"My instincts say no."
I couldn't argue with his instincts—they were pretty good. "Any leads on who Joey had been arguing with when Mario arrived?"
"We went back to sweep the place for prints. There are a lot, so it's going to take a while."
"What about the carbon monoxide leak? Were there any prints on the water heater?"
"It had been wiped clean."
"It feels like too much of a coincidence that the two cases are unconnected."
"I agree," he said quietly. "But I've yet to find a link."
"Delphine seems to be the link. Someone is out to get her. Kill her lover, frame her, kill her crew..."
He said nothing, which told me he was at least thinking along those lines himself.
Good.
I rubbed my temples as he pulled into the jewelry store's parking lot. There was a truck parked there I recognized.
"Well, I'll be," I said.
"What?"
"Look!"
Kevin smiled. "Someone's going to be a happy girl."
I would have hopped out of Kevin's car and run into the store, but my head was pounding. Instead, I walked slowly, albeit with a spring in my step. Kevin held open the door, but just before going inside his cell phone rang. He said, "I need to take this. I'll be right in."
I left him outside and fairly floated into the shop. I walked up behind Kit and said, "Fancy seeing you here."
Kit frowned at me as he handed a credit card over to Saul. "What're you doing here?"
I grinned ear to ear. "What're you doing here? You're supposed to be in charge of casa chaos."
"I took a break," Kit said.
Saul rang the sale and slid the credit card receipt across the counter to be signed. "He's buying a lovely ring for his—" He cut himself off when Kit growled at him.
"It's okay, Saul. I know what he's doing, and it's about time."
Kit groaned. "Don't say a word, Nina. Don't breathe it, don't think it."
"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."
He took his bag. "Good. Now really, what're you doing here? You're supposed to be resting."
What was with people today? I wasn't an invalid. "Just a quick errand. " I took the cufflink box out of my pocket and slid it across the counter to Saul. "I need to know who sent these to Perry."
"Sorry, Nina, I can't divulge that information."
"Can't or won't?"
"My hands are tied."
The door behind me opened, and I turned to find Kevin coming inside, a sad look on his face.
Kit shook his head and said, "I've got to go." He practically ran out the door.
Kevin smirked. "He's in a rush."
"He doesn't do well with mush and gush." I smiled as I watched Kit hop into his truck. He zoomed away. I turned back to Kevin and quickly caught him up on the situation I was facing. "Saul's hands are tied. He won't reveal who sent the cufflinks." I wiggled my eyebrows and jerked my chin toward Saul. I needed Kevin to pull rank.
The corner of his lip twitched, then he cleared his throat. "Saul, these cufflinks are part of an ongoing investigation," Kevin bluffed. "We need that information."
Saul's eyes widened. "I can't. It's against store policy."
Kevin shrugged. "I could come back with a warrant. And the store might need to be closed down for a few days..."
A bead of sweat popped out of Saul's forehead. "Okay, okay!" He rifled through a drawer and pulled out a receipt book. He frowned. "It was a cash order."
"So, no name?"
"I always take a name. It was—" he took out his glasses and squinted at the page, "Joe Smith."
It might have well been John Doe.
Kevin said, "Small guy, dark coloring, clean-cut, and a nervous kind of demeanor?"
Saul nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes! That's him. He came in with Donatelli Cabrera two nights ago."
Mario. That sneaky little... I glanced at Kevin. "How'd you know?"
"Seemed like something he would do."
Saul wiped his forehead. "He said something about the cufflinks being an expensive makeup gift, but Donatelli talked him into buying them to show the 'depth of his feelings'." He used air quotes and rolled his eyes.
I had a feeling that Saul was more about the moolah than the emotion of his business.
Bear Broward must have gotten through to Mario that day in the basement. Well, with a little push from Mr. Cabrera as well. I thought it hysterical that Mario turned the tables on Perry and sent the gift anonymously. Perry was going to be thrilled he could keep the cufflinks.
Then I recalled that Mario wasn't going to remember sending them.
"Thanks, Saul," I said, tucking the cufflinks back into my pocket. As Kevin and I walked outside, his face was still somber. "What was that call? Not Mario..."
"No," he said. "Plum. She's in the hospital—she tried to kill herself."
I let out a long sigh as Kevin drove me home. "Did you get a prognosis?"
"Not yet. There's something else, too."
"What?"
"The prints from Joey and Honey's place. We got an interesting match on one set from the back door, thanks to you."
"Me? Why? How? Whose?"
"Ethan Onderko. And the only reason his prints were in the database was because you had Tam enter them."
"Ethan? What did Ethan have to do with Joey?"
Kevin said, "I don't know. But I'm going to find out. He's still in the hospital, so I need to head over there." He pulled up in front of my house and leaned over, like he was going to kiss me. Instead, he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Good job, Nina."
I hopped out of the car and watched him drive away, telling myself that I hadn't wanted him to kiss me.
But I had a firm commandment in place about not deluding myself, so I let the truth wash over me.
I wanted the kiss.
Sue me.
Chapter Twenty-five
Before I went inside, I crossed the street to take a look at the progress in Mario and Perry's back yard. No one catcalled me when I made my way through the gaggle of Kit's colorful friends.
