Blood On Her Hands

Chapter 15

It was evening when Vincent told me he was free to meet.

The phone rang three times and then he picked up. He answered with a formal, "This is Vincent speaking" and listened to me stumble over my words trying to explain what had happened over the phone. After a few seconds, he interrupted me to tell me it would be prefered if we met up to discuss what happened in person.

Unfortunately, he wasn't free at that very moment. I supposed he was doing other detective work. He told me he'd text me to let me know when we could meet. It was nearly six on the dot when he sent me the address of the same rooftop cafe we went to last time.

Meeting at this time was an issue because evenings were sacred in the Morales household. It was the time of day that everyone placed the things they had been doing aside and came together to eat dinner.

There was no easy way to get out of it. In all my years of living at the house, it didn't matter if we had exams to study for or work to get done. Try that excuse and we would hear Tìa say "You can spare half an hour of your time to spend with your family. We are the most important thing in your life." Julio and Nancy were the ones who pushed on the rule frequently. They learned that the best method to get out of family dinner was to announce you would miss it in advance - days in advance. I did not have that option.

It would be a hard thing to pull off but I couldn't tell Vincent that my aunt and uncle were keeping me in. I was twenty four not fourteen. It would be ridiculous to let some rule keep me in. Sometimes exceptions had to be made.

I went down stairs wearing my laptop carrier on my shoulder. I had the uncontrollable urge to smile and be pleasant as I entered the kitchen. It was not a matter of simply stating where I was going and leaving but rather lulling my family into a cheerful mood to then plead my case.

Tìa was setting dishes down on the table while Tìo stirred a pot on the stove. The smell of chicken broth wafted over to me as Julio held out his open bag of chips.

"No thanks." I readjusted the strap of my laptop carrier though it was perfectly placed on my shoulder. I was hoping someone would say it for me, that they would point out the obvious and say I wasn't staying for dinner. No one was.

"I have to go out and meet someone for work. They called at the last minute."

The bowl my aunt set at the table fell early from her grip, causing it to teeter around in a circle and make a resounding echo before it settled in place.

"The author of the book you're working on?" she asked, resting her hands on the waist of her dress.

Now was the time to introduce them to the concept of Vincent. I hoped I wouldn't mess it up.

"No. Actually I have an editing partner for this new book I am working on."

Tìa ran a hand over her short, waved hair. "Two editors for one book? Did you need extra help with the workload or something?"

"It wasn't that." I immediately feared what she may have been thinking. She probably thought everything with Adonis was making me neglect my job, like this editing partnership was the preface to me getting fired for not being able to keep up. "The writer I'm working for just requested two from the get go and we were both assigned."

Nancy strolled in behind me. She tugged my bag strap on her way in and laughed as I jumped in surprise.

"What were you assigned to?" she asked. She held out her hand to Julio who hadn't offered her any chips. Reluctantly, he shook out as little as possible into her palm.

"She has an editing partner now," Tìo answered, dropping his wooden spoon onto the side of the stove. He wiped his hands on his apron and gave me a lazy smile. "Apparently this person has no respect for family dinner time."