He cocked his head.
“She’s my niece.”
He sat back. “Lived in Bend, Oregon, and married to a man who used both her and their son as his punching bag.” Gretchen nodded. “That was a bad one.”
“It was. Could have been worse without your help, though,” she said. “She told me the names of the men who helped her. I remembered yours because of the last name. But as you can imagine, thinking someone like you could come from someone like Roger? It was a stretch, so I let it go until Clyde mentioned you at the service.”
“You seem to hold the same opinion of my father as I do. What’s made you stay?” He didn’t mean to sound suspicious, but hell, he was.
She chuckled and leaned forward again, eyes on her computer. “Bacco employees. Twenty-two full-time and forty-five part-timers, mostly the field workers. I didn’t know what kind of man he was when I hired on. By the time I figured it out, those people were family to me. Your father and I came to anagreement. He’d leave me to run the business as I saw fit so long as his bank account stayed where he expected.”
Monk doubted she knew the full scope of how depraved Roger Wilde was, but he wasn’t going to ask. “I saw the financials. Even with whatever cash you transferred to my dad, the winery is doing exceptionally well.”
She nodded. “Fair wages, good benefits—they inspire loyalty. In the long run, loyalty is a good investment.”
“I’m surprised Alessio hasn’t gone off and started something of his own. By this point, he must have a following. One unconnected to the Wilde name.”
“With what land? He makes a good salary. One of the best in the valley, but it’s not enough to buy here.”
Monk conceded that point even as an idea started forming. He needed to sort out things with Helia and the murders first, though. “Did you come in today to take my measure?”
She inclined her head. “More to confirm my instinct. So far, you’re not disappointing.”
“But the day is young,” he said with a smile.
She grinned back. She wasn’t old, maybe her mid-sixties, but the smile made her look a decade younger.
“So,” she said, sitting back. “Have you found your father’s drug stash?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Monk stilled. Had his gut been wrong? How else would Gretchen know about the drugs? He doubted Roger ever bandied it about. Was she part of that whole scene?
“Drugs?” he said.
She sat back again, a look of empathy washing through her eyes. “You and your father may not have been close, but I still hate to tell you this. Over the past year, it’s become clearer and clearer that he was using something. What, I don’t know, but it wasn’t recreational marijuana. Based on his manic behavior, I’d guess an upper of some sort.” She paused, her gaze drifting to the window. She sighed. “I have no idea what you plan to do with this place, but I’d hate for someone to find his stash, whatever it was, and end up in a bad situation. I hear that it only takes one use for a person to get addicted to some drugs.”
He studied her, his eyes—and his scientific Spidey sense—searching for any signs of deception. But he only saw a vague expression of sorrow. As if saddened by the impact drugs could have on people.
“Coffee,” Helia said, entering the room with Dulcie on her heels. She handed him a steaming cup with the perfect amount of milk while Dulcie passed one to Gretchen.
“Where’s Kelly? Dulcie said she was here,” Helia asked, parking herself on the arm of his chair.
“She needed to leave,” Monk replied. Dulcie arched a brow but took a sip of coffee rather than comment.
Only Helia noticed. “What was that look for?”
“There was no look,” Monk replied.
Keeping his eyes fixed on his coffee didn’t keep him from feeling the weight of Helia’s stare. He’d never had a mom, but he suspected this was what a “mom stare” felt like.
Dulcie cleared his throat. “Monk told her to leave. She was eye-fucking him, and he didn’t like it.”
Silence.
“Bitch,” Gretchen muttered at the same time Helia said, “Well, can’t say I blame her.”
All three turned to Helia. Her eyes skittered around the room, then she blushed, a hint of pink beneath her honey skin tone. “Fine,” she huffed. “I’m not going to go so far as to say what Gretchen said. It’s not as if Kelly knows she’s encroaching on my territory. But I will concede it’s inappropriate as I’m guessing she came by for professional reasons.”
