That’s definitely something I can relate to.
She gives me a slightly embarrassed smile. “I mean, Grandma and Grandpa are great. If they weren’t so religious, they would be your typical white hippie leftovers.”
Yet another telling clue.
“How in the world did your parents ever meet?” I ask, genuinely curious. My steak is only half-eaten, but this background of hers is suddenly more savory fare.
She smiles and rolls her eyes. “Mom was working with a Catholic charity. Dad was at some gala being thrown by the organization.” Leira smiles almost bashfully. “He thought she looked like a goddess. But it was her integrity that attracted him. ‘Never underestimate the influence of a good woman,’ he always says.”
“Was that after he had made his money in shipping?” I ask, trying to sound as casual as possible.
Leira sees right through it, glaring at me as she picks up her wine glass. “You can just stop with that right now. If anything, my mother proves it. Yes, I was only a baby when she was killed, but based on everything I’ve learned from my grandparents to my sisters to anyone who knew her, she would have never been involved with a man who was part of the illegal drug industry. Never.”
I nod, mostly to show a little concession for Leira’s sake.
“How exactly did she die?”
Leira still glares at me as she finishes her sip, as though trying to read that for some kind of accusation.
“We are trying to find out why your family has been targeted,” I remind her.
She sets the glass down and inhales. “It was a car crash. She and my oldest sister were shopping for school clothes. Apparently, she liked to do that individually with each of my sisters, the ones old enough to go to school.”
“So you were a baby and your sister, she was?”
“Lorraine? Almost thirteen, twelve years older than me. We’re all almost exactly two years apart in age.”
“Tell me about your other sisters. All of them, starting with the next oldest.”
She inhales again, as though wondering what the point is but continues.
“Lucetta? She…well she’s always acted out. She took Lorraine’s death hard. She was only ten at the time, so that’s understandable. She was closer to Mom than Dad, so of course, she’s always blamed him for what happened.”
“Did she say why?” I ask, sensing something there.
Leira shrugs. “That’s just Lucetta. Do you know she tried to set the house on fire once? When she was old enough, it was boys and drugs, whatever she could do to defy him.”
It’s becoming quite obvious that, despite her qualms with the way he’s raised her, Leira is a daddy’s girl. Maybe because she never knew her mother.
“Anyway, she’s once again in rehab. Hopefully, this time, it sticks. It’s not even about Dad anymore at this point, she’s just so used to…falling off the wagon.”
“And the next youngest?”
“Lana? She got into dance after Mom and Lorraine were killed. It started as some kind of therapy. She was…obsessed. Everything was about ballet, ballet, ballet, to the exclusion of everything else. Of course, Dad indulged her.” Leira twists her lips sardonically. “It’s not like she could get into trouble with it. She’s now with the American Ballet Theater.”
I nod, urging her on.
“Luisa is working with my grandparents back in the DRC. That’s where they adopted my mother as a baby. Luisa was always the quietest and sweetest. The rest of us may have had our petty spats, or outright fights, but she was always the peacemaker.” Leira smiles fondly. “She’s suited for charity work, I suppose.”
“After her came Layla.” Leira pauses, her face taking on a somber expression. “She wasn’t even five when Mom and Lorraine died so I don’t think it affected her as much. She was probably the smartest, but not in a know-it-all way. I’m pretty sure Dad expected to leave the company to her. He let her go to Harvard business school.” Leira twists her lips with resentment. “I mean, yes, I was probably more of a troublemaker growing up than she was.”
“Probably?” I tease, unable to help myself.
Rather than get upset as I expect, Leira bites back a smile. “Okay, fine. I may have had a penchant for hiding from our nannies so I could go exploring, and evading the guards to climb that one tree that rises over the wall; before Dad had it cut down, anyway. I attribute that to curiosity, which is not a bad thing in a child!”
“Of course not,” I say with mock seriousness.
She picks up a fry from her plate and throws it at me with a laugh. I easily catch it and pop it into my mouth.
“Anyway,” she says, smiling and rolling her eyes. She sighs and gets serious again. “Layla had already started working for Dad. I guess that’s why she was targeted.”
This certainly brings it all together. So the men after Leira are after her because of something to do with her father’s work.
Which only proves my theory about it being drug-related. How does she not see this?
“You said your other sister was taken as well?”
Leira nods as she picks up a French fry to nibble on.
“Would she have taken Layla’s place in your father’s business?”
She puts the fry down and picks up the glass of wine. I’m obviously approaching dangerous territory for her now.
“It makes sense,” she says before taking a sip and swallowing. “Lucinda is not as smart as Layla, not book smart, anyway. She’s definitely…well, she’s like me. We’re both good at finagling our way out of situations.” Leira laughs. “She was the one to show me when I was little how to pretend I was still in bed at night so I could sneak out to wander around. In fact, she was probably much better than I was at getting into trouble. Except she almost never got caught. And when she did, she was always so much more clever at coming up with excuses. With her as my predecessor, it’s
