Page 12 of Ruthless Cross

But she was in his head now. Her father was dead, and staring at her face, he knew she would want him to do everything he could to find her dad's killer.

That investigation had to start with Arthur's new wife and stepdaughter.

Callie had been reticent the night before. Her mother had been almost incoherent. He needed one of them to start talking. But since they weren’t inclined to do so at the moment, maybe he'd take a look around.

He turned away from the pictures and made his way down the hall. He hadn't been in this house in a long time, but he knew exactly where Arthur's study was. If there was a clue to be found, that would be the best place to find it.

* * *

Callie took her time making another pot of coffee. She was a little surprised that Flynn hadn't followed her into the kitchen. On the other hand, he was probably searching the house for clues. Maybe it had been a mistake to leave him alone in the living room, although she couldn't imagine what he would find there. She'd done her own research into Arthur when her mother had fallen madly in love on her first date with the man, and she'd found nothing negative. Although, her investigation had been amateurish at best.

She didn't know why she didn't trust Arthur. He'd always been perfectly polite, although a little too hands-on at times, but then he was an affectionate man. He liked to hug people, men as well as women. And he couldn't stop touching her mother. He was always holding her hand or putting his arm around her. Her mom had loved that.

Callie had never been a hugger or a toucher. She liked her personal space. She'd never dated anyone who had to hold her hand while she was eating dinner, and that was just fine with her. But she and her mother were very different people.

Her mom had an innocence, a naivete, a cluelessness about her that made her vulnerable to charmers and smooth talkers. Callie, on the other hand, was skeptical about everyone, always looking for what was wrong with them, instead of what was right with them. She couldn't help herself. After her father had died, she'd grown up in an unstable, unpredictable home, with lots of tears and raging emotions. Dealing with her mom's moods had made it almost impossible for her to have any of her own.

She felt a little like that now. With her mom falling apart, she had to be the one to hold it together. Which meant she really couldn't hide out in the kitchen any longer. She had to face Flynn. She had to tell him something that would make him look away from her and from her mom.But what on earth would that be?

She didn’t want to lie. She didn’t want to obstruct the investigation. But first she needed to talk to her mother when she was in her right mind. She had to make sure that her mom couldn't be hurt in any way by whatever was about to come. She'd been protecting her since she was ten years old; she wasn't going to stop now.

Chapter Four

Arthur's deskwas extremely well organized. Flynn shook his head at the sight of a dozen pens, all the same color, and the same brand. There was nothing out of place. The files in the drawers all appeared to be related to household bills or personal items. He found a copy of Arthur's marriage license to Juliette, reminding him that they'd only been married a year. He was still a little surprised that Arthur had married again. He had told him a long time ago that he doubted he would ever walk down the aisle again, but he had, and to Juliette, a beautiful woman, no doubt, but also a woman who was emotionally messy. That didn't seem to fit Arthur's personality.

He was the kind of man who was always in charge, whether it was his courtroom or his home or his personal life. He didn't suffer fools. He was impatient with incompetence. He liked to control everything within his realm.

Juliette didn't seem that controllable, although maybe he was reading the situation incorrectly. Perhaps her personality, her issues with anxiety and depression, made her the kind of person that Arthur wanted to protect, because he'd always had a strong protective instinct as well.

He'd been very strict with Olivia when she was a teenager. She'd had an early curfew. And if she was a minute late, she'd be grounded for a week. Olivia had railed against her father's rules, but she'd also respected the fact that he wanted to keep her safe. Olivia had told him once that she loved her father, but sometimes she didn't like him very much.

He frowned, wondering if that's how Callie felt about Arthur.But why wouldn't she like him?He needed to figure out the dynamics of Arthur's new family. He also needed to figure out why Arthur had wanted to talk to him.

He moved across the room to the wall of file cabinets. He did a quick, cursory search, noting copies of tax returns and more household files. He went a little slower through the drawer containing information and invoice forms related to the art Arthur had purchased during the past year. He'd been quite active, buying numerous paintings, sculptures, and some interesting historic trinkets, like a music box from the eighteen hundreds.

Arthur seemed to work mostly through two art dealers: Ray Hutchins, who had an office in New York, and Gretchen Vale, who had taken over his father's gallery. He frowned at the sight of her name. He hadn't spoken to Gretchen after Arthur's death last night, but he'd read Savannah's notes from their interview. Gretchen had been very upset but had appeared to be cooperative, although she'd provided no information of note.

"Find anything?" Callie asked.

He jerked at the sound of her voice.

She stood just inside the doorway and took a sip of her coffee, giving him a cool look. She was definitely more poised and in control than her mother. She was pale, and there were dark shadows under her eyes, but there was no sign of tears in her eyes—not today, anyway. He missed the clingy red dress from the night before, but even in dark jeans and a deep-purple sweater, she was strikingly pretty. He could not let that distract him.

"I'm just getting started," he said.

"Shouldn't you have my mother's permission before you continue searching? Unless you have a warrant?"

"Warrants take time. So does waiting for your mother to wake up. Every minute that passes makes it that much more difficult to find Arthur's killer."

"I understand, but my mother is shattered. She needs to rest. I'm not going to wake my mom up so you can interrogate her. I also don't think you're going to find a clue in this house. Arthur was super organized, a neat freak really. He would get angry if there was a cup left on the counter. I can't imagine you'll find anything that will tie to his killer."

"Maybe not, but I need to look. I assume Arthur has a housekeeper."

"Yes, Lois Garcia. She's been with him for a long time."

"Since before Francine and Olivia died," he said, his lips tightening. "She's still with him? She used to live here. Where is she now?"

"At her apartment in Silverlake. She moved out after my mom moved in. Since Arthur was no longer living alone, Lois wanted to give him and his new wife more privacy. She works every day from eight to five and cooks most of the meals, but I spoke to her this morning, and I told her not to come in. She was very upset, and there's nothing to be done today."

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