Red After Dark (Blackwood Security #13) - Elise Noble Page 0,39

patio.

I was about to ask them if they wanted anything to eat when I heard my name. Back away, Beth. But I couldn’t. Eavesdropping on conversations was a terrible idea, but growing up with my parents, it was the only way I’d had a clue what was going on, even if I frequently wished afterwards that I hadn’t found out. I tiptoed closer.

“Yeah, Beth’s sweet,” Emmy said. “I’m glad she’s landed on her feet.”

Aw, that was nice of her.

“She’s done more than land on her feet. I mean, if I didn’t work at Blackwood, I’d apply for a job at Sirius. All that eye candy.”

“Dan, you’re practically married.”

“So? I can still look. Ethan knows I’d never touch. Is Naz hot?”

“No idea. I’ve never met him. And Sirius isn’t a fucking pick ’n’ mix. Judd’s a bloody lunatic and Ravi’s gay, for starters.”

What? I clapped a hand over my mouth to cover my gasp. Why didn’t I notice these things? Ravi liked men? I mean, I’d assumed Stéphane leaned in that direction, but Ravi too? And in what way was Judd a lunatic?

“Ravi isn’t gay,” Dan said. “I caught him checking out my boobs.”

“Well, Bradley reckons he is, and his gaydar’s on point. And everyone checks out your tits, honey. I check out your tits. They’re great tits.”

“Yours aren’t bad either, babe. I got a whole bunch of new underwear while I was in London. From Black Lily—you know, the place Max’s fiancée owns? Have you been there? I bought one corset, and when Ethan saw it, he ordered me half of the store.”

“I might have an outfit or two from there. But not corsets. How do you breathe in those things?”

Uh-oh. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and hurriedly backed up a few steps.

“Ready to go?”

We had casual Alaric today. Well-worn jeans and a T-shirt since he’d be staying at the house for a while. I liked him in the sports coat, but this new look wasn’t bad either. Don’t think of those arms around you, Beth.

“Uh, almost. Do you want coffee? Or breakfast?”

“Wouldn’t say no.”

It was eight thirty when I arrived at Lone Oak Farm, just in time for a second breakfast courtesy of Stéphane. I’d happily muck out every day in return for Belgian waffles with whipped cream and maple syrup.

“Ready to get started?” Harriet asked after we’d finished our coffee. “Rodrigo’s gonna feed the cows and fix some broken fencing while we do the horses in the barn.”

“Why not?”

Yes, I liked my new job. And I also liked Harriet. She handled the horses firmly but kindly—exactly what they needed—and she was happy to chat too. Although inevitably, after we’d told our war stories and compared scars, talk turned back to the case.

“So you really think Kyla Devane planted that awful video?” she asked.

“Not personally, but Emmy thinks it was somebody working for her. Or maybe he’s more than an employee? One of the witnesses thinks they crossed that line, although Eric Ridley’s almost old enough to be Kyla’s father.”

“Kyla and an older man? That doesn’t surprise me one bit. She was failing math in high school until she screwed the math teacher. Ditto for chemistry.”

I went into a coughing fit.

“You okay?”

“Just swallowed a hayseed or something.” Or something. “What, she was sleeping with both of them?”

“Yah-huh. What were they gonna do? Complain to the principal?”

I guess not. “Did you ever hang out with her?”

“No way. She was two years ahead of me, and I avoided her like the plague. All of my friends did too. Kyla Devane’s a nasty piece of work, and she always has been. If she gets elected, it won’t be thanks to anyone in this town. And you know what? She probably will get elected. Nobody’s ever made her face the consequences of her actions. Never. She’s brazen, but she’s careful, and on the rare occasions she does get caught, she’ll throw anyone under the bus to escape punishment.”

“What else has she done?”

“When she was sixteen, she crashed her mom’s car into Bubba Morten’s pickup before she got her driver’s licence. Daddy’s little angel convinced her boyfriend to take the rap, except Jarrod had been drinking beer in the Tumbleweed Tavern all night, so he got arrested for DUI and locked up for six weeks while Kyla got a neck brace she didn’t need and a mailbox full of sympathy cards.”

“Didn’t he tell the truth after?”

“Sure he did, when he realised he was going to jail. But Kyla sobbed a lot and