Homecoming (Downeast #1)

Chapter 18

Chapter

Eighteen

Dan put in his ear buds and clicked on the link Kate Bannister had sent. While he waited for her to join the Zoom meeting, he texted Walter. The press have figured out where I’m staying. Do you think we need security for Bertha’s?

I don’t think so. Saw you on the news just now.

They ambushed me in the driveway, thus my worries about security.

I think you’re okay around here. It’s not like the big city.

Thanks for the gut check.

Any time, boss.

Kate Bannister began their meeting a few minutes later.

“Sorry for the delay,” she said. “I got called into another meeting that just ended.”

“No worries.”

“I caught part of your presser. What can you tell me about the eyewitness and his beef with the Ballard family?”

“He was fired for cause and filed suit, demanding a cash settlement that the company has refused to pay. The matter goes to trial in December.”

“What was the cause of his firing?”

“I’m not at liberty to divulge those details. I believe you’ll find them in the countersuit filed in court by the company, but in my opinion, this information puts his motivations into question. I’ve requested bail for my client until a full investigation can be completed.”

“Keith Ballard has a criminal record.”

“I’m not representing Keith, and Kirby has never been arrested.”

“But you can acknowledge Keith’s criminal record?”

“I have no comment on him. He’s not my client.” After a pause, he added, “I will say, however, that prior arrests for DUI or fighting don’t mean someone committed murder. It’s a huge leap from bar fighting to murder.”

“You have a reputation for introducing alternative scenarios in your cases. Do you intend to do that this time, too?”

“Absolutely. Think about the crime of murder. It takes a tremendous amount of anger, passion and evil to take a life. Where was any of that in this case? By all accounts, Keith and Tanya had a fun evening at the bar. They had some drinks, they danced, maybe they fooled around in the restroom. It happens between consenting adults. Kirby was nowhere near any of that until he arrived to give Keith a ride home. Where’s the motive for murder here? I’ll help you with that. Neither of these men had a motive to harm Tanya.”

Dan was walking a fine line speaking for Keith, but the facts of his case affected Kirby’s. “The only mistake, if you want to call it that, Kirby made was responding to a call from his brother for a ride home.”

“Keith has been charged with three DUIs.”

“How is that relevant other than to explain why he called his brother for a ride home?”

“I’m simply stating that he’s been charged.”

“It’s not relevant to the facts of this case, but points to how he had a system for when he needed a ride. Kirby had made himself available to Keith, and this is the thanks he gets.”

“A source informed me that your wife has been estranged from her family?—”

“That’s not true, and as I stated to the other reporters I spoke with earlier, my wife is off-limits. If you want to be able to use me as a source, leave her out of the reporting.”

“Can you confirm an estrangement, though?”

“Thanks for your time. Talk to you later.”

Dan left the meeting before she could respond. Despite the warnings he’d levied against the reporters he’d spoken with, he still feared that Kara’s family history could come to light due to his involvement in the case. The very thought of that happening gave him a sick feeling in his stomach that wasn’t all that different from how the stinky bait had made him feel on the boat.

Kara came into the living room with a beer that she’d opened for him.

“Thanks, love.”

“How’d it go?”

“Pretty good.”

She stood next to him, running her fingers through his hair. “What’s wrong?”

“We need to talk about something that’s becoming a concern.”

“What’s that?”

“In both interviews just now, I was asked about your estrangement from the family.”

Her whole body went tense in one heartbeat. “What’d you say?”

“That anyone who reported on you in the context of this case would never get another word out of me.”

“Do you think that shut it down?”

“I’m not sure, which is what has me worried. The idea of shit from the past being resurrected simply because I’m the one your parents called to defend your brothers makes me a little sick, to be honest.”

“Me, too. What can we do?”

“That’s the thing… There’s no way we can stop anyone from reporting on that, if they decide it’s a story.”

“How in the world would that be a story?”

Dan rarely had regrets about anything in his life. He didn’t believe in them. But he was beginning to regret the high-profile career that made him—and his wife—a story due to his past. “It’s just that… Because of my work…”

“You’re a story separate of why you’re here.”

