The Chesapeake Diaries Series (237 page)

Jason opened his eyes and looked down on the boy, who was totally immersed in the drama playing out on the screen. Logan had inherited Eric’s smile and his laugh, his sense of logic, his habit of rubbing one foot against the other when he was tired—like now, Jason noted—and Eric’s way of tilting his head just slightly to one side when he was about to question your facts, your opinion, or your authority. It amazed him, when he thought about it, that little things like that could be passed on from father to son. Because of Eric’s deployments, he’d spent precious little time with his toddler son, who had been far too young to have observed his father’s behavior closely enough to memorize and imitate it. And yet there was Eric’s smile, his laugh, the subtle habits that only someone who had known Eric well over a long period of time could have recognized.

“That girl looks like my stepsister.” Cody pointed to the screen. “Paige, I mean. My mom says that Paige is just my sister now since my mom married her dad.”

“I’m going to have a stepfather,” Logan said softly. “When my mom marries Jesse, he’s going to be my stepfather.”

“I have a stepfather,” Cody reminded him. “ ’Cause my mom married Grant.”

“My real father’s dead.” Logan’s voice was soft.

“My real father’s a jerk,” Cody countered. “He did bad things with ladies who were not my mom and made a video that lots of people saw.” He hunkered down a little more into his pillow. “Kids from my old school saw it.”

“If it was a bad video, why were kids allowed to watch it?” Logan asked.

Good question
, Jason thought.
Eric’s logic again …

“Maybe not the kids, but their moms and dads saw it and talked about it. That’s why we came to St. Dennis. My mom wanted to get away ’cause everyone was talking about it on the TV.”

“That’s ’cause your mom is famous and everyone knows her,” Logan pointed out. It seemed that everyone knew that Cody’s mother was Dallas MacGregor, a very famous movie star.

“Everyone here knows her, too, but no one’s mean about it.”

“Shhh, here’s my favorite part.” Logan effectively ended the conversation.

The popcorn bowl was empty, and Cody’s dog was at the back door waiting to go out, so Jason picked up Fleur’s leash and set the bowl on the kitchen counter. He stepped out into the cool air and wished he’d had the sense to grab a jacket. His southern sensibilities had yet to acclimate themselves to the northern winter. He followed the dog down the darkened street, pausing when she did. The scent of the Bay carried on the night wind, and he wondered how different the evening might have been if he’d joined the Enright crew at dinner. He hadn’t known Sophie was in town, and her appearance at the basketball court that afternoon had taken him slightly off guard. He’d always sensed something special about her, beyond her pretty face and trim body, had always hoped that someday he’d have a chance to get to know her a little better. Maybe this time the opportunity would present itself, he thought as he turned from a gust of wind. And if not, he’d just have to make sure that it did.

Chapter 6

Sophie stared out Jesse’s kitchen window onto the fenced-in yard while she waited for her first cup of morning coffee to finish brewing in her brother’s ancient coffeemaker. She wished he had one like the one that sat on her own kitchen counter, the one that brewed one fresh cup at a time. Hearing Jesse’s machine gurgle and burp painfully, what to give him and Brooke for a wedding gift was no longer a question. Even the coffeemaker they had in the DA’s office was better than this one.

She wondered if Christopher was fixing Anita’s morning coffee the way he used to fix hers. Was he, right at that moment, picking up two Danishes from the coffee truck that always parked in front of the courthouse regardless of the weather? The coffee was terrible, but somehow Sis, the woman who owned the truck, managed to snag the best Danishes in town. On mornings when neither of them had court, she and Chris would meet first thing in his office. The thought of Anita sitting in
her
chair, drinking coffee he’d brewed, eating
her
Danish, made Sophie see red.

She squeezed her eyes closed as tightly as she could, willing the image to vanish.

Think of something else
, she demanded.
Focus on something else. It’s a beautiful day
, she reminded herself.
Don’t let Christopher spoil this, too
.

She took a deep breath and stared out the window.

The yard was quite nice, Sophie told herself, forcing her attention outside. The small brick patio was surrounded by beds covered with dried leaves. She wondered when those beds had last been planted. If she were living here, she’d put in a garden. She’d do flowers around the patio and lots of herbs and some vegetables out there in the center of the yard, where it was nice and sunny. If she had a restaurant, she’d want to serve really fresh salads and a vegetarian dish or two. And maybe she’d plant some red peppers to roast with garlic and olive oil. Mint for iced tea to be served on hot summer days …

Stop stop stop!
She tried to shake the thoughts from her head but they did not go gently. It had been easier to ban Christopher, it occurred to her. She wasn’t quite sure what that meant.

The machine had just given up its dark brew when Sophie heard the front door slam.

“Jess?” she called.

“Yeah.” He tossed his jacket over the back of a chair. “Hey, you made coffee. Thanks.”

“Didn’t Brooke make coffee this morning?”

“Yes, but she got up early to bake for the shop, and by the time I got up, it was sludge.”

Sophie reached overhead into the cabinet and grabbed a cup, which she filled, and held out to her brother. When he reached for it, she pulled it back.

“First, the key.”

“What key?”

“You know what key.”

“Oh, you mean this one?” He pulled a braided green string from his pocket and dangled its lone brass key in front of her. “Could I interest you in a trade?”

She passed the cup over and he tossed the key into her outstretched hand.

“This is really it?”

“No, actually, that’s my garage key.”

“Jesse, you …”

He laughed. “Yes, it’s really ‘the key.’ I stopped by the office on my way back from Brooke’s and called Violet. She was just leaving for church, but she knew exactly where it was, as you suspected.”

“Did she say why you had it? Did she think it would be okay if we went in?” Sophie asked eagerly.

