Читать книгу Behind The Veil - Joanna Wayne - Страница 15

Becca arrived at the Beachway Diner at ten before seven. The place was less crowded than it would have been during the week. Dates went to the more classy Crow’s Nest for Saturday dinner and families took advantage of the gorgeous fall weather to drive up in the mountains for the weekend or to barbecue hot dogs and steaks on their back decks.

But the diner would pick up later, when craggy old fishermen needed some food to soak up the whiskey they’d been tossing down their throats and when the college kids and locals tired of the carnival and came wandering in for hot bowls of chowder and steaming mugs of apple cider.

Becca scanned the area and spotted Brie Pierce and Elizabeth Ryan at a table in the back. The sight reassured her and took away some of the chill she’d experienced while reading the sparse details of the murders from twenty years ago. She’d met lots of people since moving to Moriah’s Landing just under a year ago, but Brie, Elizabeth, Kat and Claire were the only ones she’d call true friends.

Brie looked up and waved her over. Becca waved back and started in their direction. Her pumps clicked along the slick coating of grease that had accumulated on the plank flooring over the years, and she wished she had on her loafers the way she usually did when she came here. Comfortable jeans and a sweater would have been nice, too. As it was, she was seriously overdressed.

“Are you meeting someone?” Brie asked, as soon as she could be heard above the splattering of meat patties on the grill and the clattering coming from the kitchen.

“Claire Cavendish.”

“Then join us,” Elizabeth insisted. “Drew’s speaking to a group of students at Heathrow and Cullen’s on duty tonight.”

“And they trust you two out on the town?” Becca teased, sliding into one of the two empty chairs at their table.

A blast of cold air circulated as the front door swung open. Becca turned, but the newest customers were a couple of uniformed cops. She directed her attention back to her friends, hoping she hadn’t made a mistake about the time or the place she’d arranged to meet Claire.

The conversation stayed light, tiptoed along the edges of the murder, though Becca was certain it was in the backs of both Elizabeth’s and Brie’s minds. Elizabeth was a few years younger than Brie, though they had both been freshmen at Heathrow at the same time as Tasha, Kat and Claire. Becca had heard that Elizabeth’s IQ fell somewhere in the genius range and she’d earned her Ph.D. in criminology by the age most students got their undergraduate degrees. With her long brown hair and flawless complexion, she looked more like a student than the professor she was.

Every time the door opened, Becca turned, but after ten minutes, there was still no sign of Claire. If she’d forgotten or changed her mind, that was fine, but Becca couldn’t help but worry that something might be wrong.

Brie pushed a clump of curly red hair back from her face. “What time were you meeting Claire?” she asked, her green eyes shadowed and her usual quick smile drawn into a worried frown.

Becca was certain they were picking up on her apprehension. “Seven.”

“Then I’m certain she’ll be here any minute. It’s only ten after, and promptness was never one of Claire’s virtues.” Brie squeezed a wedge of lemon into her iced tea and stirred the mixture, sending the ice cubes chasing around the inside of the glass. “Drew and I were just commenting earlier today on how well Claire’s doing. I think the fact that you’ve befriended her has helped a lot.”

“I hope,” Becca said. “It’s hard to tell. Some days she seems fine, but others she gets lost so deeply in one of her depressed moods, I can’t seem to reach her at all.”

Elizabeth nodded. “It’s the same for me. I keep thinking it’s because I was one of the girls there the night she was abducted, that by just being with her, I bring on the depressed moods.”

“I doubt that’s it,” Brie said. “I know she needs her friends now, the new and the old. I’m certain she’s upset by the news of the body that was found on Old Mountain Road.”

“We all are,” Elizabeth said.

“I know, but I don’t want to think about the murder tonight,” Brie said. “It’s just too terrible, as if the horror of five years ago is about to start all over again.”

“No one was murdered five years ago,” Elizabeth reminded her.

