Overkill(57)

They’d leased it with an option to buy. He was hoping he would be able to manage a mortgage after his probation period was over. Melinda’s father, also his employer, had offered to make the down payment, but Cal had declined his generosity. He wanted to buy the house on his own merit, not only out of pride, but because he still felt the need to prove to everyone, including himself, that he was worthy of redemption.

Besides, he’d never lived in a house that was owned. His dad had been a gambler, and the family’s income had depended on his luck, which had been equivalent to a roller coaster. As a kid, Cal had accepted the instability because he hadn’t known any different. But now he did, causing him to mistrust a vertex, because he’d learned early in life that what came after a high point was the inevitable steep plunge.

He experienced a twinge of that familiar sense of breath-grabbing inevitability now as he heard the growl of a motor and felt its throb through the soles of his shoes.

He turned in time to see Eban wheeling his new Porsche into the driveway and pulling it to within inches of Cal’s car, blocking it in.

Theo would cite that as a metaphor: Eban was inescapable.

Melinda had never met Eban, but she recognized him from photographs. Upon seeing him, her immediate reaction was apprehension. “Cal?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get rid of him.”

She hadn’t wanted him to accept Eban’s dinner invitation and had anxiously waited up for him to get home, her relief evident when he came in sober and none the worse for wear. He’d described the reunion as awkward and had told her that Eban’s incarceration hadn’t humbled him.

“Not one whit. He was his same, obnoxious self. Acting like a superstar, throwing money around. He likes nothing better than to hold court. Theo and I listened to his bullshit stories about prison life, but we’re not the appreciative audience we used to be. I figure he’ll find—more like hire—a livelier set of friends. That’s probably the last I’ll see of him.”

But now, only three days later, here he was, wearing a wide grin as he climbed out of his low-slung car and swaggered toward them. “Swear to God, all this picture needs to make it perfect is a white picket fence.”

He formed a frame with his hands and looked at the house through it. “And maybe some climbing roses.” He lowered his hands and walked over to them. “You must be Melissa.”

“Melinda,” she said.

“Oops, sorry. I always had a devil of a time keeping up with Cal’s gals. They were legion, you know.”

Cal said, “What are you doing here, Eban?”

“Why, I came to meet your lovely bride.” He gave her a once-over, then winked at Cal. “Congratulations. She is a looker, but then you have a great eye for quality, uh, female flesh.”

Cal wanted to smash his fist into Eban’s face, but that was likely the reason for his goading. He was testing the strength of his control over Cal’s behavior. Cal refused to give him the satisfaction of becoming riled. To Melinda, he said, “Go on inside. I’ll be there in a sec.”

She looked ready to refuse, but then Cal gave her a soft look and a confident hitch of his chin. She turned to go, but not before saying to Eban, “You’re every bit as obnoxious as Cal has told me.” She walked to the front door and let herself in.

Eban whistled low and long. “Saucy. I like her.” He slapped Cal on the shoulder.

Cal threw off his touch as he would a wasp about to light. “What do you want?”

“Well…” Eban walked over to a support post for the porch’s overhang and leaned back against it. “We have a problem. It’s not insurmountable. More like a toenail becoming ingrown, or a toothache you feel coming on, but you can’t quite—”

“The state prosecutor.”

Eban showed his surprise.

“Theo called me last night,” Cal said.

“Ah. Wringing his clammy hands, I’ll bet.”

“How clammy are yours, Eban? Maybe getting released early wasn’t such a good move after all. It caused quite a stir in the attorney general’s office. They’re not done with you.”

“They think. But they’ve got another think coming.”

“Oh, yeah? Then why’d you order Theo to research this Kathryn Lennon? How come you have such an excessive interest in her?”

“Excessive? That’s not the word I would use to describe my interest in her. I would use judicious, sensible, rational. Sane, maybe. In other words, I’d be fucking crazy not to have an interest in her. And so would you.”

“No, Eban, associating myself with you was crazy. I can’t change history, although God knows I wish I could. But I did learn from it. I want nothing, I repeat, nothing to do with you.”

Undaunted, Eban said, “Tonight. Eight o’clock. Theo’s place. Be there.”

“In case I haven’t made it plain enough, Eban, fuck off.” Cal turned away and stalked toward the front door.

“Oh, Cal?” Eban called in a singsong. “I have another word for you.”

“Leave now, and don’t come back. Ever.”

“Perjury.”

Cal stopped and turned quickly.

Eban smiled as he pushed himself away from the post and ambled in the direction of the driveway. “In case I haven’t made it plain enough, I repeat. Perjury.”