found love letters in the attic of St. Agnes. I wonder if they’re hers too?”
Lucien wasn’t sure how he felt about the fact that Sister Anne may have had a man in her life. Thankfully Ember took his mind off it when she said, “What I’m not getting is the connection between Heidi blackmailing the Carmichaels and your son.”
Lucien responded, “Let’s see what else Dane knows about Heidi’s blackmailing.”
Dane brought Lena because he hoped that maybe she could run interference if things got dicey with Ember and her husband. He needed to rethink sobriety; it really wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
“Here they come,” Lena said, which made Dane turn in the direction of the three walking toward them. Great, the gangster, Lucien, was with them, and just looking at Trace made his face hurt. Man, he wanted a drink. They settled at the table.
“Hi, Dane. Hi, Lena,” said Ember.
“Hi, you guys want drinks?” Lena asked.
“No, thanks,” Ember said, but Trace and Lucien remained silent.
Dane shifted in his seat before he found his voice and asked, “What is it you need?”
“Have you figured out what Heidi was holding over your family?”
Again he shifted in his chair—talk about a fucking can of worms. But if he had any hope of walking away from all of this, he had to tell them everything he knew.
“My dad has a taste for younger women. I think he slept with the wrong younger woman and Heidi was using that on him. My grandfather is so psychotic when it comes to image that it’s possible Heidi threatened to reveal what she knew about my dad to him as well, hoping to get double money for the same juicy tidbit.” Dane leaned back in his chair, growing a bit more comfortable with the idea of selling all three of them down the river. “You know they ride my ass about my behavior, but they’re no fucking different. Seriously, I should just change my name to Spano and pretend they’re not even my family.”
Lucien straightened in his chair. “Spano? Elizabeth’s case is all over the news.”
Dane was surprised at the jolt of pain he felt in response. “She was my mom’s younger sister. It’s been over thirty years since she was murdered and we still have no idea what happened. My maternal grandfather won’t let it go, refuses to allow his daughter’s murder to go unsolved. Apparently now there’s new evidence on the case, which is why it’s back in the news. Maybe we might finally learn what happened to her.”
“That’s awful, and it takes a toll on a family. It did on mine,” Ember said. She added, “My uncle has been in touch with your mom.”
“He has? Do you know where she’s been?”
“Living with her sister outside of Baltimore.”
Dane wasn’t sure how he felt about that. She lived fairly close, and yet she had never reached out to him, not once since she’d left. Ember seemed to know what he was thinking.
“My uncle had the sense that she was afraid—enough to not come back for fear of what would happen to you.” Ember leaned a little closer before she asked, “Do you think it’s possible that your mom knows who killed her sister and that’s why she’s staying away?”
“I don’t know. Elizabeth was murdered before I was born and my mom left when I was around two. Maybe.”
Lucien spoke up for the first time since they’d arrived. “Maybe it’s time you had a reunion with your mom.”
“Yeah.” Dane turned his attention to Ember. “Remember when I mentioned that Todd was spending some time with Heidi?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know if it means anything, but Todd owes markers to some seriously bad guys, which might be why Heidi was interested in him.”
Dane caught the look of suspicion on Lucien’s face just as Ember said, “Thanks.”
Darcy and Ember were on their way to St. Agnes to check out the attic. Darcy felt a pang of sadness seeing Ember’s growing belly, but she moved past it and asked, “How are you feeling? What did the doctor say?”
“I’ve got proteins in my urine and my blood pressure is up, which are both warning signs for preeclampsia. I’ve just got to take it easy.” Ember changed the subject. “My dad called the other day.”
“The man to whom you owe your advice-giving skills,” Darcy said with humor.
“One and the same. He’s moving in with my uncle; he wants to be closer to me and the baby.”