Eden in Winter (26 page)

Teddy shook his head. ‘You’re such a fucking moron, and this latest proves the point. Please tell me you’re not going back.’

‘Not to Afghanistan. And you’re sounding like our mother. Do I have to stand here and explain myself? At least she let me sit down.’

Teddy waved him inside. ‘By all means, sit. Do you need fresh bandages, or spare ammunition?’

Adam laughed again. ‘I could use a beer, and the pleasure of your company. Perverse as it seems, I’ve missed you.’

‘And I you, bro. Though sometimes I think you’re as crazy as the rest of us.’

‘A sobering thought.’ Sitting in a somewhat uncomfortable armchair, Adam glanced at the painting on Teddy’s easel, a bleak landscape of Martha’s Vineyard in winter. ‘Still trying to please the masses, I see. Another Hallmark card.’

‘The masses don’t live here in the winter, when the natives get cooped up. Less Eden in winter than Grimm’s fairy tales. Nonetheless, I hope you’ll linger a while.’

‘A little while, in any event. They’ve given me some recuperation time.’

‘Nice of them. I certainly hope you’re changing jobs.’

‘You do sound like Mom.’ Adam’s tone became more serious. ‘Truth to tell, I don’t know what I’m doing after this, or whether I’m much suited to anything else than the work I can’t tell you about. There’s part of me you no longer know, and I’m not sure I can change. Sorry if that’s unsatisfying.’

‘“Unsatisfying” is
not
a synonym for “insane”.’

‘Other people in my business get hurt, Ted. Some even appreciate life a little more.’

Teddy took a beer from his refrigerator, handing it to Adam, then pulled up a stool and sat across from him. Soberly, he asked, ‘Any chance you’ll become one of them?’

‘A good question,’ Adam answered with equal weight. ‘And impossible to answer.’

‘You might start by finding another line of work.’ Teddy paused a moment. ‘Have you ever considered writing?’

This time Adam’s laugh held a trace of sourness. ‘Like our father, you mean? He always commended my wisdom in not trying to compete with him – at least in the endeavour where, by his own admission, every other living American fell short of him. Who am I to box with God?’

‘Adam Blaine,’ Ted said firmly. ‘You could always write, and you come with an actual heart.’ His tone became quieter, but no less insistent. ‘He was afraid of you, Adam – always. He may have haunted you, but something about you haunted him. He didn’t want to find out you were better.’

That’s not why I haunted him
, Adam thought but did not say. ‘I’ve considered it,’ he admitted. ‘But in how many areas of life do I want to drag his corpse behind me? A sane man – if that’s what I am – cuts his losses.’

Teddy regarded him closely. At length, he said, ‘Which inspires me to wonder if you’ve seen Carla.’

Though he followed Teddy’s thoughts, Adam chose to smile again. ‘You
are
becoming our mother, Ted. You’ve perfectly nailed her first three questions. No, I haven’t seen her yet.’

‘Then you should.’

Adam maintained his pretence of amusement. ‘That’s where you and Mom diverge. You need to check in with her for a refresher course on Carla Pacelli. Thief of husbands and, not so incidentally, our fortune.’

‘I remember, Adam. And I’m sure you’ll recall that I felt the same way she does. Then you asked me to look in on her,
and the experience is complicating my lack of faith in human nature. But never mind that. What has Carla told you about the baby?’

‘That they’re both doing fine.’

Teddy gave him a disgusted look. ‘And a bullet in the shoulder’s nothing. At some point stoicism becomes lockjaw, to the detriment of both of you. She may well lose the baby, and that could be a mercy. Based on the tests she’s had, the odds are better than even that our brother-to-be won’t live past infancy. And shouldn’t.’

Adam felt the shock of this run through him. ‘Tell me about it.’

In considerable detail, Teddy did. Listening, Adam felt a sadness so profound that it numbed him. ‘Jesus …’

‘I know,’ his brother said glumly. ‘She’s devastated and, in my own way, so am I. Despite my best intentions, I’ve become invested in things turning out right for her. I’m very afraid they won’t.’ Teddy hunched forward, looking into Adam’s face. ‘How do you really feel about her?’

‘You asked me that before, Ted. I didn’t know then, and I don’t know now. I’ve been gone, remember?’

Teddy ignored this. ‘I’m asking for her sake, not yours. She’s pretty guarded. But I think she has real feelings for you, however confusing it may be.’ His voice lowered. ‘One member of the walking wounded can tell another. I don’t want to see her hurt any more, that’s all.’

