Liberty...And Justice for All (7 page)

E
ven though these
visits were quick, I felt severely burnt out by the time we got to the pretty city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Like the others in its neighborhood, Robert’s house was colorful, charming, and perfect. Unfortunately Robert Kingston was none of these things, although he was handsome and well-dressed, like the rest of the family.

He was Alexandra’s full brother. Their mother, Rita, had passed away a few years ago. Robert had dark hair and warm brown eyes like his sister, but that warmth didn’t seem to reach the rest of him.

He’d been warned about our visit. “I know why you’re here. I heard from Jacoby and Katrina. And then I called Alexandra,” he said, motioning for us to sit in the living room. Matthew slumped down and sighed, waiting for what was becoming a painfully familiar routine. Catherine was picking at her nails, ignoring us; Robert was handsome and seemed ill-tempered, but he lacked Jacoby’s expensive designer jeans.

“I don’t have your necklace,” he said, cutting right to the chase. “Although I’m leery of actually calling it yours.”

“Alexandra gave it to me, with a note from our father,” I said. “He wanted me to have it. To make up for the child support I never saw growing up, the college I never attended. I didn’t ask him for it. I didn’t ask for any of this,” I said. There was a quiver in my voice; I had officially been beaten down by the icy indifference of my new siblings.

“He gave you money that rightfully belongs to the rest of us,” Robert said. He was calm and poised but I could sense anger running beneath the surface. “I didn’t take the necklace, Liberty. I don’t think you deserved it, or the other money Eric gave you. But I didn’t steal from you. So proceed as you will.”

I looked at my handsome brother and sighed. “I don’t even care about the money—but I disagree with you, on principle,” I said. “That money was Eric’s to give. He made a choice to include me in his estate. Just like he made the choice to never meet me, to leave me alone in Oregon my whole life.”

Robert looked at me for a beat. “Did you ever consider that you were the lucky one?” He asked. “Nice guys don’t do stuff like that, Liberty.”

I exhaled. “Was he really
that
bad?”

“He hurt a lot of people,” Robert said. “He hurt the people he was closest to. He ruined my poor mother. He cheated on her, with your mother and with others. She never got over it,” he said.

“I grew up around him, but we weren’t close. So to have someone right in front of you, not accepting you for who you are… And hurting the people you love the most…” His eyes went dark. “I swear, he sent my mother to an early grave.”

I frowned at him and then thought of the note Eric had left me, and how sorry he’d been for the choices he’d made. “I’m sure he wasn’t perfect,” I said. “I know he made bad choices. But I also know he wasn’t all bad.”

Robert raised his eyebrows at me. “Alexandra was right about you,” he said.

“How’s that?” I asked.

“She said you were an optimist.” It didn’t sound like a compliment.

I just looked at him. “Meeting you all has been negatively impacting that.”

“But you’re not going to give up,” he said.

“Nah,” I said. “Because now, I’m pissed. Okay, I have to ask you—did you tell anyone else about the necklace? And do you have an alibi for that night?”

“I discussed it with Jacoby, Alexandra and Katrina, but that was it. And I went to see an author speak at The Music Hall that night. I can find the ticket stub. I’ll send it to you.”

“Great,” I said, even though none of it was great. I had no leads, and I had three new half-siblings who appeared to hate my guts. I stood up to go. “It was nice to meet you, Robert. Sort of.”

“It was sort of nice to meet you, too,” he said.

I took a big gulp of fresh air when we got back outside.

“Who needs a drink?” I asked. “Besides me?”

Matthew raised his hand.

Catherine just looked at me. “Duh,” she said.

We walked towards the center of town in search of a bar. I was thrilled to be outside, finished with the task of meeting my siblings. Although I wasn’t any closer to discovering the truth, I was at least certain that the thief could easily be one of them. They all hated me. They all thought the necklace should be returned, its value divided up for all the heirs. It wasn’t much of a lead, but at least I had something.

We headed to a pub on the corner. Portsmouth was welcoming and adorable; it had brick-lined sidewalks and colorfully-painted antique houses. The river swept by behind us, the Naval Yard visible in the distance.

“This is actually nice,” Catherine said, taking in the autumn leaves and the quaint shops. “Too bad your brother’s an asshole.”

