“Dulcie’s there already. I’ll send Lovell, too. One can stay with you, and the other can bring the drugs back. HICC can test it, then we’ll know how to dispose of it.”
He’d spied Dulcie following him from Mystery Lake but hadn’t seen him since arriving, although it didn’t surprise Monk he’d stuck around. Now that he’d broken the metaphorical seal and made his first foray into parts of the castle littered with memories, it would be good to have a brother with him for the rest.
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Lovell told me about Helia. Any news there?”
Monk didn’t blink at the question. There were very few secrets among the Falcon’s Rest men.
“Leo’s looking into it. Flannery was murdered, although they aren’t public with that yet. Two detectives questioned Helia yesterday, but her alibi is airtight. Still, it rattled her.”
“I’m sure it did. How’s she doing otherwise?”
He’d been one of the lucky ones to have someone looking out for him. Someone who cared about him and gave him a safe place when his father started doing, well, what Roger did. Knowing his relationship with Helia and her family made them important to his brothers, too.
“Good. Running an amazing business with her parents. They had a massive wedding yesterday and no one even broke a sweat. I’m talking a four-hundred person sit-down-five-course meal precededandfollowed by dancing.”
“Damn, even Dottie would be impressed,” Mantis murmured, referring to their own house manager/house mom.Dottie kept the club running and fed with an efficiency that seemed almost mystical at times.
Monk chuckled as he made his way down to the tasting room. He’d venture upstairs again when Dulcie and Lovell arrived, but he’d had enough for now.
“She’d definitely be impressed.”
Mantis hesitated. Monk knew the next question his club president wanted to ask but wasn’t certain if he should. Taking the choice away from him, Monk spoke. “She’s divorced.”
To his credit, Mantis didn’t take the next logical step in the conversation. “She okay? Was it messy?”
“It was a while ago,” he said. They’d touched on the topic over breakfast the day before, but she hadn’t gone into detail. “I didn’t get the sense it was messy. Sounded more like they drifted apart, then realized they wanted different things. No kids, so fewer complications.”
“Probably still hard, but I’m glad she seems okay.”
Yeah, Monk felt a tad guilty for how good it felt not seeing her cut up about another man. He had no rights to her in that way, but he didn’t make a habit of lying to himself.
“Me, too.”
“The memorial is today.”
“Yep.”
“I assume you’re not going. Do you need anything other than Dulcie and Lovell?”
“Definitely not going and no. I’m going to research where I can donate Roger’s clothes. I’ll get his room cleaned out, then move on to the rest of the house.”
“Dulcie will stick around in case you need him.”
Before going down to the dungeon, was left unsaid. Monk hated even thinking the words. Aside from the memories, it was such a cliché. Not that he’d prefer his father to be a less-cliché criminal asshole, but referring to the basement as the dungeonmade it sound like a set in a two-bit porno. Admittedly, it hadn’t been far off. But unlike a professional film, the drugs Roger pushed on people, sometimes without their knowledge, made it impossible for anyone to consent to the activities that took place down there. Himself being a case in point.
“Thanks,” he muttered, shifting a pillow out of place and taking a seat in one of the leather chairs.
“When are you seeing Helia again?”
“You better not start fucking betting on anything,” Monk muttered. Charley came from a large family that bet oneverything. It hadn’t taken much to drag the Falcons into it.
“Between Charley, Joey, and Leo, that’s like asking the tide to stop,” Mantis said on a laugh.
Monk grumbled. He didn’t really mind, but the idea of them betting on him and Helia in any way made him think of Heliain that way. A topic that had no business occupying his brain. He’d only walked back into her life after years apart.
“We’re going out for tacos tonight. Some food truck she likes,” he replied.
