Endeverafter: The Series Presents The Cursed One

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Harrison sat in the backseat of Cisco's BMW and watched as Hoss and Foy walked inside of McGee's Funeral Services. Once he saw Hoss' Dodge Charger pull up in front of the one-story funeral home, he pulled out his cell phone and called Solomon. Keeping their conversation short, Harrison told him to expect a pair of detectives to knock on the door and subtly warned him of their preexisting arrangement. "An arrangement that benefits the both of us" he said, before hanging up.

"So, we're just gonna wait?" Tully asked, from the passenger seat.

"Patience, my dear old friend."

"Can we trust Mr. Shade, sir?" Cisco asked.

"If he knows what's good for him, he will," Tully replied.

Harrison rested his back against the headrest and smiled. "I love your enthusiasm, Tullius but there is no need to worry about Mr. Shade. If he even thinks about betraying me, I'll kill his son. Again."

Tully's phone rang and he groaned at the name on the caller ID. "Sir, it's Ms. Baxter." Without turning around, he handed Harrison the phone over his shoulder.

"Ms. Baxter," Harrison said. "Thank you for returning my call. I'd like you to do me a favor. No, it's not an emergency but I need it done as soon as possible. Yes. I need you to call your ex-husband and find out where he's at. I have a sneaky feeling that he may have taken what happened at my penthouse to heart. Okay, thank you. I await your call." He ended the call and looked across the street at the funeral home. "Now, the real fun begins, Tully."

Hoss and Foy were standing in the foyer and Hoss couldn't help but notice the tension in his partner's shoulders. "You haven't been in one of these places since Adam, have you?"

She shook her head. "No, and I vowed that I'd never step foot in another funeral parlor but here I am."

"All this guy has to do is tell us the truth and we're out of here."

"And what makes you think he'll talk to us?" Foy asked.

"I don't know but if he doesn't have anything to hide, this should be a pleasant conversation," Hoss responded. "Well, at least pleasant as a conversation can go, given the fact that we're standing in a fucking funeral parlor." He glanced past Foy at the two offices on the right of her. "At least it doesn't smell like a retirement home in here." In his pocket, Hoss felt his phone vibrating. When he saw that it was Harper calling, he ignored the call.

Just ahead of them, a man of medium height walked up to them. Dressed in a black suit, the pale man with jet black hair and black mustache, greeted them with a smile. "Welcome to McGee Funeral Services, I'm the owner, Solomon Shade. How may I help you, Detectives..."

"Hoss and this is my partner, Foy. We were wondering if we could ask you a couple of questions regarding your former employer, Harrison Carlyle." He felt his phone vibrating again and once again, he ignored the call. This time, Foy noticed it.

"Oh. Well, I haven't worked there in over twenty years. I don't know how much help I can provide."

"We're just here to find out what happened before you were fired?" Hoss said. "In what capacity did you work for him?"

"I did not actually work with him," Solomon responded. "No one ever really works with him. There's a pecking order of people underneath him that relay messages back and forth. But to answer your question, I worked underneath his son-in-law."

"And his son-in-law's name?"

"Stephen Roth. He was just a consultant back then but now he's the COO of the EMD. Or so I've heard."