Hell's Rayne (Book 1)

Chapter 29

Wanting to keep my wits about me I made do with observing their body language and making a lame attempt at lip reading. I really wished I had some kind of superhuman hearing in my arsenal of powers, but sadly it was not something I had been gifted with.

Maura, it appeared, had regained her usual composure, after her emotional outpouring during the funeral service, and she was attempting to make a normal – or at least what appeared to be normal – conversation with Eric. He responded with very few words, short sentences at best, though I never even managed to decipher those as I watched his mouth move, while he waved dismissive gestures at her.

He seemed to grow frustrated with his mother-in-law's presence and soon fixed her with a harsh glare, let a few sharply delivered words fall from his lips as he shook his head, waved in dismissal and stormed away until he found a small empty table where he could sit alone. She appeared to be somewhat flabbergasted by his reaction, her mouth hung open in shock for a mere moment before she narrowed her eyes and put the length of the room back between them.

“Huh, well that was weird.” I voiced my thoughts aloud.

Jesse, who had been staring down into his pint glass and hadn't seen any of the interaction, looked up at the sound of my voice.

“What was?” he asked, his voice slurred slightly, even though I was sure he hadn't drunk quite that much yet.

“The way your mum and Eric were just acting around each other. They'd seemed so chummy at that 'family dinner' disaster, but it looked like he couldn't get away from her quick enough just there.”

“Funny how my mother can have that effect on people.”

“Ha, ha,” I said with a roll of my eyes, “yes I had noticed. But still, I thought Eric was like the favourite child she wished she had, or something. But I tell you what, she must have done or said something to piss him off, because she was not happy.”

“We're all not exactly happy right now, Heather, or did you forget where we just were.?” His words came out harsh and cut surprisingly deep. I wanted to throw back a retort, hurt his feelings like he'd just gone and bruised mine, but I bit my tongue. I needed to remain focussed and help him snap out of this funk he'd fallen into as soon as the booze had hit his system.

“No,” I said sharply, “I haven't forgotten. Nor have I forgotten what we discussed while we were there. Now would your sister like to see you drink yourself into a stupor, or do you think she'd like to see some justice for her death?”

He looked at me for a long stretch of time, not saying a word though a frown set deep creases in his brow. I had a feeling he wanted to argue with me, what had happened in such a short space of time to kill his determination I did know – too much thinking perhaps, that was usually my downfall – but he needed to quickly snap out of it.

“Yeah...you're right, I know you are,” he said eventually.

A sigh escaped his lips as he pushed the last dregs of his beer away and ran his fingers through his messy brown hair. “Moving on right, that was the plan? And I can't do that until I know for sure what happened to Jen, like you said. Guess that means I've got to go talk to Eric. Not sure how enthusiastic he's going to be to talk to me though, especially if he's not even talking with Mum.”

“Well, he's alone at least, that makes things a little easier. Plus, I've got a little something that might just help.”

I hadn't really intended to tell Jesse about my little potion, but he might not believe he'd get anything useful out of Eric otherwise. Actually he might not believe me anyway, but perhaps it would give him some incentive to at least try. I dug into my bag, drew out the vial of sickly yellow liquid and held it up in front of Jesse's face.

He frowned at it, confused. “What's that? It looks like something I threw up after a heavy night out.”

I cringed, “Well that was a lovely image. It's a herbal concoction, might just hep to loosen Eric's tongue. Go buy him a drink, he's really putting them away I doubt he'll complain, and then let me add a drop or two of this and he should be a little more receptive to your questioning.”

“So...you're saying we should drug him?”

“Well, in a way, I suppose. But it's a natural substance, not dangerous, and it won't have any lasting effects.” I left out the part about it being mostly poison, and how too large a dose would probably kill the man. He'd either refuse me point blank, or tip the whole lot into the glass of whiskey just to do away with the man in one fell swoop.

Jesse didn't look convinced by my words, but he quickly shrugged. “If you think it might help, I suppose anything is worth a shot.”

Luckily, Jesse knew what brand Eric liked to drink, so we ordered him one – and Jesse another beer though he said he didn't intend to drink it, at least not quickly – then we huddled at one end of the long sweeping bar as I dripped two carefully judged drips of the potion into the dark amber liquid and stirred it in with a swizzle stick.

“Here goes nothing I suppose.”

We'd agreed that Jesse would go to see Eric alone, potion or no he was much more likely to talk if I wasn't involved in the conversation. I would, however, lurk nearby so I could hear what they were saying. There was a small alcove with a quiet single table set inside it a few feet behind Eric, I was going to slip by and sit, hoping that he wouldn't notice me.

Jesse approached his brother-in-law and I slipped behind him and into my chair before Eric had even looked up.

“Here.” Jesse said as he set the glass down in front of Eric. He sat down in the vacant seat opposite without being asked.

“What's this for?” Eric asked, frowning suspiciously at the glass.

“It's just a drink,” Jesse said in a flat tone of voice, “can't you just be grateful for once in your life?”

Eric sneered. “Thank you,” he said without a shred of gratitude in his voice. He knocked back the drink in one swallow and slammed the glass back down on the table. “Was there anything else?”

“Yeah, why don't you tell me what really happened to my sister.”

Well, he was certainly taking the direct route. If Eric was surprised by the question he didn't show it. His blank and unreadable expression was back and, now more than ever, it made me certain that he was hiding something.

“What exactly is it that you think I know, Jesse?”

“You know a hell of a lot more than I do, that's for sure. And there's something you're not sharing.”

“Yeah, well maybe I'm just not the sharing and caring kind.”

Listening to their conversation was all but killing me. Jesse was going to get nothing out of him if he didn't start asking better questions, I was used to teasing information out of people it was easy to forget that not everybody has the knack for it. It took every ounce of restraint I had in me to stay in my seat and not butt-in. Though I was not the only one growing frustrated, I could tell by the way he gritted his teeth and clenched his pint glass too tightly so that his knuckles turned white that Jesse would not be playing for much longer.

“Just tell me the fucking truth. You know something. What did you do to my sister?”

“The truth? Oh you want the truth?” Eric said, suddenly losing his cool as his voice rose an octave. “Truth is, you precious little sister was a filthy whore, and as far as I'm concerned, she got everything she deserved!”