The Root of All Trouble (6 page)

"Riley called, by the way. He said to tell you he was fine and on his way home."

There was an ache in my chest that made me remember that his home was no longer
this
home. Even though he was my stepson, I loved him as my own, and hadn't quite adjusted to him living with Kevin full-time. He did stay with me every other weekend, but it didn't feel right. He belonged here.

Maria snapped her fingers at me, trying to get my attention.
"Hello! My feet?"

I bit my tongue, rolled my eyes, and lifted Maria
's feet, one at a time, onto the coffee table.

"
Put this under them," she said, handing me a pillow.

I thought about putting it over her face, but then thought about the little innocent baby she was carrying and reconsidered. I lifted Maria
's feet and placed the pillow beneath them.

"
Water?" she asked.

Jaw tight, I headed for the kitchen.
"When is Nate picking you up?"

"
Tomorrow."

My hand froze on the refrigerator door.
"What?"

"
Tomorrow. He didn't know how long he'd have to work, so he suggested I spend the night here with you."

I bet he did. I mentally erased the saintly part of his nickname.

"I told him you wouldn't mind," she said. "You don't mind, right?"

I handed her a bottle of water and decided it was best if I didn
't answer.

She handed the bottle right back.
"It's not open."

I was about to give her a lecture on how a difficult pregnancy didn
't give her the right to forfeit simple manners, but then I saw a flash of emotion cross her eyes and her fists clench.

Or try to clench, at least. Her fingers were so swollen it was hard for her to bend them. It was probably nearly impossible for her to open the water herself.

I twisted the cap off, handed the bottle to her, and said, "When was your last blood pressure reading?"

"
About an hour ago."

"
And?"

"
The same. Nina?"

"
Yeah?"

"
Why do you smell like gin and vomit?"

"
Long story," I said.

"
Something that has to do with the coroner's van across the street?"

"
Kind of." I filled her in on the discovery of Joey Miller's body.

"
If I was dating Nate and found out he was already married, I'd probably bash him on the head and dump him in a hollow tree, too."

"
Do you think Delphine is tall or strong enough to have gotten him into that tree?"

"
Nina, never underestimate the strength of a woman deceived." Her eyelids drifted closed. "I'm tired."

"
That's what happens when you wear yourself out snooping around my house."

"
I wouldn't have to snoop if you'd just tell me."

"
You didn't want to know, remember? You made me promise. And I never break my promises."

She
'd broken in here at least once a month for the last four months in search of the ultrasound report revealing the gender of her baby. She'd made the doctor, a family friend, promise to not even write the gender in her file. Only on the piece of paper tucked into an envelope that she'd given to me for safekeeping.

"
Since when do you listen to me? I changed my mind. I want to know."

"
No you don't."

"
Yes, I do." She frowned. "No, I don't. Yes, I do!"

I sat next to her.
"What brought this on?"

With the past break-ins there had always been an instigating factor. The baby registry had sparked one bre
ak-in, the baby shower another.

"
Nate wants to buy the baby a baseball glove."

"
So?"

She wrinkled her nose.
"Girls don't play baseball."

"
No, they usually play softball, which also requires a glove."

"
Not my daughter. She's going to be a girly girl. Pink dresses, tutus, piano lessons, tea parties, dance classes."

Her eyes turned glassy. She
'd put a lot of thought into this.

"
And if it's a boy?" I asked.

"
It's not a boy. That's why I need to see those results. I need to prove it to Nate before he goes off and buys my baby girl a basketball hoop or something."

"
The horror."

"
Are you mocking me?"

"
Of course."

She pouted.

"What if it's a boy?" I asked again.

Letting out a deep breath, she said,
"I don't know. I don't really like the whole sports thing. So sweaty."

"
Have you seen yourself at Zumba?"

She glared at me.
"Dancing sweat is different from sporty sweat."

"
How so?"

"
It just is."

I decided not to argue and instead pursued another tactic.
"Nate was a pro baseball player. Peter ran cross country and also played basketball and tennis. They're pretty good role models."

Peter, our older brother, was a pediatrician
who lived out of state. He'd just been home at New Year's and called every week to keep tabs on Maria.

"
I guess," she said. "But I'm still having a girl. I refuse to have a boy."

Smiling, I hoped that she was having a boy. It would serve her right. But I didn
't know what she was having, either. The results she searched for were locked in my Taken by Surprise office—still sealed because I didn't trust myself from blabbing.

I drew my feet up onto the sofa, unable to get comfortable, and realized something was bothering me. The mention of Peter had triggered another memory. One of him and one of his high school best friends running on weekends, teasing me as I foll
owed alongside them on my bike.

