one of the most soothing places to spend time. You can read a book. Or sit out in the sun. What do you plan to grow?”
“Flowers mostly. Maybe a few things Oogway Putney—that’s my turtle over there—likes to eat. Nonnie, that’s Quentin’s grandmother, called it a memory garden. Nonnie came up with the idea.”
Beckham finally managed to get a word in. “Nonnie and Sydney suggested we plant it in memory of my grandmother, Charlotte Dowling, and Faye’s parents. That way, we can remember them by picking flowers out of the garden, and taking them out to Eternal Gardens and putting them on their graves at the cemetery.” He turned to Caleb. “Faye and I planned to ask you for advice when we get the seedlings in the ground.”
“That’s a super idea and touching. I’m happy to help. Or Hannah. Pretty soon she’ll be managing the co-op next month, growing vegetables for the town. So if I’m ever not available, you can always ask her for advice.”
That caused the teenagers to go into a litany of questions that lasted almost until the party began to wind down.
Later, when Caleb finally got Hannah alone in the kitchen, he nudged her into the laundry room for privacy. “What was that all about with Andy?”
“What do you think is wrong? Faye said Andy was twenty. And look at him.”
“Oh, come on. You practically stopped breathing just looking at him. To me, he looks like Andy. What do you see?”
Hannah put her hands over her face. “He’s the spitting image of my father. I swear I’m not making this up, but Andy looks exactly my dad. And he’s the right age, Caleb. I think Andy could be Micah, Micah Andrew Lambert.”
Caleb blinked in surprise. “What? You never said anything about Micah’s middle name being Andrew.”
“Why would I? Who would’ve ever thought that he’d be using his middle name? Not me. But that can’t be a coincidence. Now, all I have to do is find out whether his birthday is in August. If it is, I’ve just found my little brother.”
“With Brent dragging his heels on that list, maybe I know a way we can bypass the DMV info. I’ll be right back.” Caleb left her in the kitchen to hunt down Julianne McLachlan.
Julianne sat in a circle with a group of other women talking about making another trip out to Cleef’s farmhouse to pick up an old fireplace screen she’d found there.
“I hate to interrupt but I was wondering if I could have a word with Julianne,” Caleb interjected. “It’ll only take a minute.”
Hannah was waiting for Caleb at the side of the house in the little courtyard. It was the one spot that wasn’t teeming with people and would afford them a level of privacy. Hannah explained her predicament to the school principal.
“You want me to what? No. I will not snoop into a student’s records from another school in the district. San Sebastian High is off limits to me,” Julianne declared. She shook her head for emphasis. “I’d have no reason accessing their computer records. Nope, no way.”
“Former student,” Hannah corrected.
“Doesn’t matter. I can’t go searching through anyone’s school records for no good reason. That’s a violation of so many privacy laws I won’t even bother to list them. Look, I sym
pathize with your predicament but surely you understand why I can’t do it.”
“Absolutely. But do you have any other advice as to where to look for a person’s records, someone who might’ve graduated say, two years ago?”
Julianne narrowed her gaze at Hannah. “You have someone already in mind, don’t you?”
“Of course, I do.”
Julianne let out a sigh. “You tell me specifically what you’re looking for and I’ll see if I can come up with a…reasonable explanation as to why I need that person’s info. Who is it and what do you want to know?”
“I need to know if Andy DeMarco was born in August.”
Julianne scanned the backyard until she spotted Andy having a conversation with Thane. “But Andy’s standing right over there. Why don’t you just walk twenty yards or so and ask him yourself when he was born?” Like a brick falling off the roof, it hit Julianne then. “Oh, my God. You think Andy might be your brother?”
“Shh. Don’t say it so loud,” Hannah cautioned. “It wouldn’t be fair to him finding out that way. I need to work up to it. Make sure of my facts before I approach him.”
“Okay, look. I can take care of this here and now without breaking any laws or rules. It’s simple. I’ll go ask Faye. How’s that?”
“Sure. August 9th, that’s Micah’s birthday,” Hannah blurted out quickly when Julianne turned to fulfill the mission.
But then the principal stopped, turned back around, looking somewhat confused. “Micah?”
“That’s his birth name,” Hannah added. “Micah Andrew Lambert, my brother.”
“Ah. Fine. Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
It took Julianne less than five minutes to run back with the news. “Faye confirms Andy’s birth date is the same. I think you have either a major coincidence here, or you just won the brother lottery. Congratulations.”
Hannah grabbed Julianne’s arm just as she was about to whoop louder. “No. You can’t say anything to anyone. Not even to Ryder. I need more proof before I go turning this kid’s life upside down.”
Beneath Winter Sand Page 25