“The owner gave the key to Uncle Mike so that he could check up on the property periodically. Make sure there’d been no break-ins and that the roof wasn’t leaking, that sort of thing.”

“When was the last time someone went in?”

“I couldn’t tell. There was nothing in the file to indicate that anyone from the firm had made a visit.”

“Then I’d say we were due.”

“Well,
I’m
due.” He smirked. “A
member of the firm
is due.”

“Now that’s just plain mean. If—and it’s a big fat if—I ever decided to come to work with you, it would be because I wanted to and because I felt it was the right move for me, and not because you goaded or bribed me. That’s a big decision to make, Jess.”

“True. So I won’t goad—but that doesn’t mean I’ve given up. There are other ways …”

Sophie tucked the key into the pocket of her jeans. “I just need to grab my bag and put my shoes on. I can’t wait to see what this place looks like inside.”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” he called after her as she hustled toward the steps. “It’s bound to be a mess.”

Sophie drove her car because she wanted to see what it felt like to drive onto that lot and park near the door, though the reason she gave Jesse for wanting to drive was so that he couldn’t rush her and threaten to leave before she was ready to go.

“This place is really off the beaten path,” Jesse said as he got out of the car. “They probably didn’t do much business here before they closed.”

“Maybe not,” Sophie agreed, “but the new movie studio should bring a lot of traffic down this way, once it’s up and running. So not being in the center of town could be an advantage.”

“How do you figure?”

“No competition.” She fitted the key into the lock and it turned reluctantly. “Plus you heard that talk last night at Walt’s about the bait shop next door filing for a permit to dredge the river to make it deep enough for larger boats to dock there, right?”

Jesse nodded.

“And that they might even build a marina right there so that visitors to the studio could come by boat?” Sophie pushed open the door. “People could fly into Baltimore, charter a boat, and just come right across the Bay.” She paused in the doorway. “Boy, it’s dark in here.”

“Have a flashlight.” He handed her one of the two he’d grabbed before they left the house.

“Thanks.” She turned on the flashlight and scanned the room with its beam. “Maybe if we left the door open it would help.”

Jesse pushed the door back as far as it would go.

“Not much better,” he noted. “Dark and wow, really dusty. You sure know how to pick ’em.”

She took her time walking around the room, shining the light on the four big windows in the front and the two smaller ones on each side, all of which were covered with boards. There was just enough light to see the ancient cash register that sat atop the L-shaped counter with its eight stools lined up along the left side of the room.

“It’s not very big.” Jesse sneezed. “Eight tables for two, five tables for four.” With the beam he scanned the upturned chairs that sat atop the tables, their legs pointing toward the ceiling.

“Plenty big enough.” She flipped the light switch on the wall. “Just checking,” she said when the lights failed.

“The electricity’s been off for a few years.” Jesse sneezed again. “There was a note in the file that all the utilities were turned off.”

“Allergies acting up?” Without waiting for an answer, she added, “Want to wait for me in the car?”

“What, and miss all the fun?”

Sophie pushed through a door behind the counter and stepped into the kitchen. It seemed even darker than the front room, but she could see two ranges, a double sink, a large refrigeration unit, and a couple of metal shelving units on wheels. She went to the back
door, pushed aside the slide lock and a dead bolt, and pulled the door open. The cool air rushed in with the light, as if it had been waiting for a chance to enter.

“There’s some nasty-looking stuff in here,” Jess noted. “Wonder how long those dishes have been sitting on the drain board.” He held the light over the windowsills. “Nice selection of dead flies, bees, and wasps here, if you know anyone who collects. Oh, and one damned fine cobweb. Might be the biggest one I’ve ever seen.”

“Ugh! Mice droppings on top of the stoves.” Sophie made a face and peered into an open cabinet. “Not to mention on the shelves.”

“And the counters.” The light from Jesse’s flashlight skimmed along the countertop. “I wouldn’t even think about opening that old refrigerator or looking inside either of those ovens. This place is pretty disgusting, Soph.”

“Needs a good cleaning, that’s for sure.” Sophie sneezed three times in rapid succession.

“Needs to be razed. This place has ‘biohazard’ written all over it.”

“It’s not that bad. It’s just … neglected. And dirty.” She took a look around the room. “Very, very dirty. But there’s nothing here that can’t be fixed.”

“You have got to be kidding.” Jesse snorted. “Everything in this place needs to be tossed. It’s all Dumpster fodder, if you ask me.”

“Which I did not, but that’s okay. You’re entitled.” Sophie closed the back door and relocked it. “Let’s go look upstairs.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m curious, that’s why. And because I don’t know when I’ll get another chance.”

Jesse sighed and followed his sister back through the dining area and waited outside while she locked the front door.

“It’s probably as big a mess up there as it is down here,” he muttered.

“Maybe,” she nodded. “But you have a responsibility to your client. She’s depending on you to keep an eye on her property. What if there was an electrical fire …”

“The electricity has been turned off.”

“Lightning,” she said as she rounded the corner of the building. “Could always be lightning, this close to the water.”

“You’re grabbing at straws.”

Jesse followed her up the stairs that led to the second floor and brushed her aside when her attempts to unlock the door failed.

“Let me try.” He jiggled the key and pushed, and the door opened.

“Thanks.” Sophie walked past him into a large room that had windows on three sides. “Wow. Living room–dining room combo. I like it.”

“You have to be kidding. This place is pathetic.”

“It’s a great space and it has great light,” she pointed out. “And the kitchen … well, it’s okay, I guess.” She fixed the beam of light on the fridge and the stove, opening, then closing the doors. “Of course, there
is
a restaurant right downstairs.”

She opened one of two closed doors and glanced inside.