Page 109 of The Hardest Hit

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Eleanor. It was almost flawless, but Evan had seen her do it one too many times to be fooled.

“Leona Meade hates Evan. If she was going to blackmail someone, she’d come to you first,” said Jackson. “She wouldn’t go to Taggert. How would she know to approach Taggert unless someone told her? Unlessyoutold her.”

The silence in the room stretched out to an unbearable length.

“That is unacceptable, Grandma,” said Dominique quietly, and Evan heard the hard note that so frequently defined Eleanor’s speech.

“Grandma,” said Aiden, “why would you do that?”

“It’s for the best,” said Eleanor. “Don’t question me.”

“I will question you,” said Aiden, sounding unexpectedly firm. “Why did you do that?”

“I’ve told you,” snapped Eleanor, looking around the circle of her grandchildren, desperation creeping into her tone. “He’s a Deveraux. He’s not ever going to…”

They stared at her, waiting for her to finish.

“She thinks he’ll beat me,” said Olivia, finally filling in the blank.

“Like Henry did to her,” said Dominique.

“Like Owen did to Evan,” said Olivia.

Eleanor rounded on Olivia, but Jackson stepped in front of her, blocking her view.

“Or maybe it’s because Evan called the FAA,” he said, handing Eleanor a drink. Eleanor looked like she didn’t know what to do with either the statement or the drink. Jackson kept moving, heading back to the bar.

“What’s wrong with looking into the plane crash, Grandma?” asked Aiden, sounding oddly older. Evan realized that it was the tone that Aiden usually reserved for court.

Eleanor rounded on Aiden. “Leave the plane crash alone!” she snapped. “It has nothing to do with anything.”

“Really?” asked Dominique. “Then why did someone from the FAA call you after Evan put in the public records request?”

Eleanor turned to Jackson angrily. “What did you do?” she snarled.

“What you have always asked that I do,” said Jackson. “I protected my family. Answer their questions.”

“You shouldn’t have to think about the plane crash,” said Eleanor. “I don’t want you thinking about it.”

“Three days before they all went on vacation, Randall emailed Genevieve,” said Evan. “He said they needed to talk.”

“Where did you find out about that?” demanded Eleanor, angrily. “It has nothing to do with anything. Randall wanted to talk about Genevieve’s DevEntier shares. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“So you knew about it?” asked Aiden. “Why didn’t you mention it to us before?”

Eleanor spun again, trying to focus on Aiden as he walked around the room. Dominique had moved to stand by the window. Evan could see Eleanor’s increasing frustration as she couldn’t get his cousins to hold still. It was like fighting a bee swarm. He could also see that his cousins were doing it on purpose.

“There was nothing to mention,” snapped Eleanor, finally looking at the drink in her hand and taking a gulp.

“Or maybe they wanted to talk to her about Henry,” said Jackson.

“Get out,” said Eleanor. She took an angry step toward Jackson. “We don’t talk about him. Get out. Get out, right now.”

“No, Grandma,” said Evan softly. “No, we have to talk about Henry.”

Eleanor’s hands were shaking.

“They knew, Grandma,” said Evan. He thought it was probably the cruelest moment of his life, and he took his arm from around Olivia’s shoulders. He couldn’t look at her right now. She was about to know all of the family’s dirty secrets, but after everything they’d put her through he thought she deserved to know the truth even if it sent her running from the room.