Page 23 of Justice Delayed

“That’s a good idea.” She finished emptying her grocery sacks. The oven clock read 9:34. She stifled a yawn. “Was there anything else? I need to get to sleep. I have to be at work by seven tonight.”

“That was all. Sweet dreams, Melender.” Brogan clicked off, leaving Melender to savor his final words. A handsome man wishing her sweet dreams had never happened. He probably meant nothing by them, but she hugged them close to her heart all the same as she made her way down the hall and into her bedroom.

* * *

Quentin smiledat his wife as she stepped away from the full-length mirror in their bedroom, then smoothed her pencil skirt. Two babies hadn’t spread her hips or thickened her waistline, and he was still smitten with her girlish figure.

“Have you talked to that reporter yet?” She uncapped a tube of lipstick from her dressing table.

“He’s coming by the office tomorrow morning.”

“I’m sure you’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.” She applied the soft peach color to her mouth, then tossed the tube onto the glass surface of the table.

“Don’t worry. I know what to do to get Gilmore on our side.” Quentin removed his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his dress shirt.

His wife paused in front of him. She laid a cool hand on his five-o-clock shadow. “Thank you, my darling. I’ll see you downstairs for dinner.”

Quentin didn’t move until Ruby’s footsteps grew faint, then he crossed to the adjoining bathroom. After opening the linen closet, he knelt and pushed aside the cleaning supplies on the floor. Pressing a button that had been cleverly designed to blend into the tile, he released the hidden compartment. For a long moment, he stared down at the combination lock. Withdrawing the contents of the safe would mean bringing more pain to his wife, but it could also redirect attention to Melender. Without giving himself any more time to think, Quentin punched in the combination on the electronic keypad. Then he plucked the bag from the safe before closing the fireproof door and concealing it once again. As he shoved the item into his gym bag, a sliver of unease wrapped around his heart. What he was about to do could also rip his family apart.

Downstairs with the others, he didn’t have time to contemplate what his actions might cost him. Quentin paused to rake his gaze across his family seated around the dining room table. Jared slouched in a chair, his eyes glued to the phone in his hand, thumbs flying. Jillian mirrored his posture in the seat opposite. Ruby twirled a wine glass, half empty of its red liquid. As always, a pain shot through his chest at the empty space beside Jillian where Jesse would have sat had he lived. Although Ruby still held out hope that Jesse would one day walk through their front door, Quentin knew better.

“Jillian, Jared.” Quentin pulled out his chair at the head of the table and sat. “It’s so nice to have the family together again.”

Quentin nodded at the maid silently hovering near the serving cart. As she placed covered dishes on the table, Quentin made small talk with Ruby, mostly to gauge her level of intoxication. By her coherent responses, she had only started on her first glass of wine since leaving their bedroom. Good. They had a lot to discuss with Jared and Jillian.

Once the dishes were on the table and Quentin’s wine glass had been filled, he asked the maid to please close the double doors as she left the room. Tonight’s conversation would require privacy.

“Consuela has outdone herself tonight.” Quentin surveyed the prime rib, lemon-parmesan green beans, and mashed potatoes with homemade gravy. He heaped a spoonful of potatoes on his plate and handed the bowl to Jared, who didn’t bother to look up from his phone.

“Son, would you care to join us for dinner this evening?” Quentin hoped the sarcasm in his tone would capture the young man’s attention, but instead Jared kept tapping away on his phone, seemingly oblivious to the question. Opting for a more direct approach, Quentin set the potatoes on the table, then reached over and snatched the phone out of Jared’s hands.

“Hey, Dad, I was in the middle of a text!”

Quentin parried, “And we’re trying to have a family dinner.”

“So? You never complained about phones at the table before. I need that.”

“Not until after dinner.” Quentin eyed his daughter and held out his hand. “Jillian?”

Jillian glared at him but slapped her phone into his outstretched hand. “Since when do we have family dinners?”

“Yeah, it’s not as though we’re some picture-postcard family.” Jared scooped out a serving of mashed potatoes.

“Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy this meal together.” Quentin threw his wife a look, but she merely raised her eyebrows. No help from that quarter. Not that he had expected any. Ruby hadn’t parented Jared or Jillian since Jesse’s disappearance. As if emotional distance would result in less hurt should either of them go missing. Thank goodness Jared more or less lived on his own, and Jillian at least pretended she was interested in her community college classes.

“Dad, we all know why you called this meeting, ahem, family dinner.” Jillian grabbed the service bowl of green beans and slid a few on her plate before passing it to Quentin. “So why don’t you get on with your agenda?”

The snippiness to his daughter’s tone shouldn’t have hurt, given that was how she nearly always spoke to him, but it still produced an ache in his heart. He served himself from the bowl and smiled at her. “Always so impatient, Jillian. Let’s wait until we’re all served first.”

“Of course, we must at least pretend to be a gracious family, is that it?” Jared speared several green beans. “Heaven forbid we simply dive right into business.” He shoveled the food into his mouth and chewed, still talking. “We must do everything by the Quentin Thompson rule book.”

“Jared, that’s enough. Your mother deserves…” Quentin attempted to bring some semblance of order to the dinner but instantly recognized his mistake.

Jared glared at him. “Ruby is not my mother. You divorced my mother, remember?”

Ruby blotted her lips as though she’d actually eaten a bite when clearly her plate of food sat untouched. “Don’t be vulgar, Jared. And Quentin, don’t tease the children. If you have something to say, please say it, dear. We’re all listening.”

That was one thing he loved about Ruby, her ability to get straight to the point. “You’re absolutely right. I thought it might be good to discuss what could happen now that we know Melender’s in the area.”

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