Page 57 of Fairy Tale Lies
“It’s always a pleasure visiting you, Mrs. Silverstone, though I have to admit I’ve been better.”
“Please, Blake, you know to call me Sophia. What’s wrong? Greta isn’t here.” She glanced past him as if expecting her daughter to walk through the door.
“She’s probably with that reprobate.” Blake sniffed.
“What? I’m confused.”
“The guy she has been seeing.” He couldn’t bring himself to say dating.
Sophia’s eyes widened, in either alarm or confusion. “What? Greta hasn’t mentioned anyone.”
Oh, Grimm is her dirty secret. Figures.
“I’m not surprised.” He put on his most regretful mask. “The guy she’s with is trouble of the worst sort. He’s not a man you would want your daughter associating with.”
“What’s his name? Do I know his family?” Sophia’s voice was becoming shrill, which meant she was close to losing her composure.
“No, you wouldn’t know them. His name is Jacob Grimm, and he’s from a blue-collar family from Detroit. He lives with his unemployed father and drug-addict brother.”
Sophia’s lips pulled into a thin line. “You’re joking, right?”
“I wish I were. You should see this guy. Disheveled, tattoos…” Blake paused, savoring his last bit of information. “He’s even been arrested.”
“Oh my God!” Sophia shot to her feet and paced the length of the couch, then sat again, pinning him with panicked eyes. “For what?”
Holding back his triumphant smile was difficult. This visit was going even better than he’d hoped. Blake took a deep breath, pretending to need a minute. Like he regretted delivering such dreadful news.
In reality, he was working to make sure he sounded grave instead of pleased. “Something to do with drug dealing.”
Her already pale complexion turned ashen. “Are you kidding me? What is Greta thinking?” Sophia took a couple of deep breaths. “How do you know of him?”
“He’s one of Mr. Meier’s business investments.”
“Of course. Charles would take anyone he deemed having an eye for business, never mind their background.” She clicked her long nails on a side table. “He never understood certain people are trouble.”
“Grimm is definitely trouble for you, and not only because he’s managed to hook your daughter.”
“What do you mean?” Sophia fidgeted with the collar of her blouse, anxiety in her every move.
He leaned forward, placing both elbows on his knees and hoping his glee wasn’t apparent. “From what I’ve discovered, Grimm hasn’t left his bad habits behind. He may have even added thievery to his list of misdeeds. Which is why I stopped by.”
Sophia nodded for him to continue.
Coming here was a gamble, but not much of one. The hardest part had been waiting a week to visit Sophia. One of his secretaries had mentioned the asshole was out of town. Blake wanted to make sure if anything happened, it would take place locally, so he got all the gritty details from his friends working within Wayne County’s bureaucracy.
“I ran into Grimm last week at Swift and couldn’t help noticing he was wearing a Rolex. It was unique and familiar. I couldn’t place it. Today, it came to me. It looks exactly like Nigel’s. The one from his grandfather. Is it missing?”
“Not that I’m aware of. I will check.” She paged someone named Whitehill, then asked, “I do wonder how this Jacob Grimm would get his hands on it?”
Blake shrugged. He’d wondered the same thing but was positive the watch on Grimm’s wrist was Nigel’s. No way would Nigel part with his Rolex.
The freaking guttersnipe had probably been there with Greta one time when no one was home and had stolen it. Greta was foolish enough not to notice.
As if reading his mind, Sophia said, “Greta hadn’t mentioned stopping by when we weren’t home. However, she has a key and the codes to the house.”
Blake decided to test another possibility. Again, what could it hurt? “Have you hired anyone of late to repair an antique in the home? He has a little company called Rework.”
Sophia shook her head. “No. The name is unfamiliar. Though, we did hire a moving company back in the spring. I believe they were called Careful Moves. They delivered a baroque set and an antique chandelier. One of their employees rewired it.”
