aisling grimlock 03 - grim discovery (30 page)

“I hate you,” Braden muttered.

“Focus on what’s important,” Dad ordered. “What’s about this Andrea woman?”

“Aisling came up with the bright idea to follow her,” Redmond said. “Personally, I thought it was a little pathetic. I agreed to go, though, because … well … I was bored and I didn’t want to look through more files.”

“Why did you want to follow her?” Dad asked, turning to me.

“I … .” I’d been asked this question three times now. I still didn’t have a reasonable answer. “I’ve never liked her. I … can’t put my finger on it. Since the first time we met there was something about her that bugged me. I’m starting to think there was a reason for that, and it’s not just because she was hitting on my man – although, to be fair, that was one of the biggest reasons.”

“That’s so romantic, baby,” Griffin said, patting my knee under the table.

“Griffin, put your hands where I can see them,” Dad instructed. “Try being more specific, Aisling. What didn’t you like about this woman?”

“The first time I met her was at the building where the wraith attacked and killed Grant Spencer,” I explained. “She seemed … pleasant, although I didn’t like the way she looked – or the way she eyed Griffin – the second I saw her.”

“I liked the way she looked,” Redmond said, his eyes glassing over. “There’s something hot about a woman who carries a gun.”

“I’m going to thump you,” I warned.

“Other than the fact that she was attractive and she looked hot with a gun, what didn’t you like about her?” Dad pressed. “You usually don’t get along with women. I want to know whether this is a case of your judgmental attitude or something that’s really important.”

“I am not judgmental!”

The entire table snorted in unison, causing me to cross my arms over my chest. My character was being maligned and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.

“Aisling, you don’t like other women,” Dad said, choosing his words carefully. “You never have. The only friend you’ve ever had is Jerry.”

“So what?”

“I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it,” Dad said. “I’m simply saying you generally hate all women. I’ve never been able to figure out why.”

“It’s because she thinks like a guy,” Cillian supplied.

Did he just explain something? “Excuse me?”

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing,” Cillian said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m saying that you were fixated on being one of the boys as a kid and now you … think like we do a lot of the time. You can’t help yourself.”

“You do kind of think like a man,” Griffin mused, tearing a breadstick in half. “I’ve never really thought about it that way before … but it makes sense. That’s probably why I like you so much.”

“If you’re about to come out, now probably isn’t the time,” Redmond teased.

Griffin rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I mean. She’s overly competitive. She doesn’t get mired in girl politics unless someone like Angelina … or Andrea … or Jerry throws it in her face. When she argues, she comes right at you most of the time. She’s not sneaky and passive aggressive.”

“Oh, come on,” Aidan scoffed. “She crawled into bed when she thought you were cheating on her with your sister.”

“Thanks for bringing that up again,” I muttered.

“Yes, but she listened to reason and I’m not sure I wouldn’t have jumped to the wrong conclusion if the situation was reversed,” Griffin said. “I’m not saying she doesn’t approach some problems as a woman would. In general, though, she argues and fights like a man.”

“I can’t help but feel that I’m being insulted,” I said, debating the merits of sinking into a righteous pout.

“You’re not being insulted,” Dad argued. “I’m simply trying to understand why you feel this Andrea person is a threat. We have a lot on our plate. We don’t have time to meander off on tangents because you’re worried Griffin’s partner is trying to get into his pants.”

“As much as I’m enjoying Aisling getting a good dose of reality, she’s not wrong on this one,” Redmond said. “We followed Andrea to a bar a few blocks over. She was meeting someone.”

“Who?”

“Everett Grimpond.”

Dad stilled, surprised. “Why would Andrea meet with Everett?”

“We were suspicious ourselves,” Redmond answered. “Aisling said that Andrea pretended not to know Everett when they all met up at that restaurant by the precinct. It seemed a little too … coincidental.”

“That’s why we asked Cillian to run a search on her,” I added. “We wanted something concrete to go on before we started saying nasty things about Andrea. No matter what anyone says, I wanted to hate her for the right reasons.”

“Very pragmatic,” Dad said. “What did you find?”

“Her name isn’t Andrea Black,” I said. “As far as we can tell all of her credentials stand except for her name – and it looks as if Griffin’s boss, who is conveniently considering running for a Detroit City Council seat, knew from the beginning that she wasn’t who she said she was.”

