Free The Language of Death (A Darcy Sweet Coy Mystery) by K.J. Emrick Page A

without a tie, his white shirt undone at the collar.  They stood staring at each other for a few seconds, and then Danson tossed two pills from the palm of his hand into his mouth and chased them down with the water.
    Darcy's eyes went wide.  Pills?  Could those be…
    He must have seen the expression on her face.  "No.  I know what you're thinking and Chloe's mother already asked me."  He smiled and pulled a small pill bottle from his pocket to show her.  " I have bipolar disorder.  I take medication so that I don't lash out at people from out of town that stand around staring at me.  See?  Bipolar medication.  There.  Now you know my little secret.  The medication keeps it in check but if I ever sound like I'm about to take your head off one second and the next I'm asking you out on a date, that's why."
    When she continued to stare, he added, "Don't worry.  I'm more likely to take off your head than ask you for a date.   I'm engaged, after all.  Guess little brother Lorne was, too.  It's too bad his ended this way."  He didn't sound at all like he thought it was too bad, but he added, "I liked Chloe.  She was good people."
    Darcy relaxed.  Of course it wasn't epilepsy medication.  No one would be stupid enough to show off the murder weapon in a house full of people.  "Sorry, I guess I'm just on edge," she told him.
    He shrugged.  "No worries.  Like I said, I've already been grilled about my pills.  Nobody who knows me thinks I'd be stupid enough to let Chloe get ahold of them.  I don't let them out of my sight.  This is pretty strong stuff.  I don't want them to end up in the wrong hands."  Taller than her by half a foot or more, he squinted down at her.  "I wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea."
    "Uh, right," Darcy said, putting her plate down quickly on the sink and hurrying out.
    ***
    "Lorne, let me ask you something," she said as she caught up to him on the front lawn.  They were the only ones out there, except for a man and a woman sharing a cigarette over by the driveway.  "Does the phrase 'north and south' mean anything to you?"
    He thought about it.  "The Civil War, maybe.  Nothing else.  Why?"
    That was definitely disappointing, but she had expected exactly that answer.  "Oh , I saw it inside Betsy's house," she lied.  "I thought it might have meant something to Chloe.  That's all.  That was a nice speech you gave at the service."
    "Thanks.  I meant it, you know.  I'll never forget about her, and I won't stop until I know who killed her.  Have you found anything out?"
    She shook her head helplessly.  "I thought I had, but maybe I was wrong.  Not that there isn't lots of secrets to learn about people you've only just met."
    "What do you mean?"
    "Well, for one thing, Sami has a crush on you."
    His lips pulled into a frown, as his body shifted uncomfortably.  "I know."
    Now Darcy was surprised.  "You know?"
    "Yes.  I've known for a while.  I kept it from Chloe, though.  I didn't want to put any kind of rift into our relationship.  Sami kept her feelings to herself, mostly, unless we were alone and then she dropped all these hints about how much better she could be as a girlfriend than anyone else, including Chloe.  She was wrong, of course, but I never got into an argument about it with her."
    "Did she know you and Chloe were going to be married?"
    "Nope.  We kept that to ourselves.  We were going to tell her parents first."  He sighed.  "Now they had to find out this way.  That's old news, though.  At least for me.  What other big secrets do you think we're hiding?"
    " Did you know that your brother has bipolar disorder?"
    Lorne rolled his eyes.  "Yeah, well, that's a matter of debate.  I never believed it.  I think it started as him faking to get attention when he was a kid, but he got prescribed that medication and after that there was no going back.  You know, he keeps a bottle of that stuff on him all the time , plus a spare bottle in his car's