He tapped the most recently dialed number on his phone and Brad picked up immediately.
“I’m glad you called back,” his stepfather said. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to visit Kasey’s gravesite. To pay my respects.”
“There isn’t a grave. She was cremated.”
“Oh. Oh, son…”
“Just a couple more questions, Brad. Did you, by any chance, reach an out-of-court settlement with the Eddings family, after Hudson’s death?”
“I don’t see how that’s relevant after all these—”
“Yes or no?”
“I did,” Brad said finally. “To spare your mother the pain of a drawn-out lawsuit.”
“And she never knew about the settlement, did she, Brad? You left her less than a year later, and the only thing she got out of her marriage to you was a lifetime of guilt and shame.”
“Now, son—”
“Fuck off, Brad,” Whelan said. “And don’t call me son.”
CHAPTER 48
The bellman was pushing a luggage cart loaded down with suitcases, a cooler, golf clubs, hanging garment bags, and a cat carrier containing a large cat who yowled its displeasure as the cart was wheeled past the guest relations desk and toward the front door.
Preceding it was Colonel McBee, and his long-suffering wife.
“Byeeeee,” Livvy whispered.
She slipped out from behind the desk to witness the McBees’ departure. A large champagne-colored Lincoln pulled beneath the porte cochere and the valet hopped out and ran around to help Mrs. McBee into the passenger seat. The bellman placed the cat carrier on the old woman’s lap and closed the door.
In the meantime, Colonel McBee stood beside the open trunk, directing the loading and reloading of his luggage and loudly berating the bellman. Finally, when the task was completed, the Colonel made a show of peeling off some bills, which he handed to the younger men.
The attendants walked back into the lobby, shaking their heads.
“Big tipper, huh?” Livvy casually asked.
The bellman held up two singles. “Huuuuge. I can clock out now because I finally have enough money to buy a pack of gum.”
Livvy looked at the time. It was after eleven. Checkout time was ten o’clock, but of course, the McBees regarded that more as a suggestion than a hard and fast hotel policy.
She stepped over to the reception desk where Carla, one of the clerks, was typing on her computer’s keyboard.
“Has housekeeping been notified about the McBees?”
“Yeah, and now they’ve got to turn that room double time.”
“Cool. Can you keep an eye on my desk? I’ve got a quick errand to run.”
“Make it fast, okay? That bankers’ conference starts today and the house is full.”
Livvy raced to the room the McBees had just vacated and was relieved to see the door open, with the housekeeper’s cart standing outside in the hallway.
She pushed the door open. “Hello? Sonja?”
The young housekeeper clutched her chest and gasped. “You almost gave me a heart attack. I was afraid they came back.”
“Nope. I just watched them drive away. Good riddance!”
