Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry(84)

Maria’s, the restaurant Philip had chosen for lunch, was more of a diner, and a dingy one at that. Old circular stools with faded red seats were below a countertop that spread out almost the length of the building. Tables were on either side of the front door. Booths were in the far corners.

A waitress carrying a handful of menus walked up to her.

“By yourself?” she asked.

“No, I’m meeting two men.”

“If it’s Phil and Tom, they’re over there,” she said, while pointing to the booth in the left corner.

Gina made her way over to where the two were seated on the same side. “Philip and Thomas?” she asked.

“That’s us,” one answered while the other said, “Have a seat.” Neither stood up to greet her. Each had a half-filled coffee cup in front of him, suggesting they had been there for a while.

The brothers appeared to be in their mid-thirties, a little older than Gina. Both were on the paunchy side. Neither had bothered to shave that morning, perhaps the previous several mornings. Although it was chilly out, each wore a faded short-sleeved shirt. One had an Ace bandage on his wrist. Each had pronounced deep, dark bags under his eyes.

Gina slid into her seat, wondering how to start the conversation. Before she could say anything, the waitress appeared and placed plates in front of the brothers.

“We were hungry, so we ordered. I hope you don’t mind,” Philip said.

“Of course not,” Gina said, while taken aback at how rude they were.

“How about you, honey, you know what you want?” the waitress asked, looking at Gina.

“I’ll start with an iced tea. I haven’t really looked at the menu.” She glanced across at the brothers’ plates. Each had a stack of pancakes, eggs, and bacon, with a generous side of home fries. Not your typical lunch choice, she thought to herself. “A hamburger sounds good,” she said. At the waitress’s urging, she ordered the deluxe.

“I appreciate your taking the time to meet me,” Gina began.

“That’s all right,” Philip murmured.

“I hope I’m not taking you away from work.”

“You’re not,” Thomas volunteered.

“What kind of work do you do?”

“We’re entrepreneurs,” Philip said.

“In the gaming field,” Thomas added.

“Gaming?” Gina asked. “I’m not sure what you mean by that.”

“Competitive video gaming is a huge industry that’s growing like mad around the world,” Philip stated. “Tom and I had a successful company until Mommy Dearest persuaded our father to pull the funding out from under us.”

“By Mommy Dearest, I assume you’re referring to Marian.”

“The one and only Marian,” Thomas said with a scowl as he used his hand to wipe a piece of pancake off his chin.

“I’m sorry to hear that. What happens now that the funding is gone?”

“We’re trying to find other backers,” Thomas said. “It’s a slow process.”

“Do you ever see Marian?”

“Once in a while,” Philip answered.

“Do you talk to her?”

“Every now and then,” Thomas replied.

It’s like pulling teeth to get any answers out of these two, Gina thought. Subtlety is not getting us anywhere. She decided to ask a question that she hoped would get them to open up. “I’ve met Marian. She seems very nice. You know her better than I do. It’s clear you have a lot of resentment toward her now. What were your feelings when you first met her and what happened along the way?”

If Gina was hoping to light a conversational fuse, she succeeded. For the next half hour, the brothers tripped over each other to describe a woman who at first seemed so sweet. But given time, Marian had completely dominated their father’s life. His estate, and it was substantial they insisted, was supposed to go to them. By the time he died, Marian had convinced their father to leave everything to her. “We got nothing,” Philip said, while Thomas nodded in agreement.

When the check came, neither brother made a move. Nor did they thank Gina for paying. On the way to the airport a thought occurred to her. Neither of the brothers had asked a single question about her.





91





Michael Carter was back in his office after back-to-back trips. He had taken a day trip to Portland, Maine, earlier in the week. After returning to New York, the following day he had flown to Phoenix, where he had spent one night. He sat back and glanced at the email he had written to Junior about the trips. Satisfied, he sent it. He noted this was the first time he was sending an email to Junior but not to Sherman.

The women in Portland and Phoenix were the ones whose names had been provided by Junior, the ones Matthews confessed to. Carter still had a hard time picturing Matthews unburdening himself to Junior. When Carter, Sherman, and Matthews met at the club in Greenwich, the anchorman didn’t have an ounce of remorse over what he had done. He lied when he failed to identify Meg Williamson as one of his victims. For all Carter knew, Matthews was still at it, adding to the list.

Junior had told him that Matthews had personally reached out to the latest two victims and persuaded them to settle. Whatever he told them, it must have hit the spot. Each woman had come to the rented office space, asked no questions, barely read the agreement, signed, and almost run out the door.