The Root of All Trouble

  Perry slumped in a corner of the elevator, and I said angrily, "He's strong, damn it!"

  His head snapped up, and his eyes were a watery mess. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand, lifted his chin, and said, "Damn right!"

  We both pretended not to hear the way his voice cracked when he said it.

  Outside, the sun was shining and birds chattered as though nothing life-altering was happening within the walls just beyond the trees where they nested. I took a few deep breaths, breathing in the clean spring air, and trying to breathe out my anxiety, fear, and worry.

  Perry sat on a bench, turned his face upward to the sun and closed his eyes. His lips moved, saying over and over again, "He's strong, he's strong, he's strong."

  My cell phone rang as I paced the sidewalk. Tam.

  "Nina, thank goodness. Kit filled me in on everything. How's Mr. Cabrera. How's Mario?"

  "No change yet," I said.

  There was quiet on the line, then a sniffle. "I just can't believe this. Is Ursula there yet?"

  "Not yet. No one's been able to reach her. She's not answering her phone, and she's not at home."

  "Has anyone tried calling Claudia?"

  Claudia, Brickhouse's daughter. "I didn't even think about it."

  "I can do that."

  "Thanks, Tam."

  "I had another reason for calling," she said, her tone not quite right.

  "Why's that?"

  "I've been doing that extra work for you, you know."

  "I know."

  "And well, the fingerprint stuff takes a while. It's not like you see on TV."

  I knew that. I didn't expect any news for a couple of days.

  "But," she said, "I found Honey Miller's information easily."

  "And," I said, feeling my anxiety rising again.

  "Did you read the full report on Joey Miller this morning? Did you see that vehicular homicide charge he was acquitted of?"

  "Yes..."

  "Well, turns out that Honey Walsh Miller was the victim's younger sister. She was twelve when Emmett Walsh died. I don't think it's just a coincidence that she married the man who'd been accused of killing her brother. Do you?"

  My heart thrummed. "You know how I feel about coincidences. I need to call Kevin."

  "If you could leave my name out of it...," she said meekly.

  "I will. Thanks, Tam. You're amazing."

  I hung up and glanced over at Perry. He still had his face toward the sun, still mouthing a silent mantra.

  I dialed Kevin. He didn't answer. I left a message saying I needed to speak to him right away, that it was urgent, and so help me he would regret it if he didn't call me as soon as he got this message.

  I'd just tucked my phone in my pocket when I turned and saw Cain Monahan striding up to the hospital doors. He spotted me and altered his course, heading straight toward me.

  I cursed my luck that the man had his sunglasses on again.

  "How're your friends?" he asked as he neared.

  I didn't question how he'd known they were my friends. I had an eerie feeling that he knew much more about me than I did him.

  I tried not to stare at his scars as I said, "The same. The other man, the plumber, didn't make it."

  I hated that I didn't know the man's name. But sure as I stood there, I would never forget his wife's grief.

  "I know," he said. "That's why I'm here."

  "Ah," I said, feeling foolish for not putting that together.

  "I heard you stopped by my office this morning."

  It seemed like forever ago.

  "You had a question for me?"

  In light of everything, my wild goose chase felt incredibly silly. Indulgent. I shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal," I lied.

  He tipped his head to the side. My throat closed a little. Seth used to do the same. Then I told myself that lots of people did that. Even so, I couldn't help but ask, "Did I see you at the park the other day?"

  "Maybe," he said evasively. "I'm there a lot."

  "Running?"

  He nodded.

  "Did you run cross country in high school?"

  He did the head-tipping thing again. "Why do you ask?"

  "Curious." My heart was pounding now, my pulse throbbing in my ears.

  "Look, Ms. Quinn."

  "Nina, please."

  "Nina." He suddenly frowned, then said my name again. "Nina..."

  "What?"

  "Nothing."

  "It's something."

  "It's stupid." He grimaced. "I just...for some reason..."

  "What?" I pressed.

  He laughed this time, and I felt light-headed. He'd laughed Seth's laugh.

