Incredibly, Seth laughed. “You’re shitting me.”
“No. Search and Rescue has been initiated. They—”
“Thanks for calling,” Seth said, and laughed again. “I guess some fucking prayers do come true, huh?”
Bret found himself listening to the dial tone. “Asshole!” he roared, fighting the urge to throw the phone across the office. “Shithead! Bastard!”
“I gather he isn’t upset,” said Karen. She was still pale, but her eyes were dry and she had the drawn, numb look of someone who was functioning through a massive shock.
“The son of a bitch laughed. Said his prayer has come true.”
“Maybe with some help from him,” she said with fierce loathing.
THE FIRST THING Seth did was mute the television and call his sister, Tamzin. When she answered he could tell by the shrieking and splashing in the background that she was sitting by the pool watching her two brats. He didn’t like his nephew and niece. He didn’t much like his sister, but on this front, at least, they were united.
“You won’t believe this,” he purred in satisfaction. “Seems like Bailey’s plane crashed on the way to Denver.”
Like him, her first reaction was laughter. “You’re kidding me!”
“Bret Larsen just called. He was supposed to be her pilot but the other one, the tall one, took the flight instead.”
“Oh my God, this is great! I can’t believe—I mean, I know we shouldn’t celebrate, but she’s been so—How did you manage it?”
Instant fury roared through him. She was so fucking stupid. She had Caller ID; she knew he was calling on a cell phone, which were notoriously unsecure, and she said something like that? Was she trying to get him arrested?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said coldly.
“Oh, come on. Madison! Don’t do—I’ll have to cancel your play date if you—” She shrieked suddenly. “Now look what you’ve done! Mommy’s all wet! That’s it! You can’t have anyone over for a month!”
Even over the phone Seth could hear the obnoxious whine of his niece, a particularly grating sound, as she immediately launched into a campaign to wear her mother down and get her privileges reinstated. Tamzin never made good on any of her threats, as her children knew all too well. All they had to do was whine long enough, and Tamzin would give in just to shut them up. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can’t you shut her up? She sounds like a steam whistle.”
“They’re driving me insane today.”
Short drive, he thought, cynically.
“So, what do we do?” Tamzin asked. “Do we have to claim the body, or anything like that, because I don’t care if she’s buried or not. I’m not spending a penny on her funeral.”
“We don’t do anything yet. They’re searching for the plane.”
“You mean they don’t even know where it is?”
“Why else would they be searching for it?” He pinched harder.
“How do they know it crashed if they don’t know where it is? You’d think someone would have noticed if a plane just disappeared off the radar screen.”
He started to explain to her that general aviation flights didn’t occupy the same altitudes as commercial aviation and weren’t tracked by radar until they approached controlled air space, but decided to save his breath. “It didn’t show up at their scheduled refueling stop.”
“So it might not have crashed? They don’t know for certain?” Disappointment laced her voice.
“They’re as certain as they can be.”
“So when do we get control of our money?”
“When the bodies are found and a death certificate issued, I suppose.” He really had no idea; the legal issues might take some time to settle.
“How long will that take? It’s ridiculous that we don’t have control over our own money. I hate, I absolutely hate, Dad for doing this to me. I have to pretend to all my friends that we let her live in the house out of the goodness of our hearts, and that I’m careful with money when the truth is she doles out every penny as if it’s hers.”
“I don’t know,” he said impatiently. “Call your lawyer if you have to find out this minute.”
“Furthermore, I’m not wearing black, and I’m not pretending to be sorry.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m not either.” Suddenly he couldn’t bear to talk to her another minute. “I’ll let you know when I find out something more concrete.”
“You could have called earlier. I’ve had a shitty day, and if you’d told me this first thing this morning I’d have been in a much better mood.”
Seth disconnected the phone and in a fit of anger threw it across the room. What had started out as sheer satisfaction now left a bitter taste in his mouth. Going into the bathroom, he gulped down a glass of water and stared in the mirror as if he’d never seen himself before, wondering if other people looked at him and saw someone who would kill to achieve his own ends. His mouth thinned as he compressed it, and he whirled away from his reflection.
Going back into the living room, he picked up the scotch he’d been drinking, his third of the day, and brought it to his mouth. Then, without sipping, he set it back down. He needed a clear head, so that meant no more scotch right now.
He’d have to be very, very careful, or his stupid sister’s loose mouth would land him in prison.
12