Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
Ben had a feeling that if Kelly could have come up with a halfway decent excuse, she would have used it to avoid having brunch with her family and the soon-to-be in-laws.
He wasn’t all that excited by it either, but after visiting the spot where Lori’s body had been dumped, Kelly needed something to take her mind off of the investigation. A few hours with her family, good or awful, would certainly accomplish that goal.
When they arrived at the restaurant, located in a nearby larger town about thirty minutes away, they were led to a private room in the back. Her parents, sister, and fiancé were already there and seated, along with a man and woman that Ben assumed were her brother and sister-in-law.
Kelly had warned him that Rob was a pompous ass who thought he was the smartest guy in the room. Ben had simply laughed and told her that she’d just described almost every guy he’d worked with when he was on Wall Street.
Those guys were experts at being condescending jerks. Rob Bateman was probably only an amateur at most.
Then she’d delivered the zinger right back at him.
“If you were on Wall Street with them, does that mean that you were a pompous asshole, too?”
“Probably,” he conceded. “I don’t think my siblings would argue the label.”
“The fact that you admit it means you aren’t,” she replied with a laugh. “But you still might have been a jerk.”
I might still be. The jury is out.
"Right on time," Jenny Bateman observed from her position at one end of the table, though her tone suggested otherwise. "Rob just got here a few minutes ago."
At the mention of her son's name, Jenny's entire demeanor transformed. The thin, tight smile she'd offered Ben and Kelly bloomed into genuine warmth as her gaze shifted to Rob, who was already seated at his father's right hand.
Kelly hugged her sister before they took their seats. There were still two empty chairs across from Celia and Trevor. Ben assumed those must be for the groom’s parents.
“Rob was just telling us about the Thompson account," David Bateman said, his voice carrying an excitement and approval that Ben hadn’t heard from him in their last meeting. "It seems our son saved them quite a bit in quarterly taxes."
"It wasn't that complicated," Rob replied with a self-deprecating chuckle that somehow managed to sound boastful. "Just a matter of recognizing the patterns in their expense reports that others had missed. The senior partners were impressed, though."
David and Jenny physically leaned toward their son, hanging on his every word as if he were dispensing rare Dalai Lama wisdom rather than accounting anecdotes.
Kelly had warned him about the family dynamic, but seeing it in person was something else entirely.
His parents had been careful to never have favorites.
Or maybe it was that they did have favorites, but they didn’t let it show.
Kelly took a gulp from her water glass and then turned to give him a tight smile. He could see that her knuckles were white, wrapped around the tumbler. He’d do all he could to get them through this and out of here relatively unscathed.
She'd been quiet since they'd returned from their early morning excursion to the site where Lori's body had been found.
The unexpected encounter with Ethan Walters and her thoughts about her friend group had clearly left her with much to process.
Ben, however, suspected her current discomfort had more to do with the company they were in than anything else.
"So, Ben," David Bateman said, his assessing gaze never quite warming. "I understand you spent the morning touring our little town."
"Not much to see, is there?” Rob said, before Ben could reply. “I always tell people Bergen is the kind of place you can explore in fifteen minutes and still have time for coffee."
His parents chuckled appreciatively, but Celia and Trevor were studying the menu.
"Actually, we had a productive morning," Ben replied, keeping his tone even and pleasant. He was determined to keep it light and cheery. "Kelly showed me some places that were important to her growing up."
"Hmm," David offered before turning back to Rob. "So tell me more about this new system you've implemented at the firm."
Didn’t Dad want to know what places in her childhood home were important to his daughter?
The dismissal was so blatant that Ben might have laughed if he hadn't felt Kelly go even more rigid beside him. Her eyes were fixed on her empty plate, her fingers absently tracing the rim of her water glass.
"The firm is considering making me a junior partner next year," Rob announced with a broad smile, once again turning the conversation toward himself. "Usually it takes at least another two years, but they've been impressed with my client management skills."
"That's our boy," David said with unmistakable pride, clapping his son on the shoulder. "Always ahead of schedule."
"We’re so proud of you," Jenny added, her voice warm with maternal approval.