  He said, "I just had the biggest urge to say Nina Bo-bina. And I'm sorry, that's really stupid."

  I swayed a little. Nina Bo-bina was a childhood nickname given to me by my brother. All his friends used to call me Bo-bina.

  Reaching out, he grabbed onto my arm to steady me. "Are you okay?"

  "Take off your sunglasses."

  "Pardon?"

  "Please take off your sunglasses."

  He held onto me with one arm, and with the other, he slowly reached up and took off his glasses.

  Suddenly, I didn't want to see. I didn't want to know. I slammed my eyes shut.

  "Nina?"

  His voice questioned, but there was something else there... A quiet plea. He wanted me to look. And that was all the invitation I needed.

  I cracked open one eye, then the other, and slowly lifted my head to look him in the eyes.

  He searched my face, seemingly looking for answers to his own questions, and my knees went weak with what I saw.

  The confusion. The doubt. The hint of fear. The milk chocolate brown irises dotted with flecks of gold.

  Feeling woozy, I could barely force the name from my lips. "Seth."

  And almost as though that effort had been too much, my body went slack, and my world went dark.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  I woke up in a hospital bed with Kevin hovering over me, kissing my face.

  "Stop that!" a voice from across the room said. "She's not Snow White, and you're making me sick."

  Maria.

  I popped open an eye and squinted. The room was bright, and I wished I'd kept my eyes closed because suddenly my head throbbed like my skull had been cracked open. "What happened?"

  Maria appeared at my bedside. "You cracked your skull open!"

  "What?"

  Kevin held my hand. "It's not that bad. You fainted and hit your head on the sidewalk. The doctor says it's a concussion. You've been in and out of it for a few hours now."

  Fainted.

  Seth.

  I struggled to sit up, but Kevin pushed me back down. He said, "The doctor said no sudden movements."

  I stared at him. "Were you kissing me?"

  His jaw twitched. "You don't have to make it sound like it's a bad thing."

  I wasn't sure it was a good thing.

  "Plus," he added, "it always works in the movies."

  I flicked my gaze to Maria. "Mr. Cabrera? Mario?"

  She smoothed the hospital blankets. "Mr. Cabrera's awake and talking. The doctors want to keep him for observation tonight and he can likely go home tomorrow. Kit and Ana are up with him."

  "No Brickhouse?"

  Maria said, "Tam called Claudia who told her that Ursula had taken an earlier flight. We're trying to track her down in Florida."

  "Mario?"

  "He's a little bit better. Still getting oxygen treatments."

  "Is he awake?"

  "Not yet," Maria said. "Perry's with him."

  "Ethan?"

  "Same story as Mr. Cabrera," Kevin said.

  I closed my eyes and fought against the pain. My thoughts swirled, one taking precedence over the others.

  Why was Seth Thiessen pretending to be another man?

  "Looks like she's out again," Kevin whispered.

  "No," I mumbled. "I'm just thinking."

>   "Do you remember why you called me?" he asked. "You said it was urgent."

  Honey! I tried to sit up again, but he kept pushing me down. "Stop that!" I ordered. He held his hands up in surrender, and I struggled into a sitting position. "I, um, learned some information about Honey Miller."

  Kevin's hands curled around the bed's guardrail.

  "And there's something you should know about Plum, too," I added.

  "Nina," he warned.

  I groaned and held my head.

  He rolled his eyes, not buying my act.

  It had been worth a try. "Just let me say it and you can yell at me later, okay?"

  "Fine. Spill."

  I winced in pain—real this time. Maybe sitting up hadn't been a good idea. I scooted back down. "Long story short, Honey Miller is the sister of a man killed in Michigan ten years ago. Joey had been charged in his death."

  Kevin didn't so much as blink, but Maria said, "Shut the front door!"

  "And Plum?" he finally said through clenched teeth.

  "Is—was—in love with Bear. She supposedly was going to talk with him yesterday about her feelings. I don't know if the conversation took place, but if it did and it didn't go well..."

  Kevin let loose a string of curse words. "I've got to go." He looked at Maria. "You'll take care of her?"

