“That’s Medina’s brother. Half brother. Like I said, her dad was a hippie, had a child with another woman when he was married to Medina’s mom. Jeff’s involved in whatever this is about? I guess that shouldn’t surprise me. He was always kind of tightly wound.”
“How so?”
“Irritable, easily distracted, jumpy. He’s in Medina’s life now?”
“That’s surprising?”
“They never really seemed to have much of a relationship, Doctor. At least the few times I saw them together.”
She leaned forward. “She used to refer to him as ‘Daddy’s little bastard.’ ”
“She resented him.”
“Maybe the affair was a factor in her parents’ divorce. I can’t say for sure, the one time I brought it up she got angry.”
I said, “Anger’s always been an issue for Medina.”
She stared at me. “Why do I feel I’m in therapy? Yes, she could go zero to sixty like this.” Snapping her fingers. “So she’s done something. What a shame, I was hoping the experience would change her. You must think I’m odd. Two friends who ended up incarcerated. But I had other friends, my academic cohorts.”
She laughed. “That sure came across defensive, didn’t it?” She stood. “I really have to get those groceries. Pregnant women work up a hunger.”
I walked her to the car. She tried to step ahead, failed, settled for ignoring me. Reluctant to offend. Maybe it had saved her life.
When we got to the top of the hill, I said, “Thanks for talking to me.”
“I’m not sure what you really got out of it. And truth is, I don’t want to know the details. What’s the point?”
CHAPTER
34
As she drove away, I called Milo.
Straight to voicemail at work and home.
I said, “Learned some interesting things about Okash,” and got out of there.
—
Robin was in the kitchen, hair toweled, wearing her Japanese robe and readingCook’smagazine. Blanche stretched a few feet away, attending to a jerky stick. Both of them looked up and smiled. Robin got up, fetched a couple of plates and two bottles of Grolsch from the fridge, set them on the table.
Turkey sandwiches, potato salad, Greek olives, apple slices.
I said, “Impressive leftovers.”
“Easy when you start with good stuff. So how were the nuns?”
“One nun, nice person.”
I summed up what Emeline Beaumont had told me.
She said, “Two lose their freedom and the one who’s left chooses self-restriction.”
“Interesting way to look at it.” I popped the bottles.
Robin said, “So now you know this woman’s capable of calculated violence and has a brother with anger problems. That must’ve been some family.”
—