“All right, this dramatic story-retelling thing you do … that’s something a woman would do,” Dad said. “It was cute when you were eight and explaining how the vase in the library ended up shattered on the floor. It’s not so cute now.”

“I still maintain we could’ve possibly had a ghost,” I argued.

“Or you could’ve been pretending to be Wonder Woman and the Hulk with Jerry and things got out of control when Superman swooped in to save the day,” Dad countered, arching a challenging eyebrow in Aidan’s direction. “You didn’t think I knew about that, did you?”

“Aisling was smashing things because she was in Hulk mode,” Aidan said, shifting the blame.

“Hey, I did not knock that vase over,” I snapped.

“That was me,” Jerry admitted. “There’s no sense in lying now. It was a long time ago. I was spinning and my magic bracelet got caught in Aisling’s hair. It was an accident.”

“That was also an antique,” Dad said.

“It was ugly. You should let it go,” Jerry said, nonplussed. “Bug, give us the dirt on Andrea. I don’t like where this conversation is going.”

I didn’t blame him. “Guess who Andrea Black really is?”

Cillian’s hand shot up.

“You already know,” I chided. “It’s not fair for you to guess.”

“No one is guessing,” Dad said, his tone grim. “Tell me right now.”

“Andrea Black is really Amber Grimpond,” Redmond said.

The room was so quiet it was as if the oxygen had been sucked out. Braden was the first to recover.

“Shouldn’t you have recognized her?”

“She’s had some work done,” I replied. “She no longer has that hooked nose. She’s dyed her hair. Oh, and her boobs are clearly fake.”

“That doesn’t mean they’re not nice,” Redmond declared.

I ignored him. “Griffin thinks she wanted to become partners with him to get dirt on us,” I said. “She conveniently showed up right after Genevieve Toth died.”

Dad rubbed the back of his neck, his mind working overtime. “I don’t remember Amber very well,” he said. “You guys were so loud and outgoing, she kind of … melted into the background. Everett was his father’s pride and joy. I think Amber was often overlooked.”

“Why wouldn’t she be a reaper?” Griffin asked. “I thought this was a family profession.”

“It is … well, for the most part,” Dad said. “It’s not mandatory, though. Aisling never wanted anything to do with the family business until recently. Perhaps Amber wanted to strike out on her own.”

“Well, we’re in a position of power now because we know who she is and she doesn’t know that we’re aware she’s working against us,” Griffin said. “We need to watch her and find out what she’s doing. She might know where Mrs. Grimlock is.”

“We should also consider feeding her false leads,” Cillian suggested. “If we can somehow manipulate her into leading us to Mom … or even more information … we should definitely do it.”

“I agree,” Dad said. “We need to figure out how to work this to our advantage.”

“Well, that’s just great,” Braden said. “Just so someone has said it, how can we be sure that Griffin isn’t working against us with Amber? They are partners. Maybe Griffin is tied up in this, too. That might explain how he convinced Aisling to lie to us. That might explain how parts of Mom’s file conveniently went missing. He could’ve chased after Aisling to get information.”

“Hey!” I pushed myself to a standing position. “Griffin has been on our side from the beginning. Don’t you ever accuse him of something like that again! You’re angry with me. Attack me. Leave him alone.”

“It’s okay,” Griffin said, his tone soothing as he grabbed my hand. “He’s lashing out. He doesn’t mean it.”

“It’s not okay,” Dad countered. “It’s pretty far from okay. Braden, that was uncalled for.”

Braden was incredulous. “Am I the only one who thinks that this stinks? Aisling lied to us for weeks. She only told this guy what was going on, and I’m sure he encouraged it. Now he’s doling out information to us, including the fact that his partner is really Amber Grimpond.”

“Griffin didn’t even know who the Grimponds were until I told him,” I argued. “He didn’t know anything was going on with Andrea until I told him. You’re way off base.”

“Of course you would think that,” Braden shot back. “You’re all about protecting your precious boyfriend at the cost of everyone else.”

“That’s enough,” Dad said, his tone muted.

“You need to take a step back,” Griffin said. “I’ve been putting up with your crap because I know you’re hurting and you need someone to blame. I’m not going to sit here and let you upset Aisling again, though. You’ve had time to think about this and you have to know that Aisling didn’t mean any harm when she kept her secret. Enough is enough, man. You need to suck it up and act like an adult.”