“Something like that. And please know, I don’t want anything to do with that. You have to believe me?—”

She leaned in to kiss him. “I know that. You can’t help that your reputation precedes you.”

“If my reputation causes pain for you, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“And my friends wonder why I stayed away for all that time.”

He put his arms around her and drew her in close to him, resting his cheek against their baby. “They know why.”

“If they report on me, so be it. I’ve got nothing to hide, and PS, I didn’t do anything wrong. I was the one deceived by people I thought I loved and people I thought loved me. If someone tells you they’re doing a story about me and my family, you can say that on the record. ‘My wife has nothing to hide. She’s not the one who deceived and betrayed a loved one. That was her sister and now brother-in-law. My wife would tell you she’s now very happily married and in close contact with most of her family—and has been all along.’”

“So you only thought you loved Matt?”

Kara tugged hard on a handful of his hair. “Focus.”

“I’m sorry… you were saying?”

“You heard everything I said, and if it comes to that, you’ve got your comment.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very sure. If they’re going to make the story about us, that’s what we have to say about it.”

He cupped her ass and gave it a squeeze, loving the lush, sexy curves of her pregnant body. “You’re one tough cookie, Mrs. Torrington. I wouldn’t want to eff with you.”

“You love to eff with me.”

“That’s true. Now that you mention it, what’re you doing right now?”

“Cooking dinner for my grandmother and uncle, who’ll be famished when they get home.”

He groaned. “All right. Go on if you must.”

“I must but thank you for always thinking of what’s best for me. It means everything to me.”

“You mean everything to me.”

“And you make me feel that every single day.”

“Do you two ever take a break?” Buster muttered when he saw them in an embrace.

“Leave them alone, Buster,” Bertha said. “They’re in love .”

“Whatever.”

Kara laughed, kissed Dan and went to finish dinner.

Despite what she’d said, he’d still move heaven and earth to make sure no one dragged her through the mud in the pursuit of a story.

Renata was in her pajamas with a moisturizing mask on her face, a glass of wine in hand and the Real Housewives of Orange County on TV. She could finally exhale after a day of extra attention from Myles after her “injury.”

Maybe she’d made too big of a deal about a paper cut…

A teaser for the eleven o’clock news featured a sound bite from Kara’s sexy husband, telling the media to leave her out of their quest for salacious details about the Ballard family, or he’d stop talking to them about the case.

Seeing Dan stick up for her cousin that way made her like him more than she already did.

She put down her wine to compose a text to Kara. Hot AF seeing your hubby go to bat for you, babe.

You saw that, huh? It is pretty hot! The thought of all that garbage being resurrected gives me vapors, but if it happens, so be it. It was a long time ago, and I’m not the one who’ll look like an asshole.

TRUE THAT.

Renata had never liked Kelly. She’d been a sneaky bitch even when they were little kids. Somehow, the rest of them usually ended up in trouble while she skated through free and clear, the freaking tattletale.

She deserved to be stuck with Matt Gallagher for the rest of her life.

Renata would never admit to anyone that she’d been relieved when Kara and Matt broke up. She’d never thought he was good enough for Kara, but he was perfect for that snake Kelly. The two of them deserved each other.

When her doorbell rang, she went completely still. Who the hell could that be at this hour?

Maybe it was the coffee she’d ordered from Amazon. They’d been delivering at all hours lately.

She threw open the door and shrieked when she saw Myles standing there with a big dopey grin on his face that faded when he got a good look at her.

Then she remembered the mask and screamed again.

“ What’re you doing here? ”

At the same time, he said, “What’s on your face?”

“Never mind that!”

“I… uh… brought you one of those mocha milkshakes you like, because you’re injured.”

Renata was stunned speechless, which didn’t happen very often. She did love her a mocha milkshake, but not when she had a mask on her face and no bra on! “Um, thank you.” She opened the screen door to take it from him.

“How’s your finger?”

“It’s fine.”

“No sign of festering or sepsis?”

He was totally making fun of her, but to his credit, he kept a straight face. “Not yet, but it’s early days.”

“Well, keep me posted.”

“I’ll do that. I might need a sick day tomorrow to keep it from getting infected.”