  "We have it covered," she said, motioning to her big belly.

  Kevin headed for the door, then stopped abruptly. "By the way, Perry said you were speaking with a man he didn't recognize when you fainted. Who was it?"

  I debated lying but finally said, "Cain Monahan."

  "The coroner's investigator?"

  Maria said, "Hubba hubba!"

  I shot her a now's-not-the-time-look.

  Kevin's eyes flashed greener than usual. "I see."

  He didn't, but I wasn't in the mood to argue.

  "I'll check on you later," he said and stormed out the door.

  Maria pulled a chair over to the bed. "Someone's worked up and more than a little jealous." She leaned on the bed and waggled her eyebrows. "Any reason for him to be?"

  "I saw his eyes, Maria," I said quietly.

  She straightened. "And?"

  "It's him."

  "But why... How? He's...dead."

  "He's clearly not. And I don't know the whys and hows of it all. But I'm determined to find out."

  ***

  Early the next morning, I was camped out on my sofa with Gracie tucked in next to my ankles, and my laptop balanced precariously on my lap.

  I'd been released from the hospital late last night only after Maria promised the doctor she'd stay with me all night long.

  Which explained why she was snuggled up in the recliner, wrapped in an afghan and sound asleep.

  I smiled thinking about her, and how she'd mother-henned me all night long. She was going to be a good mama.

  Before I'd left the hospital, I'd checked on both Mario and Mr. Cabrera. Mr. Cabrera had seemed depressed, and the doctor said that was a common side effect of carbon monoxide poisoning, but I wondered if it had more to do with Brickhouse's absence.

  Maria and I had promised him that we'd come back and pick him up as soon as he was sprung.

  Perry had been asleep in Mario's room, but Mario had been undergoing more tests. I tucked a note into Perry's shirt pocket and was just waiting for the sun to come up a little bit more before I called to get an update.

  I logged on to my computer, and checked my email. My father had written back. Your mother wants me to tell you curiosity and cats, Nina.

  I frowned at the screen. Hmmph. I couldn't quite understand why he wasn't spilling everything he knew. I almost wrote back that Seth Thiessen was alive and that's why I was curious, but I didn't dare. I wanted to figure out why he was pretending to be someone else first.

  Tam had sent me an email with three attachments. One for Ethan, Bear, and Honey.

  I clicked open Ethan's file first and was shocked beyond reason to see that he had a clean record. He was twenty-three, had grown up and gone to school in Indiana, graduated from a well-known college with a theater degree of all things, and had only lived in Cincinnati a few months.

  I would've sworn he belonged on the FBI's most wanted list. I guess that showed just how good my instincts were.

  With a tinge of sadness, I opened Bear's folder. He was thirty—my age—and had a rap sheet a mile long. Mostly petty stuff with some assaults thrown in for good measure.

  I'd saved Honey's for last, hoping to devote more time to it. But as soon as I opened the file, I was quickly distracted by the articles Tam had found about Honey's brother's death. I barely registered Honey's age, her schooling, her lack of an arrest record. My gaze kept jumping to the photos of a tearful family and a young girl who'd lost her only brother much too young.

  On one hand, my heart broke for her. On the other, I suspected she married Joey to seek revenge.

  The question remained if she had found it.

  Kevin had, in fact, checked in on me last night, but he'd been cold and distant, and I'd felt guilty for half a second for keeping the whole Seth thing to myself, but then decided to let the guilt go. There was too much other stuff going on. I'd given no reason for Kevin to act the way he was, and he was just going to have to get over himself.

  Kevin had come bearing the news that both Bear and the plumber both had enlarged hearts and that had contributed to their deaths. Weakened systems were easily susceptible to carbon monoxide poisoning.

  I kept telling myself that Mario was strong. He was young and strong. He would pull through. For Perry's sake, he had to.

  Kevin said nothing about Honey or Plum or their possible link to the recent crime spree in the neighborhood.

  My head snapped up when I heard a car door slam out front. I craned my neck to see who it was, but couldn't see through the curtain sheers in the dim morning light. Who on earth would show up at six thirty in the morning?

