"Something happened you need to know about. When I got to the cemetery the day of Bobby's funeral…" She could see the small headstone in her mind. It had been a cold shock. One more betrayal to add to all those that had come before. "The plot next to him had already been taken."
Kelsey tilted her head back, her eyes narrowing. "By good old Liam."
Mia's mouth dropped open. Finally she found her voice. "You knew?"
Kelsey's brows lifted, her eyes cool. "You didn't? Interesting."
"How did you know?"
"Found a picture in a box in his closet when I was looking for money once. Cute kid, sitting in our chair. The 'true heir' to the kingdom."
Mia was floored. "I found the box when I was going through his suits for the funeral home. I didn't open it until I got home from the cemetery. I saw Liam's name on the gravestone on the plot next to Bobby's when I got to the cemetery for the burial. Until that moment, I had no idea Liam even existed." Liam Charles Mitchell, Beloved Son.
A shadow passed over Kelsey's face. "I'm sorry. I wouldn't have wanted you to find out that way. I really thought you knew. So what did she do?"
"She" was their mother. "At the cemetery? She zoned out." Later, she'd talked. Mia hadn't been patient with her mother. It would be a long time before the two of them spoke cordially again. That should bother me more than it does. "He was born when I was ten months old. He died a year later. I checked Liam's birth certificate. It said his mother was a Bridget Condon."
"I know."
Mia blinked. "Bobby told you?"
Kelsey lifted a shoulder. "I waited till he was drunk one day and asked him."
Mia closed her eyes. "Which time was that?"
"Just before Christmas when I was thirteen."
Mia remembered. "You had to get six stitches in your lip."
"And she told the hospital I'd fallen off my skateboard."
It was their mother's way. Juggle emergency rooms, juggle the lies. Anything to keep the secret. "Hell, Kelsey."
"It's done, M. He's in his own private hell now."
"He gave the baby his name." It had been bothering Mia for three weeks.
"He'd moved in with Bridget. He was going to marry the mother of his son."
"He was going to leave us because Bridget had a son. And Annabelle didn't."
"And he came back after the baby died."
"Yeah. I know. Annabelle told me that much." After Mia had confronted her after the funeral, in the privacy of her mother's house. "And Annabelle took him back."
"And nine months later, out popped me. Another girl."
"He rejected two children because neither of them had a dick." She clenched her teeth on a wave of fury. "All those years I tried to please him. Appease him." Mia sighed. "So what do you know about the other daughter?"
Kelsey blinked. "Excuse me?"
Mia blinked back. "At the cemetery… I saw a woman. She looked like me, just a little younger. She had my eyes." Bobby's eyes. "It was uncanny."
Kelsey was clearly at a loss. "That I didn't know. Can't help you there, M."
"Well, thanks for believing me at least. I know it sounds crazy."
"You've never lied to me." Kelsey sat back, considering. "So there are three of us misbegotten non-male spawn."
"That we know of. Maybe more. God knows how many times he tried for a boy."
Kelsey's lips quirked in amusement. "Well, it looks like Bobby shot mostly Xs. No little Ys to make little Bobbys."
Mia smiled, despite the weight on her shoulders. "God, I miss you."
Kelsey swallowed, hard. "Stop. Don't make me…" She drew a breath, took a surreptitious glance side to side. "It's like blood in the water, M."
"You come up for parole again in three months."
"Like I don't know the exact time to the minute? It won't do any good."
"I'll be there. I promise."
"You've always been there, every hearing. And I'm grateful. But Shayla Kaufmann is always there, too, and her grief carries more weight than your good words."
Mia clenched her fist. "It's been twelve years, Kelsey."
"But her husband and son are still dead."
"You didn't shoot them. The store video showed it clearly." Kelsey had stood there, her hand shaking so bad she'd nearly dropped the gun. Her boyfriend Stone had done the shooting and was serving life without parole. Kelsey had cooperated, earning her a deal. Eight to twenty-five. At the time, Mia had been relieved Kelsey's sentence hadn't been stiffer. Twelve years later, Mia knew exactly how slowly time could pass.
Kelsey's face was immobile, but her eyes had darkened with a torment she rarely let Mia see. "I didn't shoot, but I stood there while Stone did. I didn't do anything to save that man and his son. That father's last action was to shield his son with his own body" She held herself rigid and focused on a point over Mia's shoulder and Mia knew they were both thinking that was something their own father never would have done.
"Dammit, Kelsey, you were young. Scared. You were high."
"I was guilty." Her lips trembled and she pursed them. "And I still am."
Mia bit the inside of her cheek, hard. "I'll still be there at the parole hearing."
Kelsey's eyes closed for a long moment and when she opened them, they were again cool and detached. "I hear you took a bullet, kid."
The subject of parole was now closed. "Yeah. Two weeks ago."
"How's your pal?"
"Abe? He's in the hospital, but he'll be okay."
"Don't let him make you drop your guard." One side of her mouth lifted. "You're the only one who ever comes to visit me in here. I'd hate for anything to happen to you."
Mia cleared her throat. "Okay."
"Oh, yeah. And tell Dana I said thanks, but no thanks."
"For what?"
"I got a postcard from her vacation to the beach. Big ugly crab on the front. She said she wished I could have been there to help her eat them. They look like bugs."
"I'll tell her. I've got to get back now. I have another few hours of reading to do after I smack a man silly."
Kelsey's brows lifted in lazy interest, but her eyes were sharp. "Police brutality?"
"Nope. This is my temporary partner. He followed me all the way from town and now he's waiting out in the parking lot." She huffed "Thinks I didn't see him tailing me "
Amusement now lit Kelsey's eyes. "Now why would he do a thing like that?"
"Because he…" Mia thought about all the kind things Reed Solliday had done for her over the last two days. Coffee, medicine, opening doors like she was… a lady. It would appear that Reed Solliday was an old-fashioned gentleman and a nice guy. Who'd played football. And liked poetry. And seemed to feel the pain of the victims as keenly as she did. She sighed. "He was worried about me. Apparently somebody wrecked his wife's car when they were too tired to drive."
"So he's married?" Kelsey shook her head reproachfully. "M."
"He's a widower with a kid. And don't get that look in your eyes," she added, when Kelsey did just that. "He's temporary, just until Abe gets back."
"What does he look like?"
The man was big. And built. "A little like Satan." She ran her thumb and forefinger around her mouth. "He's got this goatee thing going on." That framed a very nice mouth.
"Interesting." One brow went up. "So is this Satan a fallen angel or a gargoyle?"