“Something Brandon said.”
Jack made a noncommittal noise.
The conversation turned then to different channels.
“Do you dive, by any chance?” Jack asked after they had covered local politics, the play rehearsals, and Janet Maples’ safe return to village life.
“You mean like scuba diving?”
Jack nodded. “There are a lot of great diving sites off the island. A lot of shipwrecks to explore.”
“Shipwrecks? As in sunken treasure?”
Jack’s cheek creased. “Depending on your definition of treasure.”
“I don’t dive, but I’m a strong swimmer. I’m sure I could learn.”
Jack’s smile made Ellery feel warm inside. “I’m sure I could teach you.”
So that was promising.
As they neared the end of their meal, Jack asked very casually, “What’s the story on your friend Brandon?”
“What do you mean?” Hadn’t they already covered this?
Jack’s bright gaze seemed suddenly intent. “He was down at the station today, asking to see some cold-case files.”
Ellery blinked. “Cold-case files?”
“That’s right. Has he talked to you about what he’s working on?”
“No. Why? What’s he working on?”
Instead of answering, Jack said, “I can’t quite figure him out. Is he as oblivious as he seems?”
“I’m still not sure what you’re talking about.” But the answer to that question was yes. Definitely.
“Do you think he would confide in you?”
“About what?” Ellery was starting to feel uneasy. “He stopped by the Crow’s Nest yesterday, but I think that was to ask me out.”
This time Jack’s eyebrows nearly hit his hairline. “To ask you out?”
“People do.”
Jack made a sound of not-quite-humor. “I know they do. I thought you two weren’t on cozy terms.”
“Cozy?” Ellery repeated. “That’s an interesting word choice. No, we’re not on cozy terms, but if he’s going to be living on the island, I figure I need to try to get along with him.”
“That’s probably wise.”
Ellery shrugged. He viewed it more as self-preservation.
Jack studied him. “You think he wants to get back together with you?”
Ellery almost spit his wine out. He gulped it down, said, “Get back together? No way.”
“He seemed pretty…focused on you Monday night.”
“I don’t know what that was about other than making me uncomfortable—which he would enjoy because he likes making everybody uncomfortable. But no. First of all, we were both sick of each other by the time we split up, and secondly, it was never any great love affair to start with. We were off and on in college, and then we moved in together because…”
“Because?”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time?” In hindsight, it wasn’t so much that they had made a decision as they had simply drifted into what had seemed convenient and expedient.
“Friends with benefits?”
It was tempting to agree, but Ellery resisted the easy lie. “At first, yes. But then… No. We did—I did—try to have a real relationship, but—” He shook his head. “He wasn’t relationship material. Not like Todd. That is, not in the same way Todd wasn’t relationship material. I don’t think Brandon cheated on me. He was just so hard to get along with. Talented, for sure. But also moody and…difficult.”
He didn’t want to go into all that ancient history, but he should have known Jack wouldn’t let it go. Interrogation was probably programmed into his DNA.
“Difficult how?”
Ellery wanted to ask how this was relevant, but clearly, for Jack, it was relevant.
“It sounds so petty now.”
“You’re not a petty person,” Jack said. It wasn’t so much a compliment as an observation.
“Trivial, then. A lot of little things that built into something that felt insurmountable. If that makes sense.”
“Makes sense to me. For example?”
Ellery sighed. “He used to steal money from me. Not a lot, but pretty regularly.”
Jack looked grim. “I don’t think theft is trivial. Or petty.”
“It was more pilfering than theft.” Jack opened his mouth, and Ellery tried to head him off. “I know what you’re going to say, but I don’t want to exaggerate what happened. It was more irritating than anything. But I was already the one paying for almost everything. From our rent to drinks out. It was usually on me. To be fair, I was earning a lot more modeling back then, but Brandon also resented having to do his share of, well, really anything. Like household chores. He just wouldn’t do them. Ever. Which sounds ridiculous, I know. But I mean, I don’t think he washed a single cup or took out a single bag of trash in the six months we lived together.”
Jack heard him out. He said, “My question is why you kept living with him for six months.”
Ellery shook his head. “I’m not sure. I wouldn’t put up with it now. But back then… You know how it is when you’re young. At first, I thought he’d change. And then later, I kept waiting for the right time to break it off.”
Jack’s mouth curved ruefully. “‘How it is when you’re young’? You’re still pretty young.”
“You’re not so much older.”
“I am in cop years.”
Ellery snorted, but maybe there was some truth in that. Despite their closeness in age, Jack did seem quite a bit older, quite a bit…harder sometimes.
“Anyway,” Ellery said. He knew Jack was right. He wasn’t even sure why he had let things drag on for so long. It hadn’t been love, because he hadn’t ever really been in love with Brandon. He had felt a little sorry for him, off and on, but mostly he had dreaded Brandon’s reaction—and it had not been pleasant. True enough.
He admitted, “That wasn’t even the worst of it. Brandon badmouthed me to our friends. And about such crazy things. That I was doing drugs, or that I was drunk all the time, or that I was stealing from him… It’s not even like anyone believed him. It was just weird.”
“Jesus,” Jack said. “None of that is petty. I can’t understand how you put up with it for six months.”
“I don’t either, really.” Because the sex had been great? The sex had been great. “My point is, I don’t have feelings for him anymore, and I don’t think he ever did have feelings for me.”
Wasn’t it in the dating handbook not to talk about exes on the first date? The confusing part was Ellery didn’t get the feeling that Jack was jealous or asking for personal reasons. In fact, Jack seemed to be strongly channeling Police Chief Carson.
“What’s this all about? Why are you so interested in Brandon?”
Jack hesitated, and the unpleasant thought occurred to Ellery that maybe the real reason Jack had asked him out was to pump him for information on Brandon. But why?
Jack drained the rest of his wine and placed his glass on the table. “Has Brandon mentioned the name Rebecca Witherspoon to you?”