“Don’t you tell me what to do!”

“That’s enough,” Dad said, standing. “I’m sick of all this arguing. You’d think I would be used to it by now. I can’t take this, though. Squabbling, pointing fingers and tattling is one thing. Braden, this is something else.”

“How is this all being turned around on me again?” Braden charged. “Aisling lied!”

“And Aisling has apologized,” Dad said. “As for what you said about Griffin … well … stop. You may not like the man. I’ve tried really hard not to like him … and it’s not working. You cannot argue with the fact that he risked his life for Aisling several times. He stood by her in all of this. Don’t pick a fight with him because you’re upset.”

Braden crossed his arms over his chest. “I see I’m the odd man out here. Again.”

“You’re a part of this family no matter how you choose to act,” Dad countered. “You will always be a part of this family. Aisling will always be a part of this family. You need to … get a grip, son. I don’t know what’s going through your mind, but it can’t be good if you’re lashing out this way.”

“I’m not lashing out.”

“You are,” Dad said. “You have a right to do it. We need you to get with the program, though. We need everyone working together to figure this out.”

“What if I never forgive Aisling?” Braden asked.

“We both know that won’t happen,” Dad answered. “You and Aisling like to argue. You also love each other.”

Braden snorted and shook his head.

“Do you know what this family needs?” Dad asked, glancing around the room.

“I think you need a fashion coordinator,” Jerry replied. “I just happen to have some free time.”

Dad ignored him. “We all need a night out,” he said. “We can’t go far because of the gargoyle threat, but everyone here needs a drink … and maybe a few games of billiards … and definitely the chance to talk things out in public so the comments don’t get too down and dirty.”

“You’re suggesting we go to a bar?” Cillian asked.

“No, I’m ordering everyone to go to the bar,” Dad clarified. “No one is exempt. Everyone is going. We’re all going to get drunk and have a great time.”

“Am I the only one who thinks this is a terrible idea?” Griffin asked.

“I’m game,” Jerry announced. “I’m just sorry I didn’t think to grab a special outfit before I came here. You know I don’t feel comfortable at a bar unless I sparkle.”

“You always sparkle, Jerry,” I said.

“Everyone finish dinner,” Dad ordered. “In exactly twenty minutes we’re going to the bar. Anyone who doesn’t go is fired. Does anyone have any questions?”

Jerry’s hand shot up.

“Jerry, I don’t care what you wear,” Dad said. “Aisling is right. You always sparkle. Now … eat your dinner. I can’t take one more second of this squabbling. It’s giving me indigestion.”

Twenty-Nine

Woody’s Bar was a Grosse Pointe mainstay. The owner, Woody Thompson, was one of my father’s poker buddies. Through the years, all of the Grimlock children got in trouble at the low-key locale at one time or another. I couldn’t remember us ever visiting the establishment together. It was an odd feeling.

“Well, the apocalypse must surely be upon us,” Woody said, greeting Dad with a hearty handshake before turning his attention to the rest of us. Since the bar was so close to home, we opted to walk. If gargoyles attacked during the walk back we would be in a world of hurt. Dad was adamant, though, so I didn’t see any sense in arguing with him.

“Aisling, it’s good to see you again,” Woody said, pulling me in for a hug. “And Jerry! It’s not karaoke night, but I’m sure I could warm up the equipment if you want to put on a show.”

“He doesn’t,” Dad said.

“You don’t know that,” Jerry argued. “I like to sing. I think I could’ve been bigger than JT if I was so inclined.”

“I have no idea who that is,” Dad muttered.

“Justin Timberlake,” I supplied. “He’s a singer. Jerry has always thought he’s better looking and more talented.”

“He’s definitely a snappier dresser,” Woody said, smirking as he got a gander at Jerry’s paisley shirt.

“Yes, we had to watch him try on three different shirts before he left the house,” Dad said, moving toward the big booth against the rear wall of the establishment. “Can we have this table?”

“Absolutely,” Woody said. “I honestly can’t remember ever having all of you in here at the same time. Most of the young ones stopped by with their fake IDs when they were teenagers, and they still come by from time to time. This is a nice surprise.”