“Why did the performance mean so much to you?” Ronan asked.
“Because some little shit’s mother complained to management about me. Something about how I threatened to rip off his arm and beat him with it.” Vincent flashed a malevolent look.
Ronan burst out laughing. “I had no idea my mom reported you.”
“Yeah, well you almost cost me my job, asshole.”
Ronan was about to point out that Vincent almost cost himself his job, but Fitzgibbon shot him a warning look. Ronan was content to keep quiet. For now. He couldn’t wait to talk to Erin about what she’d done all those years ago.
“So you went into the performance on your best behavior,” Fitz prompted Vincent.
“Yeah. It was a great show. Everyone laughed at the clowns and oohed and ahhed over the trick ponies and the elephants. When the clowns came out for our second performance, Kent and Jack seemed to be fighting or making up orsomething. Either way, neither of them were doing their jobs. I told them to cut the shit and went on with the performance.”
“You were mad at them?” Fitz asked.
“Fuck, yes! I was about to lose my job, my career, my family and all those two dickheads could do was make moon eyes at each other.”
“It would have sucked being kicked out of the circus,” Carson said, sounding sympathetic.
“Well fucking duh.” Vincent rolled his eyes.
“I mean because if you were out of the show then you could no longer beat and control your wife. Ditto for your daughter.” Carson took a step forward, as if he were challenging Vincent to disagree with him.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Vincent thundered, getting to his feet. He towered over Carson by at least a foot, but Carson stood even taller, refusing to wither under Vincent’s threat of violence.
Carson grinned up at the giant clown. “You beat your wife. Controlled her every move. What she wore. What she ate. When she slept. When you had sex. If you were kicked out of the circus, all of that control would have gone bye-bye.” Carson wasn’t backing down and Ronan was loving every moment of Carson playing bad cop. “Before you ask how I know that, I’ll tell you.Everyoneknew! You thought you were keeping this secret from your circus family,” Carson made air quotes, “but you weren’t fooling anyone. The only thing worse than what you were doing to your wife and daughter was the fact that no one stood up to you to make it stop.”
“Am I under arrest?” Vincent asked, sounding like he already knew the answer. He shouldered past Carson heading for a group of clowns who all wore stunned looks on their faces.
“That’s right, run away,” Carson called after him. “You knew Kent and Jack were about to fuck you out of a job, so you did the only thing you could. You killed Jack, and intimidated Kent so that you could go on abusing your wife and daughter. You may have fooled the Boston Police back then, but you can’t fool me. I knowexactlywho you are.”
Ronan couldn’t decide if he wanted to hug the stuffing out of Carson or give him a standing ovation. He was absolutely killing this interrogation and hadn’t given away the fact that he was using his psychic gifts to read Vincent like a dime store penny dreadful.
“What the hell is going on out here?” Celestina, dressed in a bright purple kimono, hurried to her father, putting herself between Vincent and Ronan. “I could hear shouting all the way from my dressing room.”
“We’re here to talk to your father about the night Jumping Jack was killed,” Ronan said, as gently as he could. Watching Celestina defend her father body and soul broke Ronan’s heart. Vincent had done nothing but terrorize his family. All Celestina had known was violence at his hands and here she was, all of a hundred pounds soaking wet, putting herself between her towering, evil father and four members of the Boston Police Department.
“You people have harassed him enough. I don’t care what your relationship is to Mr. Lincoln, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Celestina fisted her hands on her hips.
Fitzgibbon held out his badge. “I’m sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. Why don’t you come talk to us away from the crowd.” Fitz indicated the rows of seats they’d been sitting in before Vincent pulled a runner.
“Why should I talk to you? So that you can try to turn me against my father?” Celestina sounded like a petulant child about to throw a tantrum.
When Everly got into the same mood, Ronan did whatever he could to avoid her melting down. Ronan had to admit he wanted to do that very thing now. This beautiful woman had been through enough in her life.
“Please, Celestina, come sit.” Carson offered his arm, as if she were the Scarlet O’Hara to his Rhett Butler. Surprisingly, she acquiesced. “You know, my eight year old daughter would go nuts for this gown. She loves everything purple.”
The hard look on Celestina’s face softened. “Obviously your daughter has excellent taste. How many kids do you have?”
Carson led her to a seat in the front row. Ronan and the others took seats behind them. “Three. They’re triplets.”
“Triplets?” Celestina’s eyes widened.
“Yeah, we had two embryos transferred to our surrogate and ended up with three babies. Two girls and a boy.” Carson pulled out his phone to show her a picture of the kids building a dinosaur in the snow.
“They look like they’re a lot of fun.” Celestina handed the phone back with a sad smile.
“They really are.” Carson nodded. He took a look behind him at Ronan, who simply nodded.
