Leilani joined Harper and Thatcher behind Sallie and Azura’s chairs. “While you all were away this morning, the five of us went to the property across the street. We broke into the house from the back, where you said you’d seen the plywood. And you were right, it’s covering an entrance.”
Harper picked up the story. “There’s a metal door and it was locked.”
“Was locked,” I said, using my fork to section off another bite, “as in the lock is now broken?”
“That’s correct. It wasn’t a very good lock. The electricity works, but the place doesn’t look like it’s been used in a really long time.”
The five of them got very still and quiet. Leilani spoke next. “There are aquariums in there, Calliope. Four of them, and they’re huge, probably twelve by six feet, and at least four feet deep.”
“It gave us the creeps,” Sallie said, adding, “especially the rocking chair.”
I took my time absorbing their story while eating my breakfast and sorting through all the possibilities in my head. “We’ve been told that property and the one to the east are in a blind trust.”
One of the kids coughed. I glanced up to see Thatch’s cheeks had gone bright red. “Mom,” he said, “I have another confession to make.” He looked to the ceiling, then to his brother. “Bear used to take me walking on that property, the one across the street. Always the same route, around the marsh, around the house, and back here. Then Bear would disappear again.”
The tattoos across my back tingled in response. I rested the tines of my fork on the rim of my plate and rubbed my forehead. Things were so much easier when the boys were little. “And?”
“And I think Bear’s job was to watch over the property. I think we should ask your cousin Clyde if he knows anything about that land and that house.”
“Can you get my phone for me? It’s in the pocket of my sweatshirt.” The three standing teens turned as one and practically ran to the coat hooks. Harper handed the phone to me. I scrolled through my messages until I got to the one Clyde had sent days ago. He’d wanted to know when we could get together and go over his mother’s will.
“Clyde,” I said, when my cousin picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, Calliope, thanks for getting back to me.”
“I’m sorry it took me this long. How’re you doing?” I asked, accepting the wave of guilt I’d been holding at bay. And the tears filling my eyes. I regretted I hadn’t been more available to my cousin or his sister in Aunt Noémi’s last weeks, especially given how her moments of lucidity had given me insight into Bear, and so much more.
“We’re okay. In many ways, it felt like Mom left us a long time ago but having her gone is still hard.”
“I’m sorry to spring this on you right now,” I said, pressing the outer corners of my eyes and trying in vain to swallow my tears, “but you mentioned her will in your message. Is there anything in there about the properties neighboring her old house? Or do you personally know anything about the place across the street?”
“That’s exactly why I texted you, cousin. Give me a sec to get the papers.”
I blew my nose on a paper towel while I waited. Clyde returned and picked up his phone. “Okay, here we go. I took notes when I was at the lawyer’s and put the legalese into plain English. Basically, what it says here is that Mom was asked to keep the ownership of the property a secret from you until you came of age. And for whatever reason—maybe her dementia, I don’t know—she forgot to tell you that it was a Benôit Courant who purchased those properties and made Mom the, I don’t know, like the property manager.
“The estate lawyer said all you have to do is make an appointment to meet with them at their office, sign a bunch of papers, and the property is yours. Oh, and all the taxes and stuff have been paid.”
Clyde provided a few more details and promised to let me know if he found anything relevant in the rest of his mother’s papers, as he and his sister were in the process of sorting everything out, including what was left of her physical belongings. I promised I would call the lawyer and would also make a date to see Clyde when I was next in Victoria.
I set the phone next to my plate and rubbed my stomach. I was afraid my breakfast was going to come back up, and after last night and this morning I needed the calories to stay inside my body. “I’m proud of all of you for being brave and going to that house and going farther than Airlie and I were able to,” I said at last. “And I’m upset with all of you for—”
“Mom, we’re not normal teenagers,” said Thatcher. He gripped the nobs on either side of Sallie’s ladderback chair and rubbed the wood with his thumbs. “And we have another idea.”
“What is that?”
Thatcher moved his hand to his cousin’s shoulder. Sallie looked up at him before engaging with me.
“We want to come with you when you talk to Odilon.”
Chapter 22
I showered and dressed in silence. Tanner returned to the stack of papers we’d liberated from the Agricultural Commission’s office. He wanted to be sure I had as many details as possible at my fingertips when I walked into Odilon’s office.
Amend that. When my retinue—Harper, Thatcher, Leilani, Sallie, and Azura—walked into Odilon’s office with me. “It’s three thirty,” I said. “Is everyone ready?”
A chorus of yeses sounded from the living room. I glanced at Tanner. “Are you driving or is Wolf coming along for the ride?”
“Do you have a preference?”
The unanimous opinion from the peanut gallery was, “Wolf!”
Tanner blushed