I tried not to take it personally.
I followed the side of the house and paused to take in the scene. My crew had outdone themselves.
Kit nodded when he saw me as though I hadn't just run into him at the jewelry store fifteen minutes ago. He stood close to me and looked around. "Not too bad."
"Not bad at all." My design had come to life. Everything was perfect from the simplest annual to the fabric on the lounge chairs on the new sun deck. Someone had even power-washed and stained the existing deck off the back of the house and covered it with a pergola that added a touch of something extra special. "It's wonderful. Mario and Perry are going to be thrilled. You did a great job, Kit. Everyone did."
"It was your design."
"And the hard work of you and the crew."
He shifted uncomfortably. "This love fest is making me a little queasy."
"Me, too."
"That's probably the concussion. I know you love the mushy stuff."
"You think you know me so well."
"I don't?"
I stuck my tongue out at him. "I'm going home."
"It's about time."
I glanced up at the sky, at the clouds rolling in. "Storm's coming."
"We're finishing up. The inside is almost done, too. Another couple of days, and it'll be good as new."
I wanted to tell him how special I thought he was for pulling this off, but even though I was a mushy kind of girl, he definitely wasn't a mushy kind of guy. I spoke his language instead. "Have I given you a raise lately?"
He laughed, a deep rumble. "No, and I'll need one, what with the—"
"Wedding to plan?" I finished.
"Weren't you leaving?"
I leaned up and kissed his cheek. He wiped it away. "Have you lost your mind? Not in front of everyone!"
I laughed. "Blame it on the concussion." I started walking toward
home, but turned around. "And Kit?"
"What?" he snapped.
"Welcome to the family."
I could have sworn he smiled.
But it might just have been a trick of the light.
***
The storm hit just after sunset. Gracie trembled under the covers on the couch as lightning lit the sky beyond the windows and thunder shook the house.
I surfed the web as Maria watched Miss Congeniality. I thought she'd officially lost her mind with all this pageant stuff.
There had been no word from Kevin since I saw him off earlier this afternoon, but Riley had dropped by to whup me in a game of Scrabble. I tried to blame the loss on my scrambled brain, but the truth was I had a lot on my mind and couldn't focus.
Plus, he was a Scrabble shark, having learned at the knee of Mr. Cabrera.
Speaking of, he'd come over for dinner, picked at the pizza I'd ordered in, and left again. There still hadn't been any word from Brickhouse.
Perry was with Mario at the hospital, but would be back soon to get a good night's sleep. He'd broken into tears when I told him who'd sent the cufflinks.
I wasn't entirely sure whether it was because of the sentiment behind the gift—or because he got to keep the cufflinks.
I'd been reading and re-reading Ethan Onderko's file that Tam had sent me. It was as plain and boring as it had been before. Did he have something to do with Joey's death? Had Ethan been pushed to the edge after his fight with Joey the morning he died?
Over Joey being slobby? It didn't make sense.
Because the files were open, I went over Honey's and Bear's as well. There was something there that kept nagging at me, something big, but I couldn't focus enough to put it together.
Sighing, I closed the laptop and set it on the table.
Maria said, "This is my favorite part. The big makeover reveal. Look, look!"
I had to laugh at her exuberance as Sandra Bullock strutted across the screen, then I froze as the lights flickered.
The wind howled, and I went in search of flashlights in case the power went out. And I started worrying about all the new plantings across the street.
I was halfway to the kitchen when the house went dark.
Maria whispered, "I never did like the dark."
Me, either.
I found a flashlight in the drawer and flicked it on. I said, "Maybe we should head to bed. Sleep through this."
"Are you nuts? Do you really think we can sleep through this?"
Just as she said it, the tornado siren started blaring.
Maria and I froze for a second. It was a Midwesterner's eternal debate...heed the siren or stick it out, hoping the warning wasn't for our neighborhood.
But as I'd just set a new commandment about heeding weather warnings, I said, "Come on. The closet down here is the safest place. I'll get Gracie."
"I'll grab the donuts."
"The donuts?"
"In case we get hungry," she said as though I were the densest person on earth.
I picked up Gracie and my cell phone, and also grabbed two bottles of water from the dark fridge. Donuts tended to make me thirsty.
We'd just settled in the dark closet when a text message came in for me from Riley. In downstairs bathroom. Don't worry.
He knew me well.
The wall behind my back vibrated from the force of the winds rattling the house.
Maria said, "When was the last time you cleaned out this closet?"
"Two, three years ago."
"Ugh! I hope I don't pick up some strange infection or something from being in here." She pushed aside a pair of my old work boots. Not the ones Mr. Cabrera had upchucked on—those had gone into the trash.
Fortunately, the closet was large, or else Maria would probably be sitting on my lap. As it was, she was sitting so close to me that I could feel her inhales and exhales.
Gracie continued to tremble on my lap, and no amount of my soothing would calm her. She hated storms.
Absently, I wondered about Kit and Ana and BeBe. If they were huddled together in a closet. Kit would have his hands full with Ana and her fear of small spaces and BeBe with her drool.
