“You’re back now.”
“Carter mentioned my father dying yesterday, so I know you know why I’m back.”
“When’d you get here?”
“Yesterday.”
“He died over a week ago.”
“We weren’t close.”
“Where do you live now?”
She knew the answers to these questions. If she thought he’d give her some great insight, she was in for a disappointing chat. “Mystery Lake.”
“Not far, but you never came back.”
“Nope.”
“You and Helia seem close.”
His jaw clenched. He didn’t want anyone prying into his and Helia’s past. “Our properties abut. We grew up together.”
“But you hadn’t seen each other in years before yesterday,” Jess said. An assumption on her part. She might have found out he hadn’t been back since he left, but the world was a big place. He and Helia could have met up anywhere. They hadn’t, but that wasn’t the point.
“Some friendships stand the test of time,” he responded as they approached the back entrance to the kitchen.
“Who’s going with me?” Helia asked.
“I will,” Jess answered. Which would give her time with Helia and Carter a chance to talk with him. Monk nearly rolled his eyes at the orchestration. Again, he didn’t begrudge them their job. He hoped they found whoever killed Justin Flannery. But they were wasting their time with Helia.
The two women slipped through the door, the sound of pans clattering, raised voices, and ovens running filtering out before the door shut, sending him and Carter back into silence.
“You going to stick around and run Bacco?” Carter asked, leaning against the dark wood of the building.
Monk crossed his arms and let his gaze rest on the vast vineyard stretching north. “Haven’t decided.”
“You don’t seem especially cut up about your father’s death.”
He sliced the detective a look. “As I told your colleague, we weren’t close.”
“Justin did some work with your dad.”
Monk shrugged. “Bacco has a tasting room. I understand Flannery and his mother ran a wine accessories business. It doesn’t surprise me they did business together.”
“But you never met him?”
Monk shook his head.
“Helia never talked about him to you?”
“Not until yesterday.”
“They were together two years, and she never mentioned him?”
Monk shrugged. “Like I said, never heard the name until yesterday.”
Carter’s gaze stayed fixed on him; he could feel it. He didn’t mind. The detective could look all he wanted. Monk wasn’t easy to intimidate.