Adam stared at the floor. ‘I don’t want either of us hurt. And God knows I want this baby to be okay.’

‘Not good enough,’ Teddy persisted. ‘If you can’t care for her, don’t let her believe you can. She’s become pretty strong, I think. But I can sense there’ve been hard things in her past
– more than just her fall from grace. She doesn’t need another blow from life after all that’s happened. And may happen with this baby.’

‘I get that.’

‘But do you really think the two of you could have something? Or is the ghost of our sainted father too big a distraction?’

Adam met his eyes. ‘Do
you
understand what she wanted with him, Ted?’

‘I used to – money. Now I don’t have a clue. But I think she had her reasons. I don’t have to comprehend them, just accept that they existed. But if you can’t come to terms with that, it’s fatal.’

‘I appreciate your concern,’ Adam said softly. ‘But you’re telling me things I already know.’

Teddy grimaced. ‘Then let me tell you something you don’t know. Not only has the coroner’s inquest lingered for an ominously long time, but George Hanley has refused Avi Gold’s request to tell the judge that he won’t prosecute Jack – or any of the rest of us. Which means our problems remain very much alive.’

Adam felt the past closing in again. ‘Does Avi know why?’

‘No. Although he divines that the woman from the
Enquirer
, Amanda Ferris, has gotten Hanley’s ear. I know she’s still around here.’

For a reflexive moment, Adam wondered how to get rid of her. Amidst the tangle of worries – for Jack, and for himself – it struck him that Ferris was yet another impediment to any relationship with Carla, even were he capable of one. Feigning unconcern, he told his brother, ‘Other than trailing
slime, I don’t know what she can do. Just stay away from her until this thing is over. And Hanley, of course.’

Teddy nodded. ‘Of course. But you don’t have that option, bro. According to Avi, Hanley wants to see you.’

By the time Adam parked in Edgartown, a driving sideways rain had started, and the few pedestrians braving the foulness of winter carried umbrellas or walked hunched against the storm. Adam’s shoulder hurt; already tired, he did not treasure getting soaked. But it was better to surprise George Hanley, and he needed to know what Hanley thought and where Amanda Ferris fit. So he hurried across Main Street, its asphalt glistening with moisture and puddles, and entered the red brick courthouse, glancing briefly at the alarm system he had thwarted months before.

As Adam well knew, Hanley’s office was on the second floor. Seeing his door ajar, Adam knocked, and heard the district attorney say gruffly, ‘Come on in, whoever you are.’

Without responding, Adam entered, took the chair in front of Hanley’s desk, and gave the older man his most amiable smile. ‘Heard you wanted to see me, George. So I came as soon as I could.’

Hanley studied him, his own half-smile not affecting the cool curiosity in his eyes. ‘I thought you were in Afghanistan.’

‘I was. But my employer has a liberal vacation policy.’

Hanley paused, a hint of his displeasure at being surprised by a man he so clearly mistrusted. Bluntly, he asked, ‘Do you know Amanda Ferris?’

Adam raised his eyebrows. ‘The
Enquirer
’s gift to journalism? She’s accosted me a couple of times.’

Hanley rearranged his features, adopting an expressionless mask. ‘Only that?’

Adam let a puzzled look answer for him.

Eyes narrowing, Hanley said, ‘She claims to have met with you in secret, and that you were trying to ferret out the evidence against your brother. She further suggests that you were pulling together a cover-up to exonerate Teddy, and that you broke into the courthouse to rifle my files. The ones I kept right here.’

Adam smiled a little. ‘All that? What proof is she offering?’

Hanley stared at him. ‘She says you only met at night, on the beach. According to Ferris, you were very careful to leave no evidence that you knew her.’

‘Because I don’t. In a cooler tone, Adam continued, ‘I’m everywhere, it seems, but no one ever sees me. Yet you have a security system and a bunch of cameras. Only a ghost could break in here.’

‘Unless they were very accomplished,’ Hanley retorted. ‘Someone worked a bypass on the system.’

‘Come off it, George. To shut off your alarm system I’d have to sneak into the building, setting off the system. A bit
of a chicken–egg problem, you’ll agree. And if I somehow managed to do that, you’d have me on camera. But you don’t, or I’d be languishing in your downstairs jail.’

