Royce(25)

They looked over the papers quickly. No one said a word and when they’d seemed to be satisfied, the two men left. Curtis hung around and said nothing for awhile. Royce knew his brother well enough to know that he’d say his piece eventually and when he did Royce knew it was going to be nothing he wanted to hear.

“Benton is going to make it. He confessed to the entire thing, including setting the fire on his own. He claimed it was because he was so grief-stricken, that the death of his daughter finally got through to him.”

“Do you believe him?” Royce didn’t. But he never had liked the guy in the first place.

“No. But it’ll be a good defense. Temporary insanity over the death of his daughter is a good way to swing it. Finding out that we had plans to make the building as a tribute to her and he’d done nothing—less than nothing actually. He’ll get off with some time, but not as much as he should.”

Royce nodded. “And those idiots, what do you think they were doing if they knew he confessed? Looking for another angle for a friend?”

“No, CYA. It’s always good, even when you have an ace in the hole to cover your ass. Like me covering yours for instance.”

Royce didn’t want to ask, but he did. “What have you done? And how much is it going to cost me?”

“The girl, in the off chance that she’s pregnant, I’ve put together a contract that gives her a house and a car. Money to spend as she sees fit and a trust for the baby. All she needs to do is to leave you alone and never contact the family again. I also have one that says she’d entitled to nothing if she divorces you and that you keep the child. Either way, you’re covered.”

Royce shifted in his chair. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be happy with what Curtis had done or pissed. He was feeling a little bit of both. Before he could answer, his brother stood.

“Or we can go with plan C. You tell me you love her beyond all your wildest dreams and I tear up both contracts and the two of you live happily ever after. It’s up to you.” Curtis walked to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow. If you need me or just want to talk, call. See you in the morning.”

Royce was still sitting at his desk an hour later, no closer to figuring out what he wanted to do than he’d been before Curtis had come in. His personal line rang and he picked it up, smiling for the first time in days.

“I missed you today. The two girls we got from the pool to fill in for you didn’t make my coffee right and they couldn’t find anything I needed the way you did. Please tell me you’re coming back tomorrow.”

“I can come in tomorrow, but I’ll need the next day off.” Bobbie was quiet for a few more seconds than he liked. “I guess you didn’t hear.”

Royce sat up in his chair and closed his eyes. “I was told you had a death and that you needed to be off. Who was it? Not your sister-in-law, was it?”

“No. I thought…Leah York passed late yesterday afternoon. She’d been ill for some time and an aneurism took her life.”

Royce felt the room tilt off its axis and then back again. He closed his eyes. Here he’d been plotting with Curtis the best case scenarios concerning her future and she was dealing with her mother’s death.

“How’s…Christ, I didn’t know. How are they doing? Is…is Kasey all right? Jay, is he, is he handling this well?”

He heard her sob and his heart broke for his friend. “Jay is trying to keep them all together. Suzy of course doesn’t understand, but she knows something is wrong. Kasey. Kasey is…I’m not sure. She won’t…Leah called her when she was dying. She called Kasey and told her that she loved her and that she wanted her to be happy. When the ambulance got to her home, Leah had the phone on her lap and she was gone.”

Royce stood up to leave. “Tell me where she is and I’m coming to her. I want to see her and…” And what? He sat back down hard in the chair.

“She was at her uncle’s house when I left. I don’t…I’m not sure if she was going to stay there or go home. She’s taking it very badly. Then there was her father. He showed up right before I left. Kasey didn’t move to speak to him, but I could tell she was upset.”

“When is the funeral and where?” Royce didn’t know if someone had sent flowers or not, but he would be there. “My family will be there for them.”

“That’s very nice of you, Royce. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it. It’s only a graveside. The poor dears haven’t any money. It’s at Cedar Cemetery on Wyatt Street. The paper said that the family would be there around one and that the service would begin at two or thereabouts.”