“That might be wise. Do you need me to put a new bandage on it? You don’t want to take any chances.”

Renata didn’t want to encourage his obvious interest in her, but he’d been nice enough to bring her the shake, so she went along with his foolish pretense to get inside her house. “I could use some help with that.” She stepped back to let him in. “I’ll, ah, just be right back. Make yourself comfortable.”

She went into the bathroom and washed off the mask, which left her face looking red and puffy from the aggressive scrubbing required to remove it. Then she slathered on some moisturizer, brushed her hair and put her bra back on before gathering the bandages and antibacterial ointment needed to treat her “wound.”

Tomorrow, she’d probably find it funny that he’d used her paper cut as an excuse to bring her a treat and was now seated on her sofa, seemingly engrossed in the Housewives’ never-ending drama.

“Who are these women, and how can I never see them again?”

Renata laughed at the face he made. “They’re an acquired taste.”

“You like them?”

She poked the straw through the lid on the shake and took a deep drink, nearly moaning from the taste that exploded in her mouth. The mocha shake was her all-time-favorite treat, but she limited herself to one a month when she wanted one daily. “‘Like’ is a strong word. I watch them to feel better about my own life.”

He frowned. “What’s wrong with your life?”

“Nothing. Really. But when you watch them, you realize that whatever’s bugging you is nothing compared to the crap they’re dealing with, most of it probably fake to juice the ratings.”

“That’s bizarre logic. You realize that, don’t you?”

“I never said it was logical, but it helps me de-stress to wallow in other people’s chaos for an hour.”

He reached for the bandages and ointment and got to work on her finger. “Why are you stressed?”

“Everyone is stressed.”

“I’m not.”

“Sure you are.”

“No, I’m really not.”

“How can you not be stressed with everything you have to do in a day?”

“I love what I get to do every day. Sure, it’s busy, but that’s a good thing. Keeps us in business.” He gently dabbed ointment on the angry-looking paper cut and applied a new bandage. “I don’t want you stressed out by work. My grandfather used to say, ‘We’re not curing cancer here. We’re shipping lobster.’”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“Work is supposed to be fun.”

“Says who?”

“Me, and I’m the boss.”

“Yes, you are.”

“If I say no stress at work, then no stress at work. You hear me?”

“I hear you. It’s this thing with my cousins, too.”

“I’m sure that’s the most stressful thing for everyone. Are you close to them?”

“I was close to Kirby when we were kids, but not so much now. It was hard with our dads on the outs and all that.”

“Why was that, anyway?”

“Fighting over the family business.”

“Ah, right. I think I heard something about that.”

She nudged him. “You already knew.”

“I didn’t want you to think I’d been gossiping about your family or anything.”

“Everyone’s gossiping about the Ballards these days.”

“I saw your cousin’s husband on the news earlier. Sounds like they’ve got the right guy defending them.”

“He’s only defending Kirby. Keith declined his services.”

“Why’d he do that?”

“Because he’s a fool. He’s always been like that, thinking he knows better than everyone else.”

“I don’t know him at all, but people say he’s rough around the edges.”

“He is that, but there’s no way he murdered that woman. He’s more likely to break someone’s heart than hurt them. What possible reason would he have had to kill her?”

“It’s hard telling what really happened, but I’m sure it’s tough to deal with all the speculation.”

“Yeah, it’s a tough time to have the Ballard last name around here.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “Don’t be sorry. It’s no big deal. Just a few stares here and there at the coffee shop and grocery store. I’ll survive.”

All at once, she tuned in to the fact that he was sitting rather close to her on the sofa, with his arm across the back cushions and his body turned toward her. She had his full attention and wasn’t at all sure how she felt about that.

Bad. You feel bad about it.

But it’s kind of nice to have someone who gives a shit about me, especially right now with everything going on in the family.

Except that it’s MYLES. Your BOSS. Who drives you crazy. Remember that?

Her conscience was being a total bitch, and for once, she decided to ignore her better judgment and enjoy a bit of the Housewives along with her shake and her boss , who was still sitting far too close for comfort.

“Can I ask you something?”

Renata looked over at him. “I guess…”

“Did I do something to make you dislike me so much?”