Chapter 34
THIRTY-FOUR
SCOTT
THIRTY MINUTES EARLIER
We need to talk.
That was the simple message that I received from my brother at lunchtime and the message that has led to me being here, at this hotel in the city centre.
I should be back at my garage now, still wearing my overalls and still covered in grease.
Instead, I am here, in this plush building, wearing a white shirt and black jeans, and I am here because of one important thing.
I love my brother.
That’s why I have to hear what he has to say for himself.
I spot my sibling seated at a table in the hotel bar, two beers in front of him, in preparation for my arrival.
Of course he knows what I like to drink.
It’s the same thing he likes to drink. Our taste for beer is just one of the many things we have in common.
I once thought we had the same taste in women too, based on the appearances of the various females that have frequented our lives in the past.
But I don’t think that anymore.
I stopped thinking that the moment I realised my brother’s latest girlfriend was a threat.
‘Hey,’ Joel says when he sees me approaching and he stands up before holding out his hand for me to shake.
If it seems like a very rigid, formal introduction for two brothers to take part in, I think that too, which is why I decline to offer my own hand.
Usually, we would hug, or slap one another on the back, or simply smile, shrug and start teasing one another.
But given the current circumstances that our relationship exists in, I don’t do any of those other things.
I just sit down and have a sip of my beer.
‘Okay,’ Joel says as he retakes his seat. ‘So I guess you’re mad at me.’
‘Oh, I don’t know, bro. Have a guess. Your girlfriend is running around telling everyone that I killed Grandma and, as far as I can tell, you’re still with her, so yeah, I guess I am a little mad at you.’
‘Haven isn’t running around telling everyone that you killed Grandma,’ Joel tries to correct me, but I just laugh sarcastically.
‘Sorry, you’re right. She’s only told you, Mum and Dad so far, so just the closest people in the world to me, so that makes it all better, doesn’t it?’
Joel has never appreciated my sarcasm, and it doesn’t look like he is going to start now.
‘We need to sort this out,’ Joel says, picking up his beer. ‘We need to figure out a way for things to go back to normal between us all.’
‘That’s easy. Get rid of her,’ I say simply.
‘I’m not going to do that. I love Haven.’
‘Wow, I always thought I was the smarter one out of the two of us, but now you are really proving it. How can you love a woman who accuses your own brother of murder?’
‘Look, I get it, you’re upset. I would be too if someone thought I had done something crazy.
I don’t know where Haven has got the idea from, but she is stubborn, and once something is in her head, I’ve found that the best thing to do is to just let it run its course before she gets bored and moves onto something else. ’
‘Gets bored? So she’s threatening to blow up my whole life because she’s bored?’ I cry, throwing my hands up in the air.
‘No, that’s not what I’m saying. What I mean is Haven needs to realise in her own time that her idea of you killing Grandma is a false one and, once she does, I am sure she will apologise and feel bad about all of this.’
‘You’re sure, are you? What if that doesn’t happen? What if she goes to the police?’
‘She won’t.’
‘But what if she does?’ I repeat, my voice loud enough to attract the attention of a few other patrons of this bar, who all look over with differing levels of disdain on their faces.
‘Then you’ll be fine because you have absolutely nothing to hide, right?’ Joel asks me.
‘Of course I have nothing to hide!’ I lie. ‘But it’s not as simple as that. What if the police don’t believe me? What if they see that I have a criminal record?’
‘That guy you punched outside a pub when you were eighteen? That’s hardly relevant to anything.’
‘Yes, it is! It could be used against me. If Haven says I am violent, that only proves her point!’
Again, some of the people in the bar look over in my direction and, again, they don’t seem impressed with me.
‘You don’t have to worry about any of that because Haven isn’t going to go to the police,’ Joel assures me. ‘Seriously, this will all blow over soon, I’m sure of it.’
I stare at my sibling and wish I was blessed with his innocence.
‘I love you, but you are so na?ve,’ I say with a sad shake of my head.
We share an awkward silence then as we both sip our beers, and I’m sure it is a silence that is appreciated by the other people in the bar.
‘So what are you doing here?’ I ask when I’m finally ready for more conversation.
‘We needed to get out of Mum and Dad’s house,’ Joel replies.
‘We?’
‘Me and Haven.’
‘She’s here?’ I ask, looking around in shock.
‘Don’t worry, she’s not in the bar,’ Joel tells me. ‘She’s upstairs. We’ve got a room in this hotel.’
My brother might just be making conversation, but there’s no way I can go back to chatting now that I know that she is here. That’s because I only want to talk to her now. I just have to figure out a way to get to her.
‘How about another beer?’ I suggest to Joel. ‘But considering your girlfriend is crazy, you can buy them.’
‘Fair enough,’ Joel says with a laugh as he goes to get up.
‘Hey, isn’t this the hotel that has the fancy room keycards?’ I ask him before he can go.
‘Huh?’
‘I read an article about it. How the keycards are gold and they have some cool microchip inside them that lights up when you tap them on the doors. I’m sure this is the place. Is it true?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Joe replies, frowning.
‘Let me see the card,’ I say, gesturing for him to take his room key out of his pocket and, sure enough, he does that.
‘See, it’s not even gold,’ he tells me as he flashes me the card. But in doing so, he also flashes me the number that is written on the paper pouch that the card is in.
414
‘I must be mixed up with somewhere else,’ I say with a shrug. ‘Never mind.’
Joel rolls his eyes then turns to head to the bar.
‘I’m just going to go to the toilet,’ I call after him. ‘Make sure there’s a beer here for when I get back.’
Joel gives me the thumbs up as I stand and head to the toilets. But after checking that my brother isn’t watching me, I take a detour towards a staircase.
Ascending the stairs, I look out for the sign for the fourth floor and when I find it, I then look for the door with the same number on it as the number that was on my brother’s room card.
414
Here it is.
Haven is behind this door.
Now it’s time to say hello.