“Congratulations,” Kelly said, sounding genuine. “That’s wonderful.”
“Wonderful,” Celia echoed. “My brother and sister are so successful.”
"Yes, Kelly, what about you? How's your little podcast going?" David asked.
Ben had the feeling that the only reason David Bateman had asked Kelly anything at all about herself was so he could compare her to his son.
"It's going well," Kelly replied, her voice even. "We're up to fifty thousand subscribers now."
"That's wonderful," Celia said with genuine enthusiasm. “I’ve been listening to it, and it’s really good.”
Jenny shot her youngest daughter a sharp look. Celia would be hearing about this later.
"Fifty thousand, huh?" Rob cut in before anyone else could respond, turning to Ben. "The Thompson account alone represents over a hundred million in assets. It's all about scalability in business. The numbers have to make sense."
Ben had to clamp down on the urge to laugh out loud at Rob’s tone, explaining business to Ben in a way someone might have used to tell a child not to bang their head against a wall over and over because it might hurt them.
Normally, he would have just let it go, but his urge to protect Kelly was too overwhelming. He couldn’t ignore it. He wasn’t that good of a person.
"In Kelly's industry, fifty thousand dedicated listeners is quite impressive. It shows a significant audience growth and engagement."
I might have done some research after she told me what she did for a living.
Okay, I did a lot of research, including engagement numbers, sponsorship opportunities, merchandising, and projected income over a one, five, and ten-year period. There might have been a SWOT analysis in there, too. Just in case she needed some business advice.
It had given him something to do in the days before their trip here to Bergen.
Ben reached under the table and briefly squeezed Kelly's hand. She returned the pressure with surprising strength, a wordless acknowledgment of his support.
They were a team, at least for now.
As the conversation continued and they waited for Trevor’s parents, he observed the family dynamic with increasing clarity, and more than a bit of horror. The Batemans weren't just proud of their son; that was too simplistic a description.
They were actively invested in maintaining a hierarchy with Rob at the top. Every question, every comment, every glance reinforced this structure. And Kelly and Celia, through years of conditioning, had learned to shrink themselves to maintain the peace.
It wasn't accidental or unconscious. This was a performance that had been perfected over decades, with each family member knowing their assigned role.
Any deviation would be punished, if not right then, eventually.
The uncomfortable silence that followed Rob's latest self-congratulatory monologue stretched across the dining room like an invisible barrier.
Ben watched as Celia fidgeted with her napkin, clearly searching for a way to change the subject. Kelly, for her part, had perfected the art of disappearing while remaining physically present.
It was a skill Ben suspected she'd developed through years of family meals exactly like this one. Surely, the Geneva Convention had some sort of agreement about torturous meals with relatives?
"So," Celia said brightly, her voice cutting through the tension, "what all did you see this morning when you looked around town? The high school? The park? They have a new fountain there."
"We actually ran into Ethan Walters while we were out and about," Kelly replied. “He mentioned he's running for mayor."
The effect of Ethan's name on Rob was immediate and fascinating. His posture, already straight, somehow became even more stately. His chest expanded slightly, and his chin lifted in a subtle display of pride.
"Ethan's campaign is going extremely well," Rob announced, a bit too loudly. "He's polling twenty points ahead of his closest challenger."
"I'm working on his campaign as an advisor," Rob continued. "We've implemented some innovative outreach strategies that are really connecting with younger voters while maintaining our base."
Kelly's eyebrows rose in apparent surprise at this revelation, her water goblet pausing halfway to her mouth.
"I didn't realize you and Ethan were friends.”
"We've known each other for a long time," Rob replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I helped Ethan with his application for college since he wanted to go to where I went. I gave him some advice. It wasn't a big deal. Now he and I are on the board of the county's small business association."
Despite saying “it wasn’t a big deal”, it clearly was to Rob. His expression was one of supreme smugness.
"Ethan has a bright future," David Bateman interjected, setting down his coffee cup with deliberate precision. "Though I've told Rob that I think Baldwin Erlich still has a lot to give this town. Ethan should wait his turn."