“I know, but Claire was abducted and she’ll never be the same again. And then poor Tasha was killed in that horrible explosion. And look at David Bryson. He’s been wounded, slinking around in the shadows and never having anything to do with anyone in town.

“David’s not so different.” Becca felt the glare of her friends even before she’d gotten the whole sentence out of her mouth. She’d been too assertive, sounded more like a defense lawyer than a casual observer. “I mean, he’s probably just more comfortable staying out of crowds.”

“He does more than stay out of crowds,” Elizabeth reminded her. “He stays out of town altogether during the daylight, and when he does come to town, he hangs out by himself in the shadows.” Elizabeth stared at the front of the diner, then turned and put a hand on Brie’s arm. “Isn’t that Drew’s uncle standing at the cash register?”

Brie turned. “That’s Geoffrey Pierce, all right. I’m surprised to see him in here. He never came in when I was working here.”

“Aren’t you going to go over and say hello?” Becca asked.

“I don’t think so. We haven’t been on the best of terms since I heard him accuse Drew of marrying me just to avert a scandal. Not that he has that much to do with any of the Pierce family anymore. Mostly, he stays at the beach house.”

Becca watched Geoffrey. He was in his mid-forties with thinning blond hair and a wiry mustache and beard that made him look ten years older than the last time she’d see him. In fact, if Elizabeth hadn’t said something, she doubted she’d have recognized him at all. His eyes were narrowed as he paid the cashier, and he had an air about him that gave the impression he was not to be messed with. Still, he’d been polite and very attentive the few times Becca had met him.

“Was there a falling out between him and the rest of the family?” Elizabeth asked as Geoffrey finished paying his tab and left the diner.

“Not exactly, but Drew doesn’t fully trust him. He thinks he may have been involved in some of Dr. Leland Manning’s projects, though Geoffrey’s denied it.”

Becca listened to the talk. She found the Pierces fascinating. If it was true that every town had one family that seemed to be the rulers, the Pierces were definitely that family in Moriah’s Landing. Not only were they the founding family, they were the wealthiest and most influential in town. A close-knit group, they all lived in the same area of town, a huge walled-in family compound with a number of private homes clustered around a parklike setting that had served as the backdrop for Drew and Brie’s garden wedding.

The largest home in the compound belonged to William and Maureen. William was a United States senator, already a local legend. His son Drew was running for mayor and, according to the polls, was going to win by a landslide.

She hoped it worked out like that. Of all the Pierces that she’d met, Drew was her favorite, especially since he’d married Brie, his first love from the wrong side of the tracks. Theirs was a true Cinderella story. Brie had worked as a waitress in the Beachway Diner up until Drew had found out that Brie’s young daughter was his. Now he and Brie were as happy as any couple Becca had ever seen.

The door opened again and this time it was Claire who stepped inside, and the minute she did, Becca was certain she had not had a good day. Her face seemed paler than usual, and her eyes were red as if she’d been crying.

But no matter what had spooked her, Becca was certain that wouldn’t keep her from making Becca’s meeting with David Bryson the main topic of conversation.

DINNER WITH CLAIRE turned out to be a very bad idea. As Brie had feared, news of the murder had really upset her. She was distracted, lost in her own thoughts for much of the meal, barely touching her food or even trying to make conversation with any of them.

And, just as Becca had feared, when Claire did talk, it was to beg her not to go back to the Bluffs. Brie and Elizabeth jumped right into that conversation, questions popping as quickly and as randomly as kernels of corn in a hot skillet. Neither of them felt as negatively about David but they agreed that Becca’s working for him was asking for trouble.

For the first time since Becca had settled in Moriah’s Landing, she was beginning to think she might have made a mistake in moving to such a small town. She wasn’t used to having people tell her how to handle her business. But then, she wasn’t used to anyone’s caring about her safety, either. Perhaps it was a fair trade-off. Still, she was thankful when they paid the bill and exited the restaurant.