Nate texted Maria, and she sent a note back to him that she was fine except for being stuck in a closet with me.
"There are worse places," I said.
"Where?" she demanded.
Thunder cracked.
"At Kit's for one. BeBe drools."
Maria shuddered.
"See," I said. "And ew! Gracie just peed all over me." Maybe drool was better.
"Nina?"
"What?" I said, trying to scoot out of the wetness.
"That wasn't Gracie."
I aimed the flashlight at her face.
"My water just broke."
"Ohmygod! Oh. My. God. Ohmygod. We have to call for help. We have to get you to the hospital. I can't drive. You can't drive. Who's going to drive?"
Maria started laughing. Great big belly laughs. Literally.
"What's so funny?"
"You! Ohmygod," she mocked, still laughing.
My lips twitched and next thing I knew, I was laughing, too. And that's just what we were doing when the closet door flew open, and I stared at a pair of men's shoes. I aimed the flashlight upward and found a dripping wet Kevin peering down at us.
Maria and I burst out laughing again.
"What's so funny?" he asked, crouching down. "Move over."
"Trust me, you don't want to come in here. We need to go."
"Why's the floor wet?" He looked at his hand—that had touched the floor—then he looked up. "Does the roof have a leak?"
"No," I giggled. "Maria does."
Maria laughed and laughed.
Kevin stared at his hand in horror.
"We need to get Maria to the hospital. Her water broke."
"First," he said, heading to the bathroom, "I need to wash my hand. Twice."
"And I need to call Nate," she said, suddenly not sounding so amused.
I should probably change, too, since I was soaked. I ran upstairs and tried to find something to wear in the dark. I didn't care what it looked like as long as it was dry. I wobbled a little bit, feeling lightheaded, and took the stairs slower on the way down.
Rain blasted the roof, the windows. Lightning lit the sky almost constantly, giving the house an eerie glow.
I threw several towels into the downstairs closet along with one of my sweatshirts and nestled Gracie on top of them. I set a bowl of water in there and leaned down close to her face to tell her why we had to leave.
She blinked at me, still trembling.
Damn it. I couldn't leave her here. I used the flashlight beam to find a duffle bag at the top of the closet. I set my sweatshirt inside, and then Gracie. I left the top half-zipped so she could have plenty of air.
Kevin had gone out and retrieved his extra large industrial strength flashlight from the car. It was practically like having a light on in the house. He eyed the bag warily but didn't say anything.
Maria let out a soft moan.
Kevin said, "The contractions started while you were upstairs." He took the duffle from me. "I'll handle this. You handle Maria." He strode out the door.
I grabbed a raincoat from the laundry room. "Ready?"
"Hell no!"
"I meant right this minute, not in the general sense of becoming a mother."
"Hell no!"
"Come on," I said, "before another contraction."
Solemnly, she nodded. I held the raincoat over her head, took her arm, and helped her down the steps and into Kevin's SUV.
For the second time in two days he used his lights and sirens on a drive to the hospital. Only this time, the ride was painfully slow—not because of his concern for Maria but because the roads were quickly flooding and the drenching rain made it incredibly hard to see.
I glanced over at Maria. By the glow of the lightning I could see her anxiety. I put my arm around her. "It'll be okay."
r /> "Promise?" she said.
I held up my baby finger. "Pinkie swear."
Chapter Twenty-six
Nate had beaten us to the hospital, and I gladly turned my sister over to her husband. The hospital was running on generators, and the hallways were dimmer than normal. The nurses kicked Kevin and I out of Maria's room while they got her settled in, registered, and hooked up to monitors.
Kevin and I stood outside Maria's door. He said, "Are you wearing one of my shirts?"
I looked down. I had grabbed an old shirt of Kevin's along with plaid flannel pajama pants. I'd stolen the shirt when he'd been living at my house for a while after being shot in the line of duty. It wasn't one of my prouder moments, but it had been too hard to resist. "I think it's one of my old ones."
"It looks like one of mine."
"You need to get your eyes checked."
He smiled. I smiled.
"My baby sister is going to have a baby," I said softly.
Scooting closer to me, he said, "You're going to be a great aunt."
I scrunched my nose. "Do you think I'd be a good mom?"
His mouth dropped open. "Geez! Are you pregnant?"
At the shock on his face, I laughed. "No! I'm just wondering. I think about it sometimes. Having a baby..."
He sagged against the wall in apparent relief. His eyes softened when he looked at me. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You are a good mom. Just ask Riley."
Before I could get mushy, Nate popped out of the room looking terrified. "She's already six centimeters dilated. The anesthesiologist is on the way up, and after that you can come back in."
He ducked back into the room.
"Coffee?" Kevin said.
"We're going to need it. I mean, that is, if you're staying."
"I'm staying."
I tried to hide the goofy smile on my face as we headed to the cafeteria. The stairs were eerily dark, lit only with small emergency lights along the bottom of the steps. Our footfalls echoed.
"Maria's labor is going fast," Kevin said. "I hope they're ready."
"They're ready."
"And I hope they've already set up a college fund for the baby. I was looking into costs for Riley in a year, and I think I should have chosen a life of crime instead of law."