Page 147 of In the Pursuit of Haven
“What?” Luther chuckled like we’d caught him sleeping in the museum. He’d always had a nasally tone, like he was suffering from allergies, though it had a deep timbre too, which made him sound more French. “You thought the one who’d contacted you was some horrible monster and yet, you still worked with me?”
“You didn’t give me a choice. Where’s your evidence that Haven killed Drake, huh?”
Jessie’s question ripped me fully from my sleep, my heart leaping from my chest.Pete had killed Drake! Right? Right… not Haven!I listened intently now. Was this part of a dream or was this real?
“Don’t worry,” Luther said. “I have all the shocking proof with me. You can destroy Haven’s little indiscretions as soon as I get what I came for. You do have the Relics, right?”
“Not so fast,” Jessie said. “I want to see what you have first.”
Luther let out a heavy sigh and I heard the sounds of shuffling as he talked. “You hoped I was the bumbling Robert, did you? That must be disappointing; it won’t be as simple to get around me.”
“All of this started when he got out of prison,” Jessie snarled, “so yeah, I did.”
They were downstairs. I pushed up from my bed, wide awake. The blanket fell from my shoulder.
“He had all the answers that I couldn’t get to,” Luther hissed. I could barely hear him now. Had they gone into the breakfast room? Pushing up from the bed, I went to the landing where their conversation was much clearer. “You have no idea how it was, working with your uncle Matthew,” Luther said. “He was stupid, reckless, and Robert was even more of a moron. I couldn’t trust them to do a thing when we were going after that treasure.”
So Luther was the Leon who’d tagged along on all their adventures? It hadn’t been Walt at all!
“And you call yourself their friend?” Jessie asked.
“Oh please! They were idiots,” Luther chuckled, “all of them. And Haven put her trust in them? Love madeherinto an idiot. I hate what happened to her, but she did it to herself. I did what I could to make her forget that dolt she married, but she could never let him go.”
Luther seemed mildly frustrated, like he did when someone outbid us on an artifact. My brain couldn’t fathom that he was really the supervillain behind my husband’s suspicious behavior, and that he was actually accusing Haven of murder!
“Years were wasted while Robert was stuck in that prison!” Luther said. “And for what? All of this could’ve been avoided. My brother only wanted answers from that drunken pest.”
“Is that what you call what Walt did?” Jessie asked. “Getting answers? I suppose he was trying to blackmail Robert too. Is that what your family does to get people to work with you?”
I made my way downstairs, trying to keep my approach quiet, despite the creaking steps. By the sound of things, Jessie certainly had no love for the man, and he certainly wasn’t eager to cooperate.
“My father said Walt knewthings…” Jessie said. “Your brother was trying to frame Robert, wasn’t he? He made my old man think he’d killed Drake when it was Haven.”
No, no, my aunt hadn’t just turned into a raving lunatic and murdered Jessie’s uncle. This was wrong! And still… my heart froze at what this meant—forget that sad scenario I’d made up in my mind about Pete blackening his family’s name—instead, my husband was trying to keep Haven from going to prison. This had all started before she’d died.
It was so sweet and so misguided!
And of course, he hadn’t told me a thing.
Haven had passed on. Was that when Jessie quit working with them and made them really angry?
Luther gave a heavy sigh. “Ah, here are the letters,” he said. I listened to the crinkle of paper. “All the answers you want are here.”
“It’s not true!” I shot around the corner. “Haven never would’ve hurt anyone—no matter how much she despised them. She didn’t have it in her!”
Luther’s forehead wrinkled at my interference. “Well, good morning, sleepyhead,” he sang out. “Don’t worry a second longer about your aunt’s sweet reputation. This is only between me and your neglectful husband.”
I bristled, glancing over at Jessie. His shoulders were rigid as he faced down this heartless psycho. I could scarcely catch my breath at what Jessie had done… for us, and yet he’d almost ruined us in the process.
He’d made a deal with devil for a heavenly cause, but at what cost?
Luther’s glittering eyes met Jessie’s and he pushed an envelope into Jessie’s hands. “It’s nothing, Roxy.”
“You bet it’s nothing,” Jessie said under his breath. “Would you really have used these against Haven? I thought you cared about her?”
Luther shrugged. “You can’t destroy it. I have copies.”
My gaze drifted to the letter my husband clutched. The envelope was similar to the ones I’d been reading from Haven’s personal papers. In those she’d been planning to see Drake to discuss her husband’s effects. Had it not turned out the way she planned? But still, she’d never hurt anyone. Anything in that letter was only misconstrued.
