“Half brother,” Savvy corrects me sharply, clearly not happy with me.“And she hasn’t seen or spoken with him in decades.”
“I wasn’t aware she had any relatives,” Rick states.“She didn’t mention a brother.”
“Because he’s out of the picture,” Savvy insists, before adding with a glare in my direction, “He’s in jail.”
I meet her angry look straight on.“Not anymore.He was paroled last month.”
“What?”
That news obviously comes as a surprise to Savvy, who immediately turns to her laptop, where I assume she is pulling up the Washington State Department of Corrections website to do an inmate data search.
A muffled curse a few moments later tells me she found confirmation.
“Who is this guy?There’s gotta be a reason you bring him up,” Rick points out.
“I just can’t believe she told you and didn’t mention anything to me,” Savvy grumbles in the background.
“Only reason I know is because I happened to be around when he called her and overheard part of a conversation.She claimed she wasn’t really comfortable talking to him.”I shrug and add, “I guess I’m just suspicious by nature, and think he’s worth looking into.Especially since, three days after, her business was broken into and set on fire.I don’t like coincidences.”
“I don’t either,” Rick agrees.“Let’s see what we can find on the brother.”
Ten minutes later, Savvy follows me out of the meeting room.
“My office, please.”
I figured she’d have a thing or two to say to me.Believe me, I’m not happy spilling the beans on Bess’s brother either, but I don’t regret bringing up his name.If there is even the slightest chance he’s involved and poses a threat to her, I’m not about to risk her safety by staying silent.I’ll happily take whatever repercussions come my way.
“She’s not going to be happy with you,” Savvy starts when she’s closed her door for privacy.“I’m the only one who knew her brother was incarcerated.When she moved back here from Seattle, she was eager for a fresh start; a life of her own on her terms and without the trappings of her brother’s chosen path.I respected her choices and her privacy all these years.You learned about Ken only days ago.”
She doesn’t spell it out, but the accusation is clear.Rather than getting on the defensive, I ask her a simple question.
“Knowing what you know now, would you still have stayed quiet?”
The long stare tells me enough.
Then she asks, “Did you talk to her first?”
“No, I didn’t.She probably would’ve told me to keep it to myself.She has been evasive on the subject of her brother, brushing off his phone call as inconsequential, even though I could easily see their conversation left her unsettled at best.She also chose to stay at the B&B instead of my place…”
When I notice Savvy bristle at that information, I put up my hand and quickly enlighten her.“The Battaglia Security team is monitoring and I’m the only one who knows where she is.Well, and now you do too.But my point is, I think she’s actively trying to avoid any questions I might ask, which tells me she—at the very least—suspects her brother has some knowledge of, or involvement with, what happened at the coffee shop.”
“Possibly,” Savvy concedes, nodding slightly before she tilts her head.“What exactly is happening with you and Bess?”
“Right now, I’m focused on keeping her safe,” I evade, getting ready to leave her office
“She’s my best friend, Hugo,” she pushes, “and I’m not an idiot; somewhere along the line things have moved well past friendship between you two.”
“Key words there arebetween you two,” I point out.
“You’re annoying.I’ll just go talk to Bess myself, I wanted to have a word with her anyway.”
Yeah, I don’t think so.At least not before I have a chance to talk to her first.I should tell her myself and use the opportunity to get some more information out of her.
“Get in line,” I tell my boss.“I am heading there now to give her a heads-up we are looking into Ken and will undoubtedly take the heat for that, but I hope it’ll push her to open up about that call with her brother.If you want to talk to her after, be my guest.”
“Oh, all right,” she gives in.“And then I’ll get her to talk about you and her.”
I just shake my head and reach for her office door, but before I step into the hallway, I leave her with a parting thought.
