Chapter 89

KADE

When I stepped into the house, I could hear my mother’s laughter ringing from the sitting room, and that destroyed any fantasies I had of being home alone.

I was hoping she’d be out so I could process my thoughts quietly, but—wishes and horses, I guess.

She seemed to be speaking with someone, which was a little strange. She rarely had anyone over, so I was curious to see who it was.

“Hi, Mom,” I said, leaning against the doorway.

“Oh, hello darling, you’re back. How was your day?” she said and broke into a smile.

“Hello… sir,” I muttered without answering her question and turned my gaze to the man sitting next to her on the couch.

He looked a little older than her, had dark hair and piercing blue eyes, but there was something about him. I couldn’t place a finger on it yet, but his presence made me uneasy.

“Hey there,” he said in a thick Irish accent, and I arched an eyebrow. I had never heard anyone with such an accent before. Knowing he wasn’t from around here added to the little game I had begun to play in my mind—unraveling who he was—and it piqued my curiosity even more. “You must be Lucian,” he added, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

“That’s not a common misconception, but I’m Kade,” I replied calmly and turned back to my mother.

“Kade, this is Marcus—or Monsieur Cavill, as he likes to be called,” she said and stood up, then slowly walked over to where I stood. “He was your father’s associate for a long time. Then we stopped hearing from him after he moved cities. Now he’s in town for a few days, and you can’t imagine how excited I was when I got the call that he was here. I dropped everything I was doing to come see him.”

Cool story, I wanted to say, but I bit my tongue. I had no reason to be sassy toward my mother. It was Monsieur here I didn’t trust. His accent and his desire to be addressed in French felt odd.

The tale of him being an associate and then disappearing until now seemed rather sketchy—but it would be impolite to interrogate the guest, wouldn’t it?

“That’s great. He must’ve been a very close associate,” I replied and glanced at him.

“Oh yes, dare I say, he and your dad were good friends,” she responded and beamed at him.

“Right. Welcome to the town, Monsieur Cavill. I hope you enjoy your stay here.”

“I hope so too, ‘cause there’s a tendency I might be moving back,” he replied, and a smile crept onto his face as he spoke.

“What?!” my mom exclaimed, and I winced, then moved away from the door. That had taken an unexpected turn. What made him decide he wanted to move back, especially after Mom had just mentioned he was only visiting for a couple of days? “You’re really moving back?” I heard my mom ask as I moved into the hallway and turned into the kitchen.

I didn’t want to be around for the conversation anymore. I had welcomed the guy and wished him a good time—that should be more than enough.

Spending a second longer leaning against that door made me feel so uneasy, like I could sense his blue eyes looking into my soul.

It made me want to smack that silly grin off his face. I usually never considered violence first, no matter the situation, so feeling this wave of anger surge through me was my cue to leave.

I had to be far away from that atmosphere before something went wrong. I took an apple from the fridge and went straight to my room.

I wasn’t looking to add anything else to everything I was already dealing with. I had enough on my plate.

Half an hour later, I heard a knock on my door and sat up in bed.

“Come in,” I said and closed my eyes as my mother stepped into the room.

“Hey, Kade.” She closed the door behind her and sat down at the edge of the bed. “Are you asleep? I could come back later.”

“No,” I replied and opened my eyes. “I just have a lot on my mind. Is the French-Irish man gone?”

“Marcus? Oh, yes. He… he left a few minutes ago and extends his greetings to you and your brother.”

“He can keep the salutations,” I blurted, and she gasped.

“Kade, that’s rude.”

“Sorry, I was thinking it. I didn’t realize when it came out of my mouth. But I can’t lie. I don’t like the man,” I responded with a shrug.

“You don’t like Marcus? I think it’s because you just met him. He’s a good guy—at least the Marcus I knew was. Doesn’t seem like much has changed, because he said he’s staying back to help with the case and start an extension of his business here.”

“Help with the case? Langdon’s death?”

“Yes. It’s really kind of him, I—” she started to say, and I heaved a sigh.

“The more you sing his praises, the more I’m inclined to resent his presence. You make him seem like he’s chocolate that melts in your mouth—too good to be true. It makes me feel uneasy.”

“Wow. You’ve become quite the cynic. Was your day that tough?” she said, arching an eyebrow.

“Well… yes, my day was quite eventful, but my emotions about him still stand. What could he possibly do to help the case? He’s not a detective or something, is he?”

“No, he’s not a detective. I know that for sure. What I also know is that he’s paying for the legal fees and has pledged to get to the bottom of the case.”

“That’s rather noble,” I said and picked my next words carefully. If he was helping with the case and I wanted to stay informed about its progression, talking badly about Marcus might be a terrible move.

Regardless of how I felt, this was an opportunity to learn about the case. If any new information had been released, my mother was the best person to ask—given that Langdon’s mom was in her friend group and they all took turns showing their support. “Is there any news about the case?”

“The only thing that’s changed is that school will be opening soon.”

“They’re opening up the school? Why? Are the investigations over?”

“Because your final exams are coming up, and you don’t want to miss that, do you?”

“Um… yeah,” I stuttered. “I wouldn’t want to. But it’s going to feel really weird going back to school like nothing’s happened. Langdon’s going to miss his exams and…” I trailed off.

She placed a palm on my shoulder and squeezed it gently.

“I understand how you feel. But as sad as it is, life goes on. The rest of the class has to write their exams and carry on with life as they know it. The police have collected all the evidence they need from the school environment. They don’t think that was the scene of the crime, so activities can go back to normal.”

“The school’s not the scene of the crime even if the body was found there? The blood that dripped from his fingers was still…” I started to argue and stopped talking as the memory of the body hanging at the gate flashed through my mind.