  A key slid into the front door lock, and I watched the doorknob turn. I'd have gotten up, just in case someone was breaking in, but my head hurt too badly when I moved. If it was a killer out to get me, I was a goner.

  The door creaked open, and I glanced at Gracie snoring away. Sometimes I envied her life.

  A head popped through the doorway, and I relaxed and set my laptop on the coffee table.

  "Hey," Riley said softly. "I was hoping you'd be up."

  I was always up early, it seemed. Even when concussed and wanting to sleep for a week straight. My heart melted a bit that he'd stopped by on his way to school.

  He held up a bag as he walked past me into the kitchen. Quietly, he said, "I brought you some donuts. How's your head?"

  "It's fine," I whispered.

  "Sure it is. Hey, you already have donuts here."

  "Yeah, but they're a day old. I was planning to let Maria have them."

  She cracked open an eye. "I heard that."

  "You want a glazed or a lemon-filled?" he asked.

  "Glazed," I said.

  "Both." Maria yawned and then rubbed her belly. "Baby's hungry."

  Riley brought plates out to us and sat on the coffee table. He stared at me. "You don't look too bad."

  "Thanks," I said dryly.

  He squinted. "Is that mascara smudging your face? Why were you wearing makeup?"

  I wiped my eyes. "A moment of insanity."

  "You're okay, though?"

  I bit into the donut. It was still hot, and I think I moaned a little. I tried to ease his worry. "I'll be fine in a day or two."

  "Okay. Good. I can come by after school and stay with you. Dad said you couldn't be alone."

  "Hey," Maria said. "I'm sitting right here."

  He smiled. "In case Aunt Maria wants to go back home."

  "Oh no," she said. "I'm here for a few days, at least. I already told Nate."

  She was serious. Oh no. No, no, no. "Maria, you don't have to..."

  She pouted—her lips were covered in powdered sugar. "
My house is so boring. This place is much more exciting."

  I tried to hide my dismay. There was no way I was getting rid of her. "You can still come by after school, Ry."

  "Maybe." Standing, he walked toward the door. "I've got to get to school."

  "Hey," I said, waving him toward me. "Come back here."

  He stood behind the couch.

  I smiled. "Lower, lower..." He bent down, allowing me to kiss the top of his head. "Thanks for the donuts."

  "It was nothing," he said. "I'll see you later."

  The door slammed shut and Gracie lifted her head, looked around, and then went back to sleep.

  "That kid's all right," Maria said.

  "Yeah, he is." I smiled and scooted back down into my covers, closing my eyes.

  Something was bothering me, some tidbit just outside my reach. I blamed the concussion and lack of sleep. Hopefully it would come back to me.

  "Tomorrow, though," she said, "I'll see if he can bring us chocolate donuts. I could really go for some chocolate right now."

  "There are some in the day-old donut box."

  There was a beat of silence, and I opened an eye to find her staring longingly into the kitchen.

  She caught me watching her. "I don't eat day-old donuts, Nina. That's...that's..."

  "Delicious? They're not moldy or anything. There are some plain chocolate, some chocolate-filled, and some chocolate frosted ones with sprinkles."

  Her eyebrows had gone up, and she was practically salivating. She finagled her way out of the recliner. "I meant to say that I don't eat day-old donuts except for today. Today I'll make an exception."

  "I thought you might change your mind."

  Her voice carried from the kitchen. "You won't tell anyone, right?"

  I smiled. "My lips are sealed, Maria."

  "Nina?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Were you expecting Tam and Ian to show up this morning?"

  "No, why?"

  "They just pulled in your driveway."

  Wincing, I sat up. Maria wiped chocolate crumbs off her face as she waddled to the door and opened it before they could even knock.

  "Sorry to barge in like this," Tam said as Ian followed her into the house.

  I looked between their faces. Tam was clearly worried, and Ian wore a grim expression. "What's wrong? Is it Mario?"

  "No, no," Tam said, sitting in the armchair next to the couch. Ian sat on its foot stool. "He's fine."