Oh. My. God. It couldn
't be.

I jumped up and peeked out the window.

"What?" Maria asked.

"
There's a man out there who works for the coroner's office. I thought I knew him but couldn't place how. I think I just remembered..."

Maria levered herself off the couch and
toddled over to the window. "Which one?"

"
The guy over there, behind the van."

"
The hottie in the windbreaker?"

Eyebrow raised, I glanced at her.

"What?" she said. "I'm pregnant, not comatose."

"
Do you recognize him?" I asked.

She squinted.
"He does look familiar."

I swallowed.
"Does he look like Seth Thiessen?"

Her eyes flew open wide, then she squinted again.
"Impossible," she whispered. "That's impossible."

It was.

Because Seth Thiessen was dead.

Chapter Five

"W
hat kind of neighborhood do you live in?" Kevin asked as he strode in the front door several hours later. "I think the Mill accounts for the highest crime rate in the county."

"
Have you ever heard of knocking?" I said from my spot on the couch. Even though it wasn't even close to being dark out yet, I'd already changed into my pajamas, was snuggled under a blanket, and had a bowl of popcorn balanced on my lap.

I was clearly not a party girl.

Gracie charged out from beneath the couch, her high-pitched barking drowning out the
Project Runway
episode Maria and I had been watching—one of many. There was a marathon airing and we couldn't pull ourselves away. Gracie barreled toward Kevin's feet, stopped abruptly when she neared him, piddled, and ran back under the couch.

"
She doesn't like you," Maria said, stealing a piece of popcorn.

I smacked her hand—she
'd already eaten her bowl. Tossing aside the blanket, I reluctantly stood, set my popcorn bowl out of Maria's reach, and went for the paper towels and spray cleaner.

"
The feeling is mutual," he said, stepping over the new puddle.

Maria held out her hands to him.
"Help me up. Gracie reminded me that I need to go pee."

"
Charming," he said, but easily pulled her off the sofa.

"
Hey," she snapped, "you try having an eight pound kid sitting on your bladder day and night, then we'll talk charming." She flipped him the finger, then penguin-waddled toward the powder room, cursing under her breath.

I jabbed a paper towel at him.
"Do
not
get her riled up. It took me an hour to calm her down after one of her favorite contestants was
auf wiedersehen-ed
on an earlier episode. I had to ply her with warm chocolate chip cookies to bring her blood pressure back down—my last roll. So unless you want to either make a run to Kroger for me, or babysit her while I go, I suggest you play nice."

"
With the rat, too?"

The rat being Gracie. I poked his arm.
"Her, too."

He held his hands up in surrender.
"Okay, okay. Ca—"

"
And don't you dare tell me to calm down."

Pressing his lips closed, he pretended to zip them. There was a light in his green eyes, however, that told me he was on the verge of flat-out laughing.

"You're impossible," I said.

"
Impossible to resist." He batted his lashes.

I crouched to clean up after Gracie.
"What happened to the zipper?"

"
It broke. Like that one time you and I... Ow! Why'd you pinch my leg?"

"
Why are you here?" I asked.

"
Are you seriously wearing your pajamas at six in the afternoon?" He followed me into the kitchen.

"
Six is technically evening," I said, tossing soiled paper towels into the trash can. "And you didn't seriously just change the subject did you?"

Squinting, he said,
"Are those flying cows on your pajamas?"

"
Stop looking at me." I zipped past him, brushing so close to his chest that I could feel his body heat.

"
No bra, either," he said. "You're just a girl gone wild."

I hurdled the back of the couch and pulled the blanket up to my chin.
"What's that?" I said. "It's time for you to leave? So sad."

Smiling, he sank into the faux leather recliner.
"No, no. I have a little more time before I go back to the station."

"
Anything new with the case?"

He pulled the handle on the recliner, and the foot rest popped up.
"God, I miss this chair."

It had been a little over a year since he moved out. A year of anger, hurt
...forgiveness. We were in a strange place, him and me. Our divorce had been finalized months and months ago. But lately...it was starting to feel like a new beginning.

I didn
't know if that was what I wanted.

His friendship was nice. But he wanted more. He
'd never actually come out and said so, but I could tell by the way he'd drop by just to visit, the way he always offered to fix things around the house, the way he looked at me.

Oh, the way he looked at me.

I tugged the blanket up a little higher and wished I could pull it right over my head and pretend I didn't still have feelings for him.

Maria came out of the powder room, stopped in the kitchen for a snack (an apple), and then approached the couch like she was preparing for battle. I supposed she was—it was a two-minute process to get herself in a comfortable position. After a lot of moaning, groaning and cursing, she finally settled in.

Kevin stared aghast at her.

"