When Doom Found Violet novel · Chapter 20 of 24
Chapter 20: The Retirement Dinner
Violet's POV
The retirement dinner for Kent's father filled the banquet hall at the country club with a hundred and fifty people and a slideshow.
His father had worked thirty years as the county auditor, and he was leaving the office a hero.
I walked in at the salad course in a black dress, on Doom's arm, with Zane a step behind us.
Conversation died in a wave from the door to the head table.
Kent sat there in the gray suit with a high collar to hide the marks on his neck.
Marcy sat three tables away beside her mother, my aunt, with her eyes on her plate.
My own sister sat beside them, with her husband and a pinched mouth.
Kent's father rose halfway, saw my face, and slowly sat back down.
"Violet," he said. "This is a family event."
"I'm still family on paper, sir."
"You're not welcome."
"I'll be quick," I said. "I'm here to give a toast."
Kent was on his feet.
"Security," he said, too loud. "Somebody get her out."
The sheriff sat at the second table in his dress uniform.
He glanced at Kent, then at me.
"Let her talk, son," he said mildly. "It's a free country."
The room settled.
In the corner by the sound booth, a young man in a waiter's jacket gave me a tiny nod.
He was a prospect, and he had run a cable from my phone to the venue's speakers an hour earlier.
I took the microphone from the stand at the podium.
"Thirty years of service," I said, "is a long time to give a county. I'm glad your son learned something from you."
His father's face stiffened.
"He learned how to keep records," I said. "Every Friday for a year, he kept a record of my brother's truck and sent it to a detective in the sheriff's office. He did it from our bed."
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