portion of the checkerboard floor pattern. Michael read my mind and murmured, “We’re having the carpenters pull up all the linoleum today. We were going to do that soon enough anyway.”
He put his hands on my shoulders. Disgusted by his infidelity, it was all I could do not to shudder and pull away. He didn’t seem to notice. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Erin. I had no idea Taylor was your brother. I tried to tell Shannon it was cruel to expect you to come here today, but she—”
“Thanks, Michael, but I’m fine. Really.” The last thing I wanted now was to alienate Shannon or Michael and get fired from this job; I’d be hindered when poking around into the circumstances of Taylor’s murder. “I barely knew him, to be honest with you. I was adopted. We were raised by different parents, halfway across the country from each other.”
“Oh. Still. I’m sure—”
“Erin. Steve.” Shannon whisked into the room as though fueled by her jet trail of cigarette smoke. The thought of what her husband was doing behind her back gnawed at me. I felt a pang of empathy for Shannon. “Thank God you’re finally here! Have you read the papers this morning?”
“No, I—”
“Have you heard about Pate Hamlin?”
“About Pate?”
My God. Had he been killed too?
“There’s a big story on him this morning. As it turns out, Pate is one of the
owners
of BaseMart.”
“The discount-store chain?” Sullivan asked.
“Right. The very one that Erin’s landlady, Audrey, and I have been working our asses off to keep
out
of Crestview.”
“Oh, that’s right. You and she are on that ‘No Big Boxes’ committee together,” I recalled.
“They’re co-chairs,” Michael interjected. “And speaking of chairs, Shannon, how about allowing our guests to sit down?”
She sighed and whirled on a heel. “Let’s go into the living room. Now that all the hammering and sawing’s stopped. Lunch break. They can never follow any kind of a schedule, except when it comes to stopping work. Noon to one every day, it’s quiet as a church around here. And by four P.M . on the dot, they pack up and race out.”
“Can I get you anything to drink?” Michael asked us. “Water? Coffee? Jim Beam?”
“No, thanks,” we answered in unison.
To Shannon I said, “Audrey had mentioned last week that you’d managed to block BaseMart from moving into city limits.”
“Right. But, of course, the city council has no control over Crestview County, which is precisely where that chunk of property’s located. Not to mention my
home
!”
“I’m confused,” I admitted. “I didn’t see the newspaper article. What chunk of property?”
“Pate wants to put his store in that big open field behind his house,” Michael explained.
“I remember that they were trying to get the rights to build that area into a store, but—”
“He wants to put a store
in his own backyard?
” Sullivan interrupted, incredulous.
“It was front-page news. I’ll show you.” Michael began to rummage through the red woven basket that was beside his wife’s feet.
I massaged my forehead. It was a struggle to care about this, when we were sitting just a room away from the very place where I’d found poor Taylor’s body.
“Erin, are you all right?” Shannon asked.
“I’m fine. I’m just trying to think, that’s all.”
“You’ve dragged her out here three days after discovering her brother
died
in our house,” Michael told her as he handed a newspaper to Steve. “Remember?”
“I’m sorry, Erin,” she managed. “I truly am. And I really wish this could wait, but once Pate breaks ground for BaseMart, the energy lines will be so vile, this house will be cursed
forever.
”
There was a noise in the attic over my head. It sounded like a squirrel or something, scampering across the floor. “As I said earlier, I didn’t know Taylor at all, really, but he’s still my brother. It’s been extremely upsetting.”
“Oh, I know,”
He put his hands on my shoulders. Disgusted by his infidelity, it was all I could do not to shudder and pull away. He didn’t seem to notice. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Erin. I had no idea Taylor was your brother. I tried to tell Shannon it was cruel to expect you to come here today, but she—”
“Thanks, Michael, but I’m fine. Really.” The last thing I wanted now was to alienate Shannon or Michael and get fired from this job; I’d be hindered when poking around into the circumstances of Taylor’s murder. “I barely knew him, to be honest with you. I was adopted. We were raised by different parents, halfway across the country from each other.”
“Oh. Still. I’m sure—”
“Erin. Steve.” Shannon whisked into the room as though fueled by her jet trail of cigarette smoke. The thought of what her husband was doing behind her back gnawed at me. I felt a pang of empathy for Shannon. “Thank God you’re finally here! Have you read the papers this morning?”
“No, I—”
“Have you heard about Pate Hamlin?”
“About Pate?”
My God. Had he been killed too?
“There’s a big story on him this morning. As it turns out, Pate is one of the
owners
of BaseMart.”
“The discount-store chain?” Sullivan asked.
“Right. The very one that Erin’s landlady, Audrey, and I have been working our asses off to keep
out
of Crestview.”
“Oh, that’s right. You and she are on that ‘No Big Boxes’ committee together,” I recalled.
“They’re co-chairs,” Michael interjected. “And speaking of chairs, Shannon, how about allowing our guests to sit down?”
She sighed and whirled on a heel. “Let’s go into the living room. Now that all the hammering and sawing’s stopped. Lunch break. They can never follow any kind of a schedule, except when it comes to stopping work. Noon to one every day, it’s quiet as a church around here. And by four P.M . on the dot, they pack up and race out.”
“Can I get you anything to drink?” Michael asked us. “Water? Coffee? Jim Beam?”
“No, thanks,” we answered in unison.
To Shannon I said, “Audrey had mentioned last week that you’d managed to block BaseMart from moving into city limits.”
“Right. But, of course, the city council has no control over Crestview County, which is precisely where that chunk of property’s located. Not to mention my
home
!”
“I’m confused,” I admitted. “I didn’t see the newspaper article. What chunk of property?”
“Pate wants to put his store in that big open field behind his house,” Michael explained.
“I remember that they were trying to get the rights to build that area into a store, but—”
“He wants to put a store
in his own backyard?
” Sullivan interrupted, incredulous.
“It was front-page news. I’ll show you.” Michael began to rummage through the red woven basket that was beside his wife’s feet.
I massaged my forehead. It was a struggle to care about this, when we were sitting just a room away from the very place where I’d found poor Taylor’s body.
“Erin, are you all right?” Shannon asked.
“I’m fine. I’m just trying to think, that’s all.”
“You’ve dragged her out here three days after discovering her brother
died
in our house,” Michael told her as he handed a newspaper to Steve. “Remember?”
“I’m sorry, Erin,” she managed. “I truly am. And I really wish this could wait, but once Pate breaks ground for BaseMart, the energy lines will be so vile, this house will be cursed
forever.
”
There was a noise in the attic over my head. It sounded like a squirrel or something, scampering across the floor. “As I said earlier, I didn’t know Taylor at all, really, but he’s still my brother. It’s been extremely upsetting.”
“Oh, I know,”
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