div align=”center”>Fains I (A John Chance Mystery) Chapter 16 – The Third Man
Stacey came in the backdoor with Frank batting her heels. Tom sat at the kitchen table and drummed his fingers as if tapping out a four-digit Morse comprized of uneven length signals. “Don’t suppose you’ve stocked a liquor cabinet yet, have you, Little Sister?”
“Doesn’t the sun need to go over the yardarm or something like that?”
Frank jumped up on the kitchen table, sat face on to Tom, and marked him with his whiskers.
Tom rubbed Frank’s ears. “Am I your little kitty now?”
Stacey left and came back with a half-drained bottle of Grand Macnish blended scotch whiskey. She got two tumblers from the cupboard, two cloth napkins, a bowl, and some cream from the fridge.
Tom looked at her.
“For Frank. You should never drink alone.” She poured cream in the bowl for Frank, laid down the napkins, and poured a splash of Grand Macnish in each tumbler.
“You drink alone a lot, Little Sister?”
“Not anymore now that I have Frank. So what’s going on?”
He lifted the scotch to his lips, downed it, and coughed. “Smooth.”
“You’re shaking.”
He refilled his glass and lifted it. “Just tired. Covered a lot of territory.”
She put a hand on his arm and guided it back to the table. “Bullshit. You’re sweating and you’re cold. What happened out there?”
“She treat you like this when you’re thirsty, Frank?”
Stacey let go of his arm. “You saw it, didn’t you?”
“Saw what?”
Frank cushed the napkins into a nice little nest, flopped down, and purred.
Stacey visually probed Tom’s face as if inspecting a sculpture for flaws. Her nostrils flared briefly and she smoothed Frank’s fur.
Frank rolled onto his back and gave belly.
“Can I trust you, Tom?”
“Stacey, I’m your brother for chrissakes. You think you can’t?”
“Remember my saying there was more, but not until I was sure I can turst you?”
“Am I going to need to buckle in for this?”
“You asked me what stopped me from having myself committed when you first saw this place, remember? Still want to know?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “You remember my guardian angel from when we were kids? How it use to meet me in the woods?”
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