“Both of her brothers are assholes,” Matthew said, as we went in and took a corner booth in the dark bar.

“Jacoby wasn’t that bad,” Catherine said, and shrugged.

“You just liked his jeans,” I said.

“And his fancy hair,” Matthew said.

“And his piss-poor attitude,” I added.

Catherine rolled her eyes at us. “Do you guys ever shut up?” she asked.

“Not usually,” I said.

“That’d be too easy on you,” Matthew said.

“Waiter!” Catherine snapped. The bartender, heavily tattooed and pierced, raised his eyes expectantly to her.

“I need vodka. Stat.”

He came over with a vodka martini and I noticed that he had bulging biceps underneath his tattoos. Catherine must have noticed, too, because she beamed at him while he put the drink in front of her.

“Can you start a tab?” She asked, tossing her hair. “Liberty, give the man your credit card.”

Matthew and I smirked while the bartender and Catherine shot lustful looks at each other. “Let’s not get too hammered,” I said to my stepdaughter. “Michael’s picking us up in the chopper in an hour. You don’t want to have the spins while you’re in the air.”

“Wearing those earmuff things that you look so hot in,” Matthew said.

The bartender smiled at her in sympathy. “You should stay here, hang out with me,” he offered. “Avoid the earmuffs.”

She smiled and stuck her chest out at him.

“Oh, no you don’t,” I said to her.

“We’ll take two beers. And the check,” I said to the bartender, effectively dismissing him. He gave Catherine one last wolfish smile and took my credit card.

“Not gonna happen, young lady,” I said to her.

“You have a lot of nerve,” she said. “He’s cute.
And
he’s alive—because you haven’t shot him yet.”

Matthew burst out laughing and I glared at both of them as the bartender put our beers down and made himself scarce.

“You told me to shoot Angel,” I hissed. “He was going to kill us both, Catherine.”

Catherine took a long sip of her drink. “Just don’t get in the way of my social life,” she said. “That’s all I’m saying. You owe me.”

“Owe you what—a husband?” I asked.

“Yes,” Catherine said, thoughtfully. “Preferably a rich one. With tattoos.” She eyed the bartender.

“What about my nasty brother?” I asked. “You liked him. He’s rich, but I didn’t see any tattoos.”

“He has a few,” Catherine said, a faraway look on her face.

“How do
you
know?” I asked, but I looked over and I saw Matthew laughing so hard that he almost spit out his beer.

“You hit Liberty’s brother?” Matthew spluttered.

“Technically, he hit
me
,” Catherine said, smiling at the memory.

I just looked at them both, my jaw slack. “When did you do this?” I asked, mortified.

“Last night when we were in Charleston. I texted him after you guys were in bed, and we met up,” she said, dreamily.

“I think I’m gonna throw up,” I said to Catherine, my stomach rocking. “Aren’t we related enough for you?”

Matthew put his arm around me and squeezed. “You’re like, steps
and
in-laws, all at the same time. You guys put the
fun
in dysfunctional family.”

I just glared at him, and at Catherine, who still had a disgusting smile on her face.

I raised my hand. “Bartender? Can I please have another beer?”

I needed it. This whole family thing was a lot more complicated than I’d hoped.

“
I
don’t know
what to do. They all have alibis,” I told Ian the next morning. “Although they all have motives, too.”

“Like what?” Ian asked.

“Jacoby loves money. His mother said he doesn’t want to work for it. Katrina doesn’t appear to have a job, either, and was complaining that the money Eric left me belonged to the rest of them. And Robert hates Eric for what he did to his mother. He said Eric destroyed her.”

“What about Alexandra and Marks?” he asked.

“Marks hates me? And Alexandra is just pretending to tolerate me?” I guessed.

“There, there,” Ian said, patting my hand, trying to console me.

“What about you?” I asked. “Did you run the reports? Did you find out anything?”

“Billy Brown was at his country club that night, dining with his wife,” Ian said. “I didn’t really suspect him, anyway. And the widow, Tillie, was out of town in Florida that week. She was updating her fabrics at her house down there. And she has the plane tickets and receipts to prove it. So they’re both out.

“We ran preliminary reports on your siblings and on Marks but we haven’t pulled up anything—no criminal records, no warnings, no nothing. Marks has a couple of speeding tickets. The rest of them are clean,” Ian said.

