Wicked Burn(77)
Author: Beth Kery

“What’d you mean about her history?” he asked, ignoring the bartender as he set his Scotch in front of him and pinning Evan Forrester with his stare.

Evan raised his black eyebrows significantly. “Guess you never got around to getting to know your pretty neighbor too well, huh?”

That flipped Vic’s “pissed off” switch quicker than he cared to admit. He leaned forward a mere half inch, his eyes boring into Evan.

“I asked you a question.”

Evan’s eyes widened.

“Oh, right.” He laughed too loud, his eyes finding the bartender to check the progress of his martini. “Nobody ever told me the story, either. Niall’s got lots of loyal soldiers around her. But even Niall Chandler Sr. isn’t powerful enough to hush up all the facts about his little princess.

“I read about it in the newspaper a few days ago. Seems that even Niall’s daddy can’t keep the press from reporting the fact that his grandson’s murderer has the dubious honor of being the only man on death row for which the Illinois General Assembly lifted the moratorium on execution. And they’re going to be doing it” —Evan checked his watch drolly—“oh, in about two hours or so.”

“Grandson’s murderer?” Vic managed with the little air he had left in his lungs. Niall had told him that she was an only child. Surely the son that Niall told him had died hadn’t been murdered —

“Yeah, Niall’s kid. Matthew Manning opened fire in front of a preschool about four years ago. Killed seven people, a good portion of them children. Seems Manning was sore about the fact that the courts had granted custody of his five-year-old exclusively to his wife. Go figure, right?” Evan muttered before he reached for the fresh martini that the bartender put down in front of him and took a drink.

Vic resisted an urge to grab the glass from the man’s hand and shake the rest of the story out of him. “The papers said Manning’s kid’s preschool teacher gave testimony about Manning pitching a fit and scaring the kids at school half to death a year before the shooting occurred. She wouldn’t let Manning’s son leave with him while he was so out of control. Manning paid the teacher back a year later by making her one of the victims of the bloodbath.”

“In Barrington? Is that where this happened?” Vic asked, referring to the affluent western Chicago suburb.

He vaguely recalled hearing the horrific story on the news. He’d been living in Montana at the time but the national news had covered it not only because of the violence and the number of deaths, but also because so many of those who died had been innocent preschoolers. It had been one of those news stories that left you feeling confused, raw, and bitter about the potential nature of your fellow human beings.

No. Niall’s little boy had died on that fateful day? It was too much for Vic to wrap his mind around at that moment. He wasn’t sure that he ever would be able to—

“Yep. It was in Barrington all right. Niall was there.”

Vic stared at this man who was almost a complete stranger to him. It felt like ice water was being poured down over his head at a trickle but was reaching the inside as well, flowing slowly but steadily both down his skin and straight into his veins at once.

“Niall was there,” he repeated flatly. “On the day that some madman opened fire and killed her four-year-old son along with six other people?”

Evan nodded, obviously enjoying being the one to impart such juicy gossip. “Along with another dozen or so who were wounded. Yeah, Niall saw the whole thing. He fired into a crowd of people—the kids, parents dropping them off, teachers. I don’t know what happened to Niall’s husband after the boy’s murder, but he must have split or—”

“You know, you really shouldn’t talk about things that you haven’t got the vaguest clue about, Evan,” a feminine voice accused abruptly.

Vic’s head swung around. Kendra Phillips stood behind them, a wrathful look on her round face.

“Hi, Kendra. Don’t you look nice today,” Evan greeted her smoothly, taking only a microsecond to compose himself after getting caught spreading rumors like a teenage girl.

“One of Niall’s soldiers,” Evan muttered under his breath to Vic.

The scowl still lingered on Kendra’s usually amiable face when she turned to Vic. “Hey, Vic. Do you mind coming with me for a minute? There’s something I want to discuss with you . . . in private,” Kendra added with a pointed glance at Evan.

Evan shrugged insouciantly and took another draw on his martini. Vic stood and threw a twenty on the bar before he followed Kendra out of the restaurant. Once they were walking down the dimly lit corridors of the museum, she turned and smiled at him apologetically.

“Sorry for dragging you away like that. Evan Forrester is a real pain in the—”

“Yeah, I know,” Vic interrupted impatiently. “But he was telling me more about Niall than anyone else ever has, including Niall. Do you know where she is, by the way?”

Niall wouldn’t attend Matthew Manning’s execution by herself, would she?

Kendra looked startled. “I haven’t talked to her for two weeks, when she called to check in on things. Isn’t she on the farm?”

“She left yesterday. I’ve been looking for her, but she’s not at her loft and she’s not here.”

“Did something happen?” Kendra asked cautiously.

“We had a misunderstanding,” Vic admitted after a few seconds. He sensed Kendra studying him inquisitively. She obviously cared about Niall, and Vic knew that Niall considered her a friend. “Listen, Kendra . . . about what Forrester was saying back there . . .”

Kendra nodded suddenly, as though she’d just made a decision. “Just a second, Vic. There are some things I want to talk to you about,” she said. She went to her desk and unlocked a drawer, then pulled out a set of keys. She tilted her head for Vic to follow her.

Vic realized with vague surprise that Kendra led him back to Niall’s office.

A few seconds later Vic followed her into Niall’s office. The large, comfortable room was warm from lack of airing. Niall’s scent lingered. A pain went through him when he inhaled that singular odor. He suddenly wanted to be gone from there. Niall wasn’t here, and he was wasting his time—

“Sit down, Vic,” Kendra instructed. She sat down in one of the leather chairs in front of Niall’s desk and glanced significantly at the matching chair. When Vic lowered himself hesitantly, part of him wanting to be gone to search for Niall, Kendra reached for one of the frames on Niall’s desk.