Page 35 of One Last Secret

“The way Marcus put it is that Lisa believes that Victor has lost his edge. She thinks his work is repetitive and hasn’t changed significantly in style in over twenty years. People were buying it for a while, so she didn’t really care, but they’re not buying it now, so she cares.”

“And he’s refusing to change.”

“He is. He likes his work and scoffs at the idea that money should matter. And Lisa is desperate and, according to Marcus, has quite the temper.”

This makes sense the more I think about it. If Lisa has managed her money poorly, she may be in a hole and feeling like Victor—who has managed his money well and lives comfortably—is ignoring the financial aspect of art because he doesn’t need to worry about paying the bills like she does. It’s very close to what Lisa herself said about him, except in this version,she’sthe one who needs the money.

“We need to go talk to Lisa,” I tell him.

"I plan to. Same disguise. It turns out that I am a very convincing journalist. Not all that different from an investigator, really. Only when you're a journalist, there are fewer rules."

“Good. We’ll go now. Evelyn can watch Celeste. We know she’s not the killer, so—”

“No.”

I blink. “Excuse me?”

“You’re not coming.”

His smile is gone. He’s looking sternly at me now, and some of that fear is in his eyes again. “You’re not putting yourself at risk right after nearly drowning yourself. You’re staying here and resting, and I’m going to talk to Lisa.”

“With me.”

“No.”

I stand and dial a number. Sean frowns. “Who are you calling?”

When Evelyn answers, I say, “Hi Evelyn. Thank you so much for taking Celeste with you. Listen, I have some errands I need to address, and since my friend is here already, I’m going to have him take me into town.”

"Oh, no, you don't," Sean says.

He swipes at the phone, but I twist and stiff-arm him. "Yes, I'll be back well before dinner. I'm all right. No concussion, just the cut. And I reallydoneed to get into town.”

“You’re lucky I’m not the sort of man to hit a woman,” Sean grouses. “Because I could easily take that phone from you.”

“Thank you, Evelyn.” I hang up and admire the phone. “It’s amazing how well these new phones are protected from water. It just needed a few hours of drying, and it’s good as new.” I smile at him, and he glares back at me. “And yes, I rely on the fact that you’re a gentleman and won’t physically stop me. SoI’mgoing to talk to Lisa, andyoucan come if you’d like.”

“I have the car keys,” he reminds me.

“I’ll walk.”

I head toward the door. When I hear him sigh and follow me, I smile again. He really is adorable sometimes.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Sean is in a mood as we drive to Lisa’s apartment. He glares at the road, and his hands sit stoically at the ten and two position on the wheel. He doesn’t speak to me, and when I try to initiate conversation, he only gives one-word answers. I can see he’s more upset than I thought he was.

“Sean, please don’t be angry with me,” I finally say. “I did what I thought was best.”

“A child who sticks a knife into a socket does what he thinks is best too,” Sean replies. “He’s just a bloody idiot.”

“I am not a child.”

“Well, youarea bloody idiot.” He sighs. “Mary, look.” He rolls his eyes and says, “Don’t take what I’m about to say the wrong way, but I care about you, all right? You matter to me. I don’t want to show up and find you dead one of these days. And you know that’s what almost happened, right? Twice now. First you get into it with a woman who’s much bigger and stronger than you, and if not for me and the fashion agent, Hugo whatever his name was, you’d be dead. Now I find you nearly drowned. What would have happened if I’d shown up one minute later?”

“I find it’s best not to dwell on what might have happened.”

“Oh, don’t give me that load of crap. Your entire life is about what might have happened. You have a drive to protect and find justice for everyone but yourself.”

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