Free Distant Blood by Jeff Abbott Page A

like some rare zoo specimen to these people, an actual love child.
Bastardis Goertzis
, a rare genus and species, I told myself, sure to be labeled and catalogued. This oddity had teeth, however. After seeing Uncle Mutt's tender embrace with his cook, I'd opted to produce the letters myself to the gathering. Sated with food and wine (as no one seemed to be picking at their dinner much—theygobbled like wolves), my admirer might be off guard. After dinner, then, I resolved. I permitted myself a smile, which Aunt Lolly swooped on like an owl on a field mouse.
    “Something funny, Jordan?” she purred, her fork idling in her salad. Her eyes fixed on me, bright and disturbing.
    “No, not at all.” I smiled back. Bob Don glanced at me, so I broadened my grin. “I'm just happy to be here.” I took refuge in a fortifying sip of wine.
    Lolly, sitting next to me, rubbed the back of my hand. “And we're all happy you're here, too, dear.” Her lips narrowed in a malicious grin. “Such a nice, successful boy. You may restore my faith in this particular generation of Goertzes. Deb and Aubrey have been disappointments, haven't you, sugars?”
    I had no words to respond to her rotten prod at my cousins. She'd been downing red wine steadily—I wondered if she was a mean drunk. Aubrey and Deborah, sitting together on the other side of the long table, both glared at Lolly. Sass, like a tigress, leaped to her son's defense, claws bared for battle.
    “Aunt Lolly, I hardly think it's fair to label Aubrey a failure. He's a published author—”
    “That psychobabble claptrap?” Lolly snorted. The sweetness that had characterized her earlier ramblings was gone, replaced by sourness. “The only amazing thing is that people lay down money to be analyzed from a page. Especially by someone who never attended medical school. Aubrey, dear, don't get me wrong, we're all tickled you got your cute little book published, but don't you think it's time you got involved in Uncle Mutt's business?”
    “Leave the boy alone, Lolly,” Mutt grunted, digging into his tenderloin. Lolly apparently was immune to the power of Mutt's charisma. I wondered how she could dismiss Aubrey's advice as psychobabble when she thought her dog was her husband reborn. I didn't know Aubrey had penned a book, and searched my memory for his name; I wondered if we had his text at the library. I opened my mouth to ask him the title, but didn't get a chance.
    “I'm not really interested in investment portfolios, AuntLolly,” Aubrey said. I sat, waiting for the next platitude, but he stared down at his plate, prodding a green bean with intense concentration. I suspected this was an old battle.
    Aunt Lolly tired of him and moved on to her next subject. “Candace, dear, do you know any eligible bachelors? We're waiting still on Deborah dear here to settle down and become an honest woman.”
    Why is Lolly so bitter? I wondered. Tired of being Jake's caretaker? And why don't they just hire a nurse for him instead? Why put the burden on Lolly?
    Candace attempted a salvage. “Aunt Lolly, I'm sure a woman as pretty and smart as Deborah can find her own dates.”
    Deborah flashed a brief smile at Candace and then turned her grin toward Lolly. “Lolly—remind me, when was your last date? Was that when the astronauts returned from the moon? Or when Columbus sailed by?”
    “Ladies,” Uncle Mutt rumbled, “let's be nice.”
    Lolly smirked at her niece. “You have to understand, Jordan, I raised Deborah after her father murdered her mother and then killed himself. She and I just love each other to pieces. We like to tease. Don't pay her any heed.” She sipped at her Cabernet—she was the only one who'd opted for red wine with dinner—and then ran a speck of tongue along her thin lips.
    After her father murdered her mother?
No wonder Bob Don hadn't offered much family history. I swallowed the lump of meat in my mouth and glanced around the table. Deborah quivered with