“I have to warn you, the picture is quite graphic.Was Miz Aherne a relation of yours?”
Ignoring him, I grab the A4-size photograph.
It's an image of a woman’s back.The skin has a matte, lifeless quality, even though the photo is in black and white.Tattooed on the skin, indelible and precise, are Bryant’s contact details.
It’s a fresh tattoo with crisp, clear delineation.None of those bleeding lines that old tatts get after a few years.
“You see?”Bryant is singing like he’s at the opera, giving me all the information I need.“I can tell you I had some explaining to do to the police!”
“And why is that?”
Gesturing to the file, the lawyer grimaces.“Because Miz Aherne wasmurdered.Some bastard slashed her throat, leaving her to die in a puddle of her own blood.If the police hadn’t confirmed it as murder, I would swear it was a suicide.Otherwise, I mean, it’s like the woman could foresee her own death.”
I flick through the file, my face expressionless.
I’m finished here.
Bryant gasps as I move swiftly to the door.Turning, I nod to let him know he did good.
“Go fuck your wife, William.”
I’m out of here.
ChapterNine
Luna
He’s been gone for three days and four nights.
I drive to the inn and check the clubhouse.I could pretend it’s to do things like visit the general store or walk from room to room in the cute Swiss chalet, but that would be lying.
I can’t wait to see Dante again.It’s eating me up inside that he came into my life for such a brief moment and yet somehow managed to make such an impact.
It feels like I’m in a relationship against my will.And that’s the last thing I want, especially after Giulio.Ugh.
Celia Heiner owns the general store and works there alongside her husband Harry.The first time I stepped into the store, she wanted to know who I was and for how long I was staying.
“I knew you must be Tempest’s kin,” Celia explained, pointing to my hair.“Linda came by to give us the sad news.It was a shock, I can tell you.What was she?Fifty-four, fifty-five years old?Taken too soon, my Lord.”
Celia crossed herself reflexively.
I never knew my aunt passed away so young.Mr.Bryant was not very forthcoming.I suppose he didn’t want to upset me.
“My mom died at forty-two.Cancer.”There I go again, oversharing.But Celia is the kind of person who brings that out in me.She’s kind and understanding of how bewildering I find my new circumstances.
“Never you mind, dearie.Heaven is the best place to be after suffering and pain.”
I have started to notice things like that in Landslide.A few things are off.Not majorly off, but just enough to make me feel like an alien visiting a different planet sometimes.
Everywhere else, folks say “pain and suffering,” but not here.Some of the other inconsistencies I have noticed in Landslide speech are rather endearing.
“Licking the windows” means someone is interested in an item.For example, Celia would say to me, “You want that loaf of bread, or are you just licking the window?”
Making a “bull out of a flea” means the same as the Americans saying “making a mountain out of a molehill.”
“Satan’s grandfather” is how they swear, similar to us saying “Christ on a bike” orsomething.For some bizarre reason, so is the word “percolated” a curse word.Makes me a bit suspicious of the coffee until Celia tells me there’s no connection.
If Harry Heiner is shuffling around the basement and stubs his toe, it’s hilarious to hear him yell out “percolated!”
