Сандра Браун - Thick as Thieves

“He’s good at it. He knew you would never contradict his version of the events that night, not to the police or to anyone, for fear that I would be the one who paid the penalty. Your loyalty to me was his single ace, and he played it. He banked on that loyalty.”

Which brought him to another matter. The one that hurt. He went over to the sofa, braced his hands on the arm of it, and bent down until he was on eye level with her. “Why didn’t you ever tell me about this, Crystal? I had to hear it from Rusty. Today.”

Her gaze shifted to the wound on his cheekbone. “Is that how you got that?”

“Technically I got that before he told me.”

“You two were fighting today?”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said curtly. “What does matter is that you never told me about his late-night visit. Not in twenty years. That doesn’t seem like an oversight. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were going into the army. Why borrow trouble? What difference had it made? None.”

“It made a difference to me when the dirty little secret came out today.”

“It wasn’t dirty. Nothing happened between Rusty and me.”

“Then why keep it from me? It feels like a betrayal.”

“It wasn’t.”

“Then what would you call it?”

“Common sense,” she shouted. “You would have gone ballistic. I was afraid of what you would do to him.”

“I’d have killed him.”

“Exactly! Given the choice again, I still wouldn’t tell you. I’d rather prevent you from doing something rash and stupid.”

“Like I did to your rapist stepbrother? Would you rather I hadn’t interceded and let the abuse continue?”

She looked as though he’d struck her.

He pushed himself up, turned away from her, hung his head, and put his fingers to his temple. “Shit, I’m sorry, Crystal. I’m sorry. That was an awful, terrible thing to say.”

“Never mind it. You’re upset.”

“I am, yeah.” He faced her again. “But that’s no excuse.”

She gave him a gentle smile. “I forgive you, okay? Tell me why you’re upset. Why are we arguing over this? It happened a long, long time ago. You, me, Rusty, we’re different people now.”

“You and I, maybe. Not Rusty.”

He sat down in the center of the sofa, planted his elbows on his wide-spread knees, bowed his head, and shoved all ten fingers up through his hair. “I’m angry over not knowing about this sooner because Rusty’s whereabouts and actions that night could be significant. Only tonight, in the last few minutes, have I realized how hugely significant they could be.”

“Significant to whom?”

“Not only to you and me.”

“Joe Maxwell’s daughter?”

He kept his hands on his head but turned it toward her. She was fiddling with the fringe on a chenille throw, winding strands of it around her index finger meticulously, keeping her eyes on the needless twining instead of looking at him.

When she did peer over at him, she said, “One of my beauticians saw you at the hardware store. You had a roll of architectural drawings with you. The clerk you were consulting about paint colors remarked that the front elevation of the house looked like the Maxwell—”

“Okay. No need to go on.” He lowered his hands from his head and laid it back against the cushions, as he’d done when he’d first arrived.

Crystal said, “Is she cute?”

“Cute” wasn’t the right word.

“More than cute?”

Arden didn’t have the perkiness that “cute” connoted. She was more serious and often looked sad. She was intriguing and infuriating, and there should be some kind of prize awarded for the sacrificial self-discipline he had exercised tonight by leaving her.

God damn . Why did life have to be so complicated?

“No comment?”

Crystal’s question served as a prod away from thoughts of Arden and back to Rusty’s actions that night. “You said it was later confirmed that Rusty’s arm had been broken. When was that?”

“The swelling and discoloration got worse by the hour. I warned him that if he didn’t have it seen to, he might get gangrene. I don’t know if that’s medically correct, but it scared him into agreeing to go to the emergency room. I don’t know exactly what time it was when he left, but it was still dark, before dawn. I led him through the house and out the front door. Half-heartedly I offered to drive him, but he told me he’d left his car half a block away and that he could manage.

“A few days later—you were still in jail—Mom and I were at a gas station. He saw us, pulled in, and showed us the cast on his arm. He teased Mom into signing it.” Scornfully, she added, “When he left, she remarked on what a nice, friendly young man he was.”

All seriousness, she said, “That’s the sum total of what I know about that night, Ledge. Since then, on the rare occasions that I’ve crossed paths with Rusty, he’s never mentioned it, even in a subtle way that only I would catch the meaning of.”

“But he keeps a close watch on you.”

She made a gesture of dismissal. “I’m the one who got away. He can’t get over that.”

“I don’t think his vigilance is that adolescent.”

“What else could it be?”

“He wants to make sure you’re accessible. He may need you yet.”

She frowned. He asked her why.

“Well, it’s just that…I’ve listened to everything you’ve said, and I would put absolutely nothing past Rusty. He’s a moral cesspool and famous for his machinations.”

“But?”

“ But if he were establishing me as an alibi for some wrongdoing that night, why didn’t he take me up on my offer to drive him to the hospital? Why didn’t he parade me through the ER and make certain that we were seen together?”

“You were in place to use on an as-needed basis. The story about me, too. As it turned out, he didn’t need either.” After a strategic pause, he said, “It would be useful to know how Rusty explained his injuries to the ER staff who treated him. I was wondering if…”

Her brow arched suspiciously. “What?”

“If Marty might help me with that.”

“Ledge—”

“I know, I know. Awkward.”

As though on cue, they heard a car pulling into the drive. Ledge checked his wristwatch. “Twenty past eleven. Right on time.” He looked at Crystal. “What about it?”

She sighed. “You can ask. But do so at your own peril.”

They heard the jangle of a key ring, then the snick of the lock. Marty came in, dressed in blue scrubs printed with the Ghostbusters logo. She tossed her purse onto the entry table. “This is a cozy scene. Am I interrupting?”

Crystal said, “Actually, we were just talking about you.”

“I hope it was something salacious.” She crossed over to the sofa, bent down, and kissed Crystal on the lips. “Hello, you.”

Chapter 22

Crystal smiled up at Marty. “Hello back. How was your shift?”

As Marty straightened up, she arched her back in a deep stretch. “Long. Depressing. I hate sick people.”

“Great attitude for a nurse to have,” Ledge said.

“When I chose my career path, I didn’t yet know that I had an aversion to the afflicted. Now, I stick with it for balance.” She weighed one hand against the other. “Misery at work. Happiness at home.”

Crystal smiled up at her. “Pour a drink and join us.”

She did so, then slumped in the upholstered chair adjacent to the corner of the sofa in which Crystal sat. She toed off her shoes and propped her stocking feet in Crystal’s lap.

“You were talking about me? What about me? My pink stripe?” She shook her platinum, pixie-cut hair, showing off the neon strip in her bangs.