“Sean, it’s just that—” he began.
“Maybe whoever killed Eddie is trying to kill me,” Sean said flatly. At their shocked looks he added, “We all suspect that, and hell, it’s better just said out loud. At least, between the three of us.”
“Where do we go from here?” Caer asked.
“We wait. There’s nothing else to do,” Sean said.
“I’m getting back into Eddie’s computer,” Zach said. “He knew something, and he’d been somewhere. I have to figure out what and where.”
“Let it rest for the night,” Sean said. “Mull things over. You can get back to it tomorrow, when you’ll be fresh.”
“But—” Zach started to protest.
“I’m telling you. Let it go for now. You’ll be better off. Now,” Sean said, “you two need to go out. Shake all this off. The mind, like the body, works better when you move it around a bit.”
“Out?” Caer said. “We’ve just been out.”
“No, no. I mean out,” Sean said. “Have dinner somewhere. Go listen to some music. It’s a beautiful day, it’s supposed to be a beautiful night. It may get up to forty-five. I’ll be with my daughter, who has decided that she has to stick to me like glue. Not that I don’t love to be her sounding board. It makes a father proud, and I don’t want you around, stealing my thunder. So I’m ordering you both, get out for the night.”
“But—” Zach began again.
“Amanda is having dinner with the women from the garden club. She won’t be back until late herself,” Sean said.
Zach looked at Caer. She was staring at Sean, and she seemed to be blushing.
“It’s all right by me,” Zach said. “Caer?”
“I have to say, I don’t seem to be working very hard,” she said quietly.
Sean laughed. “In my mind, you’ve gone above and beyond.”
She still hadn’t looked at him, Zach thought, just as she finally turned to him.
“I guess I’ll go change, then,” she said.
Zach smiled slowly, then laughed. “Sean, are you going to tell us where we should go, too?”
“Sure. American Pie,” Sean said. “It’s a new place up on the highway. And after dinner, stop of at McCafferty’s. They have a jazz quartet up from Louisiana. Give Caer a taste of the country along with her meal.”
“All right,” Zach said doubtfully. “I still don’t like the idea of leaving—”
“I’ll set the alarm, and I’ll be with Kat, plus Clara and Tom are right out back. And I’ll phone you if anything comes up. All right?”
“All right,” Zach said. “Just one more thing.”
“What now?” Sean demanded impatiently.
“Just how dressy is this place?”
Caer was glad she’d gone shopping in Dublin. She wasn’t even sure why—except that she’d been leaving for the holidays—but she’d purchased a long-sleeved, cobalt-blue slinky cocktail dress and appropriately delicate heels to go with it. Once she was dressed, she played with makeup, washed it off, then heard a knock at her door.
It was Kat, whose only response was, “Wow.”
Caer blushed. Again. “Thanks.”
“Are you crying?” Kat asked her, perplexed.
“Crying? Oh. No, I just washed my face. The makeup wasn’t right.”
“Well, sit, I’ll give you a hand.”
Caer sat.
Kat went to work. A few minutes later she stepped back to survey her handiwork. “You look perfect,” she said.
“Thanks,” Caer said, and blushed yet again.
“And you really don’t know it, do you? That’s why you blush so much.” Kat laughed suddenly, a touch of wickedness in the sound. “I have to tell you, I loved it when you walked in here with my dad and Zach. I could just see how much it burned Amanda to have you around.”
“Kat,” Caer said seriously, “what makes you so certain that Amanda is…after your father?”
“My dad is in his seventies,” Kat said flatly. “And Amanda spends half her day in front of the mirror. All he is to her is a meal ticket. I think she’d cut my heart out, too, if she could.”
“But she wouldn’t inherit all your father’s money,” Caer said.
“No. My father believes in his flesh and blood. Sometimes I wish he hadn’t been so brilliant with business, though. But the thing is, he did what he loved and still does. He just happened to do it better than all the rest, him and Eddie.”
“What about Cal?”
“Cal’s good,” Kat said. “And Marni is great with the books. I’m sure they’re both sweating this whole thing, though. My dad really is that company. With Eddie gone…” Her voice trailed off. “Well, I’m sure Cal is praying that Dad gets well soon, and that nothing else happens.”
“Do you think something else is going to happen?” Caer asked her.
“Don’t you? Isn’t that really why you’re here?”
“I’m here to see that your father takes his medications, and to be around in case there’s an emergency with his heart or his blood pressure,” Caer said, wondering if there was anyone here who didn’t think they knew why she was really there.
“Yeah, right,” Kat muttered.