“Awesome,” I said sarcastically.
“And I’ve got something for you.” Colin handed me a package wrapped in brown paper.
“What is it?” I asked. I wasn’t used to getting gifts from Mackenzies.
“Guild flag,” Colin said. “Didn’t you hear the new rules announced at the festival? Every house is supposed to fly one.”
I waited for the punchline, but there was nothing. “Seriously? You’re kidding, right?”
Colin was straight-faced when he said, “No. I’d suggest putting it up before school starts. There’ll be fines beginning in September.”
I wanted to tell him to take it back, but instead took the package and threw it in a side table drawer.
“And what’s he here for?” I asked, pointing to Alex.
“He’s here so that I can keep an eye on him,” Colin said.
“Fuck off,” Alex spat in his brother’s direction.
“Whatever,” Colin replied, sounding bored. It was easy to believe the two of them replayed this exact conversation three or four times a day.
They only stopped bickering when a number of car doors slammed in front of the house.
I went over to where Annie was standing, against the wall, eyes shining as if she were looking for a fight.
“Sorry,” I said to her under my breath. “They have rules about outsiders being here for these things and really”—I glared back at Alex—“it’s probably for the best.”
She snarled at Alex in Russian again and nodded. As she headed upstairs, I pointed at Alex and said to Colin, “He’s your responsibility.”
“Story of my life. Let’s just get to the bottom of this.”
With that understanding reached, I nodded and hoped the piano and my teeth would both still be intact when it was all over.
* * *
The Guild was always cryptic about its structure at any given moment, but as far as I knew, there were fifteen active members and a couple of assistants this year. They could have sent any of them, but it was the top two officials who arrived to look at my piano.
We said our hellos, and by the time that was done, Russ had burst through the door.
Everyone naturally lined up according to our allegiances: Russ and me on one side. Alex and his dog, who was staring at Russ, on the other. In the middle, Clive Rice, Charlotte Norton, and Colin approached my piano.
It was hard to watch the Guild members run their hands over the wood I’d spent hours polishing. Russ put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed hard. I guess I was showing my stress more than I thought.
The room was silent, all of us waiting for answers.
“What is that infernal noise?” Clive Rice asked, head cocked toward the piano.
Russ and I looked at each other. I hadn’t heard anything, and the dog hadn’t even reacted.
Colin bent and put his ear to the dark wood.
“Oh for god’s sake. Can we just try to move it already?” Alex exclaimed.
Colin jerked up and turned toward his brother. “Shut up or I’m going to tie you and that dog up in the yard.”
There was a lot of deliberation as Guild members examined every inch of the piano. They loosened the locks on the wheels, poked and prodded it, and opened and closed the lid to the keyboard, but thankfully, it didn’t move any farther this time than it had before.
“You say this was the prize in a poker game?” Charlotte Norton asked me.
My stomach churned.
“Yeah,” Alex answered before I could. “And we just want to know why he isn’t paying up.”
“Well, the answer to that is twofold,” Clive Rice said. “First”—he turned toward Alex—“we have it on good authority that you cheated.”
The room went dead quiet. Then, surprisingly, Alex drew back his shoulders, looked Rice in the eye, and said, “I didn’t cheat.”
I waited for Russ to contradict him, but he just leaned toward me and said, “It’s the damnedest thing, but I think he’s telling the truth.”
“No,” Rice said to Alex after a beat. “Not technically you.” He stroked his beard with one hand and ran the other over the keyboard. “But you weren’t alone.” His words didn’t quite form a question, but they also weren’t an accusation.
Alex nodded quickly. “David Sheridan,” he said. “It was him.”
“Way to throw your friend under the bus,” Russ muttered next to me.
“Yes. Well. Be that as it may, you were a team,” Charlotte Norton said. “What did you put up for your end of the bet?”
Next to me, Russ swallowed loudly.
Rice tapped the glass on his watch, trying to get the famously errant second hand to move. I never understood why he didn’t just get the thing fixed.
Colin took a step toward Alex. It was just a step, but we all tensed. “Yeah, Alex. What did you put up for your end?”
The dog looked up and angled his head. I wondered if Alex had the nerve to give Colin an honest answer.
Alex looked his brother in the eye and said, “My car.”
“The Mustang?” Colin barked.
“That’s the only car I have.”
“Had,” Russ said under his breath.
I waited for the explosion. Instead, almost more frightening, Colin started laughing. “Oh, you can’t be serious. The Mustang? Ian’s Mustang?” With every word, his laughter turned more caustic.
I’d never had an issue with Colin, although I’d known those who did. Joey Gonzales, for instance, had never really been the same after Colin had finished with him and he was finally released from the hospital.
“Mine,” Alex said forcefully. “My Mustang.”
I knew the minute I heard the words that they would be the ones to set Colin off. His face sharpened so quickly that I could see the bones under the skin. His fists curled and uncurled. Next to me, Russ stiffened.
“You have nothing,” Colin said to his brother. “You are nothing.”
Before I knew it, Russ was between them, a hand stretched toward each boy’s chest, holding them apart.
“Enough,” Clive Rice said.
No one in the room was stupid enough to argue.
“You,” Rice said, pointing toward Alex, “will deliver the car and its keys to Mr. Hampton by noon tomorrow. Your accomplice will come to the hall at one tomorrow afternoon. I trust you will inform him of this. And you will stay available should we need to speak to you.”