“So Billy Brown and Tillie are clear,” I said. “So is Eleanor. She was playing poker with her friends. But even though my brothers and sisters have alibis, I can’t shake the feeling it was one of them. They all live close enough—except for Jacoby—that they could have driven here late at night, after their alibi stuff.”

“I’ll have the guys check to see if any of them flew or rented a car that day. If it was one of them, we’ll figure it out,” Ian said.

“They all hate me, Ian,” I said. “All three of them said that I should never have inherited the money or the necklace. They were awful.” I felt my eyes fill up with tears but I blinked them back; my new siblings hardly seemed worth crying over. “I might go to Vegas a day early. I miss John so much I can’t stand it.”

“You should go,” Ian said. “I’ve talked to him a couple of times and he’s absolutely miserable. It’s like talking to Old John. I vastly prefer New John.” He smiled at me. “So go. I’ll hold down the fort.”

“Well, that’s the other thing I’ve been thinking…” I said. “I might drag Catherine with me. And one of the guys to babysit her. Maybe Matthew or Corey. I don’t trust her alone.” I stopped, wondering how much I should tell him. I decided not to share the fact that she’d slept with my angry half-brother, and that she’d snuck out of our hotel to do it.

“She’s not going to like that,” Ian said.

I sighed. “I know. But I don’t trust her. You, I trust. But I wouldn’t put anything past her at this point.”

“Don’t you think bringing her to Vegas is sort of the opposite of a good idea?” Ian asked.

“We’ll keep it low-key,” I said. “But I need to keep an eye on her. She’s making bad choices. I’m supposed to be helping her.” Instead, I only seemed to be making things worse.

“Take her, then. Try to talk to her. But don’t push her when it comes to John. It just makes her meaner.”

“Okay,” I said. “I won’t.”

“And don’t worry about your necklace right now—I can work on it while you’re gone,” Ian said. “But part of the difficulty is that the thief isn’t planning to sell it, if we take what they said in the note as fact. They’re just going to hide it. So we can’t look for it on black market channels, try to trace it that way.”

“So what do we do?” I asked. “Break into each of my sibling’s houses and search them? Involve the local police?”

“Let me use the resources we have first,” Ian said. “I can send Jacob, Michael and Sean to see if any of their alibis can be independently confirmed, if they were seen near their homes that night. That sort of thing. We’ll gather as many facts as possible. That’s the smart thing to do.”

“So what should
I
do?” I asked, feeling relieved and lost all at the same time.

“Go to Vegas,” Ian said. “Spend some time with your husband. Maybe if you clear your head, an answer will present itself.”

“Through the cloud of smoke that Catherine’s going to blow at me,” I said.

“Exactly,” Ian said and patted my hand. “Right through that cloud.”

“
M
atthew
,” I said, later, “do you want to come to Vegas with me tonight? I’m going to bring Catherine and I could use some backup.”

“If we’re taking a couple days off, I need to go see my wife,” he said. “She’s exhausted from the kids.”

“Of course,” I said. They had a newborn baby and a preschooler. “I’ll ask Corey.”

“I’ll talk to him,” he said. “He has to know how to handle Her Highness.”

“So that she doesn’t run out, smoke a carton of cigarettes, and sleep with one of my relatives,” I said.

Matthew snorted. “Yeah. It would be good if he could keep her from doing that.” He paused for a beat. “Where are we at with everything? We’ve got nothing, right?”

“Absolutely nothing,” I said. “They’re all suspects. They all have motive and intent. It could have been any of them.”

Matthew patted me on the shoulder. “Let it sit for a day or two. When we get back, if we haven’t heard anything? We’ll just start threatening them.” He shrugged.

“You mean, like, to beat them up?” I asked, mildly horrified.

Matthew looked thoughtful. “That’s one option…I was thinking of threatening with guns. Or knives. You know, the hard stuff.”

“Seriously?” I screeched. “They’re not the nicest people, but they
are
my family—”

Matthew laughed. “We don’t have to actually
shoot
them, Lib. We just have to pretend like we’re going to. So they talk.”

“Oh,” I said. “Huh.”

“Stick with me, kid. I’ll show you the ropes,” he said. “Tell John to call me, okay? See you in a few days. Stay out of trouble.” He gave me a quick hug.

