“No. Only with their lawyers. Believe me, that was enough.” Tabitha shuddered.
“Do you know what the sons are doing at the moment?” George kept his tone casual, laced with empathy. If Tabitha chose to answer, this one could be interesting. She hesitated for a long moment.
—a spike of satisfaction in the air, the enemy not slain but dying, suffering, so pathetic, the anger soothed a bit, overlayed with spitefulness, silk, the apple emitting its juices, so sickeningly sweet, so good, he felt his stomach revolting, the stench—
“We do check in on them occasionally.” A small smile flitted across Tabitha’s face. “I can’t say their current position in life bothers us much.”
“Believe me, I can relate.” George allowed himself a grin as well. “Thank you again for talking to us. This helps us a great deal. Would it be okay to contact you again if we have any questions?”
“I’d rather we never hear from you again, Detective Donovan, but yes, you can call.” Tabitha very pointedly didn’t say she would cooperate. Smart woman.
They said their goodbyes and were out of the house as quickly as their visit had been unwanted. Back in the car, George fumbled with the radio for a while, his way of getting his thoughts in order.
“Do you think we can cross them off?”
Andi rubbed his forehead with the palm of his right hand. “I want to. I’m sure they had something planned for the three men, something unpleasant, considering it was most likely them who put the ketamine into the beer, and they were thwarted by whoever killed them. But we do know it wasn’t them at the lake, even if we don’t have proof we can write in the report. What we can do is keep them in mind but concentrate on the more likely suspects. Move them down from the top spot, can’t we?
“Yes. Unless we find out they hired the contract killers or were somehow helping them.”
“Which is unlikely.”
“But not impossible.”
“No, not impossible. It would certainly explain why they came back the next day. To watch how the victims were taken away.” Andi stared out the window, listening to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” while the city raced by. He had never understood why somebody would want a man who couldn’t be faithful, but to each their own.
“Do we ask the sons to come to the precinct tomorrow?” Andi was eager to get those bastards into an interrogation room.
“Don’t you think it would be wiser to visit them?”
“No, I want to see them sweat.” Andi knew he sounded vindictive.
“It’s tempting,” George admitted. “And if we put them together in one room, we can rattle them some more.”
“You’re evil.”
“You love it.”
Andi just huffed, not wanting to admit how much he loved George’s evil side. Or any side of George at all. No, it wasn’t love, no, no, something else, kinship perhaps, though nobody could be kin with him, not with a freak like he was, he had to stop this train of thought, right now. To break the awkward moment, Andi took out his cell and called the precinct, asking them to invite Lester Miller, David Hector Portius III, and Alexander McHill to come for some questions, giving them different times of arrival so they couldn’t talk before George and Andi were with them.
Then George brought him home, telling him to eat something before he went to sleep. It was sweet and annoying at the same time, making Andi smile while he watched from his window as George drove off.
16. Sins of the Past
GEORGE HUMMEDwhile he shaved in front of the mirror. The morning run had done him good, allowing his mind to empty completely before he and Andi would confront the sons of the victims today. Sleeping in his own bed again still felt both nice and strange. Nice because he was back in his own space, where he could relax better, and strange because he missed the feeling of taking care of Andi. Or somebody. Yes, somebody, not Andi specifically. Dangerous territory and all that. He just hoped the sons would provide them with a lead to their killers, or at least point them in the right direction. They could certainly use it. After he had put on his favorite aftershave, some fancy organic stuff his mother always got him for Christmas, he left the bathroom. The bags with the clothes he had bought for Andi were waiting by the door.
The day before, after he had left Andi at home, George had stopped at the nice little boutique again, giving in to his need to get Andi a decent wardrobe. Their sale was still on, and the nice saleslady from last time had been more than happy to help him again. George had chosen four pairs of jeans—they were high quality and a breathtaking 70 percent off—and he had somehow allowed the sales lady to talk him into buying eight T-shirts in varying shades of dark blue and charcoal, which, he was sure, would make Andi look a bit more put-together, especially when combined with the new jeans. Then he had thrown bundles of five pairs of socks each into the mix but had balked at getting underwear for Andi, since he thought that might be a bit too invasive. Then a picture of what his partner thought of as perfectly serviceable undergarments had risen before his inner eye, and before he could talk himself out of it, he had added eight simple black boxer shorts made from extra-soft material to the pile on the counter. The sales lady had been very pleased with him and added another pair of high-class merino wool socks to his purchase for free. George eyed the bag he knew contained those socks. He was still torn about giving them to Andi. His partner could definitely use them, but George knew how to reallyappreciatethe fine cloth. With a heartfelt sigh, George picked up the four bags, left his apartment, and went to his car. Andi would be paying for these purchases, so it was only fair if he got the extra socks.
On James Island, Andi was already up and about, opening the door to his house before George had left his car. He went to the trunk to get the bags, enjoying the peaceful morning in this fancy neighborhood. His own apartment wasn’t too shabby, but the surroundings were definitely livelier than the serenity he found here.
Andi eyed the bags suspiciously. “What do you have here?” he asked instead of a morning greeting.
“Clothes.” George felt nervous all of a sudden. Had he gone too far? “You said you wouldn’t mind, and the sale in the shop where I got your sweaters was still on….” He trailed off, holding the bags out to Andi.
The suspicion on Andi’s face morphed into puzzlement before a smile took over. “Wow. Thank you. I never thought you’d really go for it. This is so much better than having to go shopping myself!” He snatched the bags from George’s hands. “Oooh, you got me jeans and T-shirts. Perfect.” Andi rummaged through the two smaller bags containing the socks and underwear.
“If you think this is too personal….” George trailed off when Andi made a dismissive gesture.
“You’ve seen me in my underwear more than once. Hell, you have emptied my barf bucket twice already. Buying me new underwear is pretty tame in comparison. Thank you again, and what do I owe you?”
