If I Should Die_ A Novel of Suspense - Allison Brennan [71]
“I’m going to take Joe’s friend to the kitchen for a beer. Is that all right with you?”
“I’d like a beer, too.”
“You don’t like beer.”
“I think I might.”
“How about a martini? Extra vermouth and three olives?”
“That sounds lovely.”
Sean followed Henry through a large formal dining room that didn’t look as though it had been used for some time. One of the most famous reproductions of The Last Supper had a prominent position on one wall. Henry glanced at the picture, sadness in his eyes. He didn’t stop until they were in the back of the house, where a country-style kitchen looked far more lived in.
He cleared his throat. “Excuse me.”
His eyes were bright, not from pain or drugs, but emotion. “Usually, I’m okay with her forgetfulness, but it’s been a hard week.” He looked pointedly at Sean. “I think you know why.”
“I need answers, Henry. What’s going on in Spruce Lake?”
Henry sighed and pulled two bottles of beer from the refrigerator. He handed one to Sean and opened the other for himself. “I didn’t tell Emily your name so she won’t repeat that you were here. I don’t want to put you in more danger than you’re already in.”
“Explain.”
Henry shook his head and sat on a barstool, resting his elbows on the table.
Sean slammed his unopened beer bottle down on the kitchen counter. “I can bring in the cavalry—just say the word.”
“And tell them what? You bring in the police, they’ll find nothing, because your people need warrants. The bastards in charge will know before the ink is dry and destroy the evidence, then punish whoever they think turned them in. The devil you know …”
“I need your help,” Sean said.
“Paul Swain was a ruthless bastard, but he took care of this town. As long as you were on his side, he took care of you. Someone turned on him.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. When he went to prison and the cops left, some of the players changed.”
Sean was getting frustrated. He didn’t have time for a history lesson, and he wished Henry would just spit it out.
“I know a lot more than you think I do.” The pieces were beginning to take form and Sean could see part of the bigger picture. “Before Paul Swain went to prison, someone undermined him. I don’t know how—by threat, bribery, sex—but when she got enough people over to her side, she turned her own brother in to the cops. Though Swain was in prison, he had something on her—something that would get her killed or imprisoned—so she stayed away.” As he spoke, Sean saw Henry’s expression grow darker. He knew Sean was talking about Bobbie Swain.
“Bobbie Swain couldn’t gloat or run the business the way she wanted, relying on people like your nephew Jon to keep it in line,” Sean continued. “But something changed, and Bobbie’s come back.”
“Dear God, you saw her?” A look of terror crossed Henry’s face.
“She was bartending tonight.”
Henry’s whole body sagged. Sean didn’t actually know everything that he’d just told Henry, but he’d been working on the theory after hearing what Duke told him about Miami. If Bobbie Swain was cold-blooded enough to kill her husband and frame another drug dealer, she was certainly cold-blooded enough to turn in her brother Paul.
“Jon heard she was coming back,” said Henry. “She called him, told him to convince Tim and Adam to postpone the resort. But you don’t understand—Jon’s not what you think he is. All he wants is to help people keep food on their table and a roof over their head. Protect them from Bobbie and her people.”
“So that’s why he bought up all the land? Put everyone into indentured servitude as a form of protection?”
“You should leave.”
“I’m not leaving without answers.”
“You won’t find them here.”
Sean turned away from Henry, frustrated but knowing that being a hard-ass with the old man wasn’t going to get him the answers he needed. Henry was more than a little scared—for himself and his ailing wife.
He glanced around the spacious kitchen, circa late fifties. The brown appliances, though old, fit with the colorful tiles and collection of spoons on the wall above the gas stove. It was homey and comfortable. The