Page 111 of Stripping Bare

“Mm-hm.” Miss Joan’s noncommittal answer told Tessa all she needed to know about who the Steele siblings had inherited their stubborn qualitiesfrom.

“I need to ask a few questions. The plan is to get in and out in less than tenminutes.”

“I’m just here for moralsupport.”

The small front porch was decorated with a waist-high Santa perched on a pair of snow skis. A trio of elves hung on for dear life behind him, while a dozen mini reindeer served as the manpower in front. The wide grin on Santa’s face said he was a fan of extreme snowsports.

Tessa rang thedoorbell.

The woman who answered was probably in her late fifties, nicely dressed in black pants and a paisley tunic top. “May I helpyou?”

“Mrs.Benery?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Tessa Martin.” She held out her hand, and Keith’s mother took it. “I work at Steele Trap Entertainment with your son.” A small fib since she was no longer there. “I’m actually here looking forhim.”

“If Steele Trap is trying to convince him to stay on, I can tell you that you’re wasting your time. He’s made up his mind to move backhome.”

“Are you saying he’s quit hisjob?”

“He’s given his notice,yes.”

When she’d chatted with him for a few minutes at Tucci’s, he’d said nothing about leaving. In fact, he’d acted as if he was happy at Steele Trap and eager to help Jonah with another project. “Mrs. Benery, when’s the last time you sawKeith?”

Her mouth twisted as she looked up in thought. “Probably three days ago. Said he was planning to do some camping up around LakeJunaluska.”

That certainly confirmed Tessa’s suspicions that Keith had been close by, because the lake was just northeast of Steele Ridge. “Any specificcampground?”

“He didn’tsay.”

“Mrs. Benery, I need to ask you a question that could be painful, but please know I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t soimportant.”

As expected, the woman’s face closed up in preparation. “Okay.”

“I came across an obituary for your younger son, Steven. Can you tell me what happened tohim?”

Keith’s mother closed her eyes, breathed, then opened them again. “Both my boys were always heavy into video games, but Steven also liked to play outside. He would beg Keith to come out with him. That wasn’t Keith’s thing, but the times when he gave in, Steven was soexcited.”

Tessa sustained eye contact and gave a nod to encourage Mrs. Benery to finish the story, even though she had a horrible intuition about where this washeaded.

“One day when Steven was about thirteen, they were out playing and Keith came running back to the house. He said Steven was hurt. My husband and I hurried to the wooded area at the end of the cul de sac. We found him on the ground. He wasn’tbreathing.”

“I’m so sorry.” Sympathy overwhelmed Tessa, and judging by the tears in Miss Joan’s eyes, she had been affected, as any motherwould.

“We found out later that a pellet from Keith’s air rifle had lodged in Steven’s brain. No entry wound, so they believed it went up his nose. Keith never touched that pellet gunagain.”