Now he scrubbed his free hand through his dark hair, disarranging the expensive haircut, and shook his head. “And this thing with Marie? I don’t get it.”
“So she never said anything to you?” Connor inquired.
“Well, she’s said lots of things to me over the years, but she certainly never mentioned that she was planning to just up and disappear on us.” His expression clouded as he leaned down to return the snapshot to the coffee table. “She might not be the world’s friendliest person — ”
No, that would be you, I thought with a mental grin.
“ — But she’s always been there when we needed her. We just sort of accepted that it was Marie’s way and rolled with it.”
“Do you have any idea where she might have gone?” I was mentally sifting through the few bits and pieces I did know about Marie Wilcox, trying to figure out the most logical destination for her. “Maybe to the reservation? That’s where her mother is, right?”
“Was,” Lucas corrected me, dark eyes troubled. “I heard she died a few years ago.”
Well, damn. “But maybe Marie still could have gone there for some reason? Can’t we, I don’t know, try poking around to see if someone knows something?”
Both Connor and Lucas had the oddest expressions on their faces, as if they both wanted to call me on my ignorance but at the same time didn’t want to seem rude. After an awkward pause, Connor said gently, “Angela, the Navajo lands are huge — bigger than some states. It would be worse than a needle in a haystack.”
“Well, I refuse to believe that we’ve hit a complete dead end,” I retorted. “What about my father’s family? Are they still alive? Would they know anything?”
Connor looked blank, and I had a feeling he wasn’t sure he could even remember who they were. Well, Lucas had said that part of the family wasn’t exactly sociable.
“Maybe,” Lucas said slowly. “That is, I know Andre’s father — your grandfather — died awhile ago. I can’t remember for sure. Your grandmother was a civilian, actually, and once her husband was gone, she pretty much had nothing to do with any of us. No one pushed it, since it was her choice. Our only concern was that she keep quiet about her husband being a warlock, and as far as we know, she never said anything to anyone, so there was no real reason to disturb her, since she obviously wanted to be left alone.”
That was something, at least. “But do you know where she is? Can you set it up so we can talk to her? She may not even know that she has a grandchild.”
Lucas’ face was a study in mixed emotions: pity, worry…reluctance. “We haven’t kept in touch, for obvious reasons. I hadn’t heard if she even stayed here in Flagstaff after her husband died, but I’ll do what I can. It might take a few days, though.”
I chafed at any delay, but with Marie gone, we didn’t have many alternatives. Maybe this would turn out to be nothing more than another wild-goose chase. Then again, even if Andre’s mother could offer no insights, I felt as if I should at least get to meet her. She was the only living grandparent I had left.
“That’s okay,” I said, sounding heartier than I felt. “We have to go back to Jerome anyway, since the remodel on my house is starting tomorrow.”
Lucas lifted an eyebrow; clearly he thought working on the house in Jerome was a wasted effort. “But you’re still going to look at the property here on Thursday, right?”
“Yes, we already said we would,” Connor replied. “We’ll drive up Thursday morning and meet you there. In the meantime, I guess ask around and see if Marie talked to anyone, mentioned anything about going out of town.”
Being Lucas, he was too polite to point out that Marie really didn’t take anyone into her confidence. Maybe she had, just a little, with Damon, but as he’d moved on to a higher plane of existence, that wasn’t of much use to us.
“I’ll do what I can,” he said, in a tired-sounding voice that didn’t sound much like the Lucas I knew. Then he got to his feet. “You two have a safe drive down to Jerome. Watch out for all those holiday drivers.”
We both nodded and said we’d see him in a few days, and he let himself out. A minute later, we did the same, Connor making sure the door was securely locked and warded behind us. After all, even though we’d technically broken into her house, we didn’t want anyone else to do the same.
Who knows…maybe one day she would return.
* * *
The contractors showed up at seven on the dot the next morning. I greeted them with as much enthusiasm as I could muster at that hour, although I knew seven was starting late for them. In Arizona it was common practice to start work as soon as the sun was up, noise pollution be damned. However, since I felt as if I were already on shaky ground with my neighbors, considering I was shacked up with a Wilcox, I’d told the contractors they couldn’t begin to work until after seven, and to hold off on the power tools whenever possible until eight.