Jan Burke - Bloodlines

He had called Auburn this morning, and Auburn, with ready sympathy, had invited him to come up to the Stand. Auburn, who disliked Warren’s parents and their friends, had applauded Warren’s independence from the Ducanes and said that he would always be willing to advise him.

Auburn was bidding good-bye to another guest, but introduced him to Warren as Zeke Brennan, a young attorney who had been doing work for Auburn. Warren asked for Brennan’s card before he left.

Auburn poured Warren a glass of fine scotch and spent some time expressing further sympathy. After the two men had made small talk for some minutes more, Auburn said, “You came to me for a reason. What can I do for you, Warren?”

“Take all my money.”

“What?”

“I mean, it’s not mine yet, but it will be at some point. Maybe not for a while, because they have to be declared dead. My parents’ attorney called not long after the yacht was found. If Todd is dead, too, everything comes to me. I-I keep hoping that’s not the case, and that someone finds them, but they tell me it isn’t likely.”

Auburn studied him for a moment, then said, “Yes, I suppose you will eventually inherit a large fortune.”

“I’ll pay you to keep me from turning it into a small one. Stop me from spending it all, Auburn. Help me to tie it up somehow so that I can’t run myself into the red in a year or so. I do want to learn about money, Auburn, but I can’t do that overnight. I’d be happy to just be able to live comfortably- not like a king, or buying things just for pleasure, but comfortably. I want to save the rest. And I’ll tell you why.”

“The child.”

“Yes. My nephew. Mostly that, yes. But that’s not the only reason.” He stood up and paced. He had rehearsed how he would explain this, but now he found he had difficulty actually saying it. “There are those,” he began, and stopped. “There are those who might ask me for money, and I don’t want to be able to give it to them.”

Auburn studied him, then said, “I noticed that a police patrol car is parked at the bottom of the hill. The guard tells me it followed you here. Are you in trouble with the law, Warren?”

He shook his head. “No. It’s just that they think someone might try to harm me. Because of the murder at Todd’s house.”

Auburn was silent for a moment, then said, “These people who might ask you for money-do you owe money to them?”

“No, not a dime.”

“But they might extort it from you?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t want them to be able to do it if they try.”

Auburn moved to a window and stood at it for some moments. Warren watched him anxiously.

“I provided you with quite an alibi, didn’t I, Warren?” Auburn asked.

“Have the police bothered you? I’m sorry. I never intended to cause trouble for you.”

Auburn smiled to himself, but said nothing in response.

“You believe that, don’t you?”

“Yes. But I doubt your intentions mattered much this weekend.”

Warren winced, then said, “I’m sorry. I’m so damned sorry about-about everything. I never should have come here today. I’ll go.”

“No,” Auburn said, relenting, “have a seat.”

“I wish I were dead,” Warren whispered.

“And what good would that do your nephew, if someone wants a ransom?”

Warren looked up at him. “That’s the only thing…Look, the truth is, I hardly paid any attention to the kid. I mean, it was great for Todd and Katy and everything, but-”

Auburn smiled. “But he’s an infant.”

“Yes. A baby, that’s all. I thought I’d get to know him when he was a little older. But now-” He drew a ragged breath. “Now this is the only thing I can do for Todd. Take care of Max. I might not be able to do anything at all for Max, he might…he might not even be alive. But I have to try.”

“I’m going to ask you a very rude and direct question, Warren. I promise you I will keep your answer confidential. But I must know this before I agree to help you. Did you pay someone to have your parents killed?”

“No. I-I hated them. But I didn’t hire a killer.”

Auburn paced again.

“I’m not saying I’m without blame,” Warren added.

Auburn looked at him, but Warren didn’t see condemnation in the look. It was almost as if Auburn had been hoping he would say that. Warren couldn’t meet his gaze, and looked away.

“Well, you have that business card Zeke Brennan gave you before he left,” Auburn said.

“Yes.”

“Do you wish to continue to use the Ducane family attorney?”

“No. I don’t want anything to do with my father’s cronies.” He paused, then added with some vehemence, “None of them.”

“Sensible. Then call Brennan. Tell him everything you’ve told me. More if you like. He’ll know how to proceed. When the time comes for me to help you with my own expertise, I’ll do so.”

“You can charge a fee-”

“I don’t want one.”

“I don’t want to take advantage-further advantage-of you.”

“You won’t be. Let’s not worry about that now.”

Later, as they walked toward the front door, Warren asked, “Why did you decide to help me?”

“Oh, a number of reasons. When I look back on how angry I was with my own father at your age… the things I considered doing to find some relief from his control…but no, it’s not entirely that. Let’s just say I hate to see lives wasted, and that atonement interests me more than punishment.”

Warren wasn’t sure he understood what Auburn meant, but he thanked him, and when Auburn made him promise to call him the next day, on Wednesday, he agreed to it. As he was about to go, Auburn said, “And promise me you won’t kill yourself.”

Warren shook his head and said, “I can’t promise that,” even as something within him eased, just to hear this spoken of so directly.

“All right then, promise me you won’t kill yourself before Thursday.”

He smiled a little. “All right. I won’t kill myself before Thursday.”

As Warren drove down the hill, he saw the ocean stretching out to the horizon from the shore. The sun was setting. On any other day, he might have thought it beautiful. Now, he could only think of darkness, and endless, cold, deep water.

“Todd,” he whispered. “Forgive me.”

Then he saw the patrol car waiting to follow him home. He wondered how long this hell would last.

Until Thursday, at least.

I T TOOK TWENTY MINUTES OF SEARCHING, BUT FINALLY O’CONNOR SAW A public phone sign on a restaurant on the edge of town and pulled into its lot. He fished a handful of coins from his glove compartment, found the phone booth, went into it, sat down, and shut the glass door. He found his hands were shaking. He took a deep breath, picked up the receiver, and deposited a dime, listening to the small bell chime twice as the dime rolled through the mechanism.

The operator would have put him through to the police department without charge, but he had decided to call Norton directly. Dan said it would take him about forty-five minutes to make some calls and get out there, but O’Connor should go back and wait for him at the scene.

O’Connor called Wrigley next.

“I thought I told you to sleep,” Wrigley said, but when O’Connor told him why he had called, there was a long silence. Then he said, “You mean to tell me Jack killed the man who fought him?”

“No. The man was shot. Jack doesn’t carry a gun. And he didn’t fight Jack, he beat him. There’s a difference.”

“Agreed. You sure he’s the guy?”

“No, but how many blond, crewcut giants might have died not far from where Jack was found?”

“Right. Listen, I’m not sure I’ve got anyone I can spare at the moment. What a damnable few days this has been. To make matters worse, Harvey quit.”