me?â
âThe doctor says you need to take it easy. I didnât want to worry you.â
âScrew the doctor! My grandson is under suspicion in a homicide and you didnât want to worry me?â he demanded. âWhatâs the matter with you, woman? Are you nuts?â
In that moment, Governor Marsha Longmire crashed to earth. She was an ordinary human being caught in the everyday turmoil of living in a blended family, loving her husband and wanting to protect him from his progenyâs folly. It was the old blood-and-water routine all over again, only this time Marsha was on the wrong side of the equation, the water side.
âMs. Soames and Mr. Beaumont are just leaving,â Marsha said. âOnce theyâve gone, Iâll be glad to tell you everything.â
âNo,â the First Husband responded. âIf this has something to do with Josh, youâll tell me everything about it right now, all three of you.â
Governor Longmire shook her head in frustration. Sheâd had every intention of smuggling Mel and me into the house and out of it again without raising any alarms as far as her ailing husband was concerned. That was why she had hustled us first into the study across from the front door and why she had then unceremoniously herded us on upstairs. We were unwelcome but necessary visitors, and she had wanted to steer us clear of the first floor as much as possible.
Unfortunately for her, that plan had just come to grief.
âAs you wish,â she said to her husband.
She watched as Gerry Willis rolled his wheelchair away from the landing and through an arched doorway into what was evidently the mansionâs formal living room.
With a resigned sigh, Marsha Longmire turned to us. âAfter you,â she said.
Chapter 6
F or years, the Rainier Club was the last bastion of male privilege and exclusivity in downtown Seattle. It was built in that separate but equal era when âmen were men.â For social interaction, women were expected to toddle off to the Womenâs University Club, for example, and not make a fuss about it.
All those male-only rules are changed now, and the Rainier Clubâs lobby has changed, too. The living room in the governorâs mansion was reminiscent of all those bad old days, and it hadnât changed a bit. It was fully stocked with reupholstered period furniture that was long on looks and short on comfort. I hoped that somewhere upstairs there was another living room with furniture that was actually comfortable.
Unwilling to let the evidence boxes out of our direct control, Mel and I carried them into the living room. Gerry Willis rolled his chair to a place of prominence in front of an immense fireplace while the rest of us arranged ourselves around him as best we could. Mel and I sat side by side on a sofa that had been built without taking the vagaries of the human shape into consideration.
âWell?â Gerry demanded abruptly. âWhatâs going on?â
His barked question could have been answered by any of us, but Mel and I stayed quiet, leaving the field open for Marsha to respond.
She did so, giving her husband an abbreviated version of Joshâs overnight adventures. She told about his being spotted making his rope-ladder exit and how, upon his return, she had confiscated his iPhone in punishment. She ended by relating her discovery of the appalling video and making the fateful call to Ross Connors.
âI had to do that,â she said. âI couldnât just ignore it.â
âNo,â he said. âYou couldnât. Show me the film. I need to see it.â
âGerry, itâs really rough. Are you sure?â
âShow me,â he insisted.
Glancing in Melâs direction, Marsha nodded. Without a word, Mel donned a pair of gloves. Then she opened the box, retrieved the phone, turned it on, and held it up for Gerry Willisâs viewing pleasure while she played the vile
Nancy Henderson
Margaret McMullan
Gordon R. Dickson
Jill A. Davis
John Feinstein
Magan Vernon
Thomas McGuane
Edyth; Bulbring
Jack D. Albrecht Jr., Ashley Delay
Carol Berg