Like Father, Like Son - 17

There was something in Nicky’s face, in his tone of voice that said he meant it, at least at that moment. Declan nodded. “You were that angry?”

“I hated her. She had no right…”

Declan crossed to the sofa, sitting down beside him. “You can’t just kill someone because they do something you don’t like,” he said, his voice teasing.

Nicky stared at him before he said, slowly and calmly, “You do, when you think you could get away with it.”

Declan froze. “What makes you say that?”

“I’ve seen how you look at some women, the ones who…who look like your mother, or act like her. The icy blondes who think they’re better than anyone else. And then…” Nicky didn’t drop his eyes from Declan’s face, “sometimes they’re gone.”

With a low laugh Declan said, “You’re making it sound like I’m serial killer.”

Nicky didn’t blink an eye, replying. “Perhaps you are.  Perhaps you kill them, wishing they were your mother.”

“If that were true, why aren’t I killing her instead?”

Nicky said very seriously, “You can’t, because she is your mother, so you project your hatred onto those women, ones like the one you left with tonight.”

“So you think I killed her,” Declan replied with a laugh.

For a long moment Nicky studied him. “Did you?” he asked quietly. “You said seeing her again was not an option.” He chewed his lip, waiting for an answer.

“You can not be serious!”

“Why not?”

“Because…because that’s just insane.”

Nicky held up his hand. “Three months ago a woman disappeared, blonde, rich, she was in your social circle so to speak and she was someone I’d seen you dancing with at one of the clubs. Not that I thought anything about it when I heard she’d just vanished.” He bent down one finger. “A month later it happened again.” A second finger went down. “That was right after you went on that huge rant about your mother. Last month a woman walked out of her house, to go to a party I think the papers said. She walked into her garage and was never seen again.” He dropped his hand onto Declan’s arm. “Your mother was pressuring you to quit your job and get a better one around then if I remember correctly.”

Declan stared at him, gripping his hand, squeezing it so hard Nicky had to bite back a cry of pain. “So you know.” he growled, his voice low and threatening.

“I didn’t, for certain, until just this moment. I thought …well that what I was thinking was totally off the wall. Call me dumb, but I really didn’t put anything together until that last one. You get angry at your mother and then a blonde, snobbish female vanishes a few days later never to be seen again. I thought I had to be crazy. That it was all coincidences.” With his free hand he touched Declan’s cheek. “I not wrong, am I?”