“Tell Mer I said hi,” I mumbled. “And don’t threaten anyone with guns. Or knives. At least, not until I get back.”

“You’re the boss,” he said, jovially.

“Thank God,” I said weakly.

“
I
’m not going
to Vegas with you,” Catherine spluttered a few minutes later. “That was the deal—John was going out there, and I was going to help you here. I don’t want to go to Vegas so you two can have a second honeymoon.
Barf
, Liberty. Barf.”

“Barf yourself,” I said. I decided to be firm, so she didn’t walk all over me like she usually did. “We’re just going for a couple of days. Pack your bag and meet me in front of the house in a half hour.”

She rolled her eyes and headed to her bedroom, hopefully to pack and not to hide.

“And Catherine, do me a favor—don’t talk to me on the flight. I’ve had to deal with enough bad attitudes this week.”

“Whatev,” she said, and tossed her hair. “At least they have a Christian Dior in Vegas. So this won’t be a total bust.”

“I don’t think you’ve earned enough to shop at Dior just yet,” I said.

“We’ll just see what Daddy Dearest has to say about that,” Catherine snapped, clicking off down the hall.

“Yeah. We will,” I said, and reminded myself to pack the ibuprofen.

I trudged into the kitchen and found Ian.

“You going to be okay on your own?” I asked.

Ian nodded. He took one look at my face and got the ibuprofen out of the cabinet. “What’s going on, my dear?” he asked.

“Matthew said we could threaten Jacoby and the rest of them with guns. Possibly with knives,” I said.

“And so you’re upset,” Ian said. “I understand. That’s a tough thing to hear.”

I shook my head. “I actually think it’s the best idea I’ve heard so far,” I said. “So my new world view is what’s giving me a headache.” I took two pills and washed them down with some water. “And then there’s Catherine.”

Ian nodded and patted me on the shoulder. “Now that you’re a stepmother, I should give you a piece of parental advice.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t get into a pissing contest with your child. They just go on forever,” Ian said.

“She’s not my child—and she’s actually older than me,” I mumbled. “So she should have some responsibility in all this. Some maturity.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Ian said lightly.

“Me neither,” I said.

I
made
Corey sit in between us on the flight. Catherine kept her earbuds in the whole time, anyway, but I just really felt like I needed some space from her. As much as I could get without letting her out of my sight.

I loved John and I wanted to make him happy. I was doing this, trying with his daughter, for him.

That was the only thing holding me back from smacking her.

“What are we going to do here, anyway?” Corey asked. “John said he was working this one alone.”

“He is,” I said. “I’m just here for a visit, and you’re just here to keep an eye on Her Highness.”

“So I’m the babysitter. Matthew neglected to tell me that part when he asked me to cover for him,” Corey said. “Do you think you can watch her while I hit the gym each morning? I have a schedule to keep.”

“Take her with you,” I said. “Just don’t let her smoke and set off the fire alarm.”

After that, Corey put his earbuds in, too.

Finally, we landed. My palms were sweating and I was breathing rapidly. I couldn’t wait to see John. Catherine took one look at my face and snorted. “Just try to keep it in your pants while I’m around,” she said.

“If you’re gross, no Dior,” I said. She just gave me a filthy look, threw her Louis Vuitton tote over her shoulder, and stalked off the plane.

John was waiting in the terminal. I resisted every urge I had to run and throw myself at him. I didn’t want to get Catherine any more riled up than she already was.

“Hey babe,” he said, and pulled me into his powerful arms. I let myself stand there for a moment, enveloped by his warmth and his familiar smell, not caring that Catherine was probably standing behind us, rolling her eyes.

I kissed him and then gave him a warning look. “Catherine’s less than thrilled that I brought her,” I said, loud enough for her to hear.

“Nothing that a little Dior therapy can’t fix,” Catherine said, smiling at her father without warmth. “Or a lot.”

“Right,” John said, giving her a tight smile back. He reached over and gave her an awkward hug, which she barely tolerated.

“Corey,” he said, nodding to him.

“Boss,” Corey said, and slapped him on the shoulder. “Good to see you. Now, what’s going on down here?”

John sighed and grabbed my hand, hustling us out of the terminal. “A lot,” he said. “And none of it’s good.”