‘Someone else did it,’ Hanley said in a cold, inexorable voice. ‘We think it was a breaking-and-entering specialist disguised as a service guy, come to look at our system.’

‘Then I guess he’s the one who took your files.’

Hanley shook his head, regarding Adam closely. ‘We have him on camera – a stocky older guy with thick glasses and a mustache. But the man two of our cops saw running away from the courthouse that night was tall, obviously young and in great shape. Someone like you. So when Ferris came to us, it sort of resonated.’

Adam shrugged. ‘Sorry I can’t help you. But I don’t know what night we’re talking about, so I don’t know where I was. I wouldn’t remember anyhow – I had other things on my mind than keeping a calendar. Like my father’s death, and that poisonous will he’d left behind …’

‘But you
do
remember mailing copies of my investigative files to Teddy’s lawyer. His secretary certainly remembers receiving them – however reluctant she was to say so.’ Hanley leaned forward, arms on his desk. ‘Interesting how the story Teddy told at the inquest put an innocent gloss on all the physical evidence suggesting he pushed your father off the cliff. Along with Jack’s somewhat belated explanation exonerating everyone.’

‘Truthful explanation, I’d say. Anyhow, that’s your department, George. I was halfway across the world when my father died, and I’m certainly no lawyer.’

‘You’re also no fool. As I recall, you went to law school before breaking with Ben.’

‘So I did. Among the things I learned is that it’s a crime to obstruct justice. Which you seem to be accusing me of.’

‘Who else, Adam?’

Adam adopted a tone of mild contempt. ‘Unlike your new reporter friend, I don’t go around nominating people. But if you ever find out, George, please let me know. You’re making me curious.’

‘Then I’m sure you wouldn’t mind testifying,’ Hanley suggested pointedly. ‘I can reopen the inquest, so you can tell the judge what you just told me.’

Adam shook his head. ‘Please don’t do that on my account, George. I don’t feel the need to testify yet again because some reporter pisses on my leg.’

Hanley looked at him askance. ‘Are you saying you’d invoke the Fifth Amendment?’

‘If that’s your perspective. Mine is that I’ve already given at the office. Once was enough, thanks. Anything else?’

Hanley’s obdurate frown deepened the lines at the edge of his eyes and mouth. ‘Not now, Adam. You’ve already gotten what you came for.’

Adam stood. ‘I came because you wanted to see me, remember?’

With that, he left, reviewing his points of vulnerability, his avenues of escape.

The problem was Amanda Ferris.

*

Five months before, Adam had met Ferris on the beach beneath the promontory.

On the surface, little had happened since Ben’s death. Whatever enquiry George Hanley and the police had launched – an exhaustive one, Adam was certain – they had suppressed
any news of the incident itself. The previous day, Teddy had flown to Boston to buy art supplies; only Adam knew enough to guess he had been summoned by his lawyer. No one had questioned Adam about anything: with the security cameras disabled, all Hanley had was a faceless man, swift and resourceful enough to vanish, eliminating a host of potential suspects while creating a dead end.

Knowing this, Adam had the familiar sense of having set events in motion without leaving any trace. But he continued to parse the varied narratives surrounding the will and his father’s death, including from his family, sensing that none of them was truthful or complete. And now he had the problem of Amanda Ferris.

As at their prior meeting, he had followed her from Edgar-town; he still wanted no evidence that they had met. But the woman was nothing if not clever. Now he would learn how fully she understood their chess game.

The air was balmier, the seas calm, the wind smelling faintly of sea salt. This time, she had not tried to conceal a tape recorder. By now she grasped that their conversations were damning to them both.

‘Too bad I couldn’t get the pathologist’s report,’ she said with quiet acidity. ‘But you may not have to wait long. Only until Hanley indicts your brother.’

Hearing this made Adam edgy. ‘Tell me about that.’

Ferris shifted her weight, adding to the restlessness animating her wiry frame. ‘First, there’s the evidence at the scene: a footprint matching your brother’s boot, plus skid marks suggesting someone dragged your father toward the cliff.’

And mud on his father’s heels
, Adam thought, but Ferris did not know this. ‘What else?’

‘There’s a button missing from his shirt, suggesting a struggle—’

‘Have they found it?’

Ferris hesitated. ‘No.’

Because I found it
, Adam thought. ‘Then it means nothing.’

‘There’s also the neighbour, out walking along the trail, who heard a man screaming, then saw a figure leaving the promontory—’