Speak No Evil_ A Novel - Allison Brennan [87]
Carina was a physically active, intelligent woman. Could he keep up with her? He wanted to. But look at him now, sitting on the stairs, unable to walk to the apartment above. Was it even fair to her?
“Beautiful night.”
Nick tensed until he recognized Colonel Pat Kincaid’s deep voice.
“Yes, sir,” he said, opening his eyes. By the colonel’s expression, he didn’t know if he’d witnessed Nick’s make-out session in the car with his daughter. “You snuck up on me.”
The colonel grinned, leaned against the stair railing. “I’m light on my feet.”
Nick knew he should stand, but if he tried he’d fail. Embarrassment warred with his predicament. He needed help; he didn’t want to ask.
“Carina has been working long hours on this case,” the colonel said.
“Yes, sir.”
“You can drop the ‘sir.’ I’m retired. Makes me feel old. And on duty.”
Nick couldn’t help but grin. He remembered telling his favorite deputy, Lance Booker, virtually the same thing. Can the “sir.” But old habits die hard. He’d always said “Yes, sir” to his father. His father demanded the respect.
Already, Nick had more respect for Pat Kincaid than he had for his own father, and that thought unsettled him. The respect for Colonel Kincaid came from the results of his parentage, and one night of good conversation. He loved his family, showed it. Not only in the way he spoke of them, but in the way his children spoke of him.
“Carina is a good cop,” Nick said, feeling like he had to say something. He didn’t do well with small talk.
“That she is. Driven. You know about my grandson.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
The colonel took a deep breath. “It was the worst day of my life.” He paused. “When Nelia came home from law school and said she was pregnant, Rosa and I were shocked.” He grunted. “We shouldn’t have been. Kids have sex. They get pregnant. It happens all the time, but . . . we thought we’d raised a nun.” He looked pointedly at Nick. “Nelia was our first—first daughter, first child. We shouldn’t have been surprised. She was twenty-three. Not a young kid. And Andrew was willing to do the right thing. Marry her.”
They were silent for several minutes. The colonel wanted to talk, but Nick didn’t rush him. He understood the need to collect thoughts, try to make sense of the insensible.
“Rosa and I are from the old school. The right school, in our minds, even now. Men did the right thing in our day. You got a girl pregnant, you married her. Everything worked out, more or less.
“But maybe, sometimes, marriage isn’t always the right thing.”
The colonel paused again. “A lot of women are capable of raising kids on their own. Especially with family,” he said, more to himself than to Nick.
“Nelia and Andrew, they never argued. They never disagreed. They were always respectful, always polite. I should have seen it sooner.”
When the colonel didn’t say anything, Nick asked, “Seen what?”
“That they didn’t love each other.”
“But that certainly didn’t have anything to do with Justin’s murder.”
“No, it didn’t. But it’s never just one thing, is it? Wrong place, wrong time . . . or maybe a gradual layering of choices? First, having sex. Then getting married. Moving here, or there. Taking this job, or that one. Every decision, every choice, changes the path we’re on.
“Nelia and Andrew didn’t love each other, but they are both good people and they loved Justin. They did the wrong thing for the right reasons. If they had really loved each other, they wouldn’t have spent so much time apart.”
“But that has nothing to do with Justin’s murder.” Nick didn’t see where the colonel was going with the conversation. Maybe he was too tired, or in too much pain. But there seemed to be a disconnect that Nick just wasn’t getting.
“Have you ever been in love, Sheriff?” the colonel asked.
Nick’s jaw clenched. “Yes.”
“Did you want to spend your free time with her? Did you think about her when you were apart? I mean,