Jonas arched a brow. “Walked?” he said.
“We just came through…oh!” Kelsey said, and laughed. “We were walking Ted and Jaden out through the house while you were walking around it.”
“I guess,” Jonas said. “Man, Liam, you are jumpy.”
“People broke in here twice,” Liam said.
Kelsey placed a hand on his arm. “Kids, and the idiots,” she said softly.
“And I’m well-trained,” Liam said, his tone edgy. “I wouldn’t have shot anyone, but this house is set by a nest of pines and mangroves and overgrowth. It doesn’t hurt to be safe now.”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s all right,” Jonas said. “I didn’t mean to startle anyone. Just thought that I’d help pick up.”
“And we didn’t expect you, because you left with Clarinda,” Liam said.
“Well, since the poor girl has to go to work and I don’t, I like to get her there and walk her home, at least,” he said. “But I didn’t want to leave this place a mess, either. Hey, you want to go down to O’Hara’s for a while later?” he asked brightly.
Liam had eased at last, Kelsey knew. She could feel him relax. He smiled. “Maybe,” he said. “But not for a while.”
Jonas laughed. “I hear ya. Okay, I’m really leaving!”
He hefted his bag of utensils over his shoulder and started to roll the barbecue over the lawn. “Give me a call if you’re interested. I may walk on down early anyway.”
“Okay,” Liam said.
“’Bye. Thanks again,” Kelsey told him.
They watched him go. Kelsey was very afraid that the mood was broken, but Liam’s arms came around her waist. “Where were we, now? Oh, yeah!” Again, he swept her off her feet. They entered through the family room, and he balanced her weight to lock the door.
“Ah, hell, the front!” he said.
She laughed as he whirled her around, pretending to whack her head into the wall as he hurried through the house to lock the front door.
He started toward the stairs, and to her surprise turned back. Still balancing her weight, he headed to Cutter’s office. He opened the door, turned on the light and looked around. He turned off the light and headed for the stairway again.
He must have felt her tense.
“I’m all right on this, really,” he said softly.
She didn’t protest. He carried her up the stairs, and once in her room, he dropped her on the bed and gasped dramatically.
“Oh, you jerk!” she laughed.
He fell down on the bed, reaching for her.
She eluded him, jumping up to run to the bedroom door.
She locked it.
He stared at her, frowning, but she ran for the bed and pounded down on it, crawling on top of him and slipping her arms around his waist as she leaned down to kiss him.
Neither of them asked any more questions.
The funeral home had served the residents of Key West for years. It would be on the ghost tour tonight, but hopefully, the visitation for Cutter Merlin would be a quiet and decent affair.
Liam and Kelsey met with the funeral director at ten o’clock, Sunday morning, to finalize the details.
They were both stunned to see the many arrangements of flowers that had arrived, especially since the event hadn’t been well-publicized.
“Wow,” Kelsey whispered to him. “And sadly, Cutter would be horrified. He would have told people that they had much better use for their money these days. I should have written somewhere that he would have preferred donations to charity.”
“I’m sure some of these are from the old-timers here and around,” Liam told her. “And they would feel that a funeral needed flowers, no matter what you had said.”
She nodded. They spoke to the director for several minutes, and when all the final arrangements had been made, the director asked Kelsey, “Do you want an open or closed casket?”
She opened her mouth without speaking, apparently taken aback by the question.
“Closed,” Liam said firmly.
The director scratched his answer on his notepad.
“And what about the family? Do you want a private viewing first?”
“No,” he said, answering for Kelsey again.
“As you wish. Then, we’re all set. The hours for visitation have been set from seven to nine. If you arrive about six-thirty, that will be fine.”
They walked out into the bright sunlight.
Then Kelsey asked him, “Why were you so determined that I not see Cutter’s body? Was there something about his death that you haven’t told me?”
He hesitated, wanting to tell her the truth and not really wanting to do so.
“Liam, I want to know,” she said stubbornly.
He looked down the street. It was just after ten. Music was beginning to pour from a number of the bars over on Duval.
“Kelsey,” he said, looking at her at last, “I told you—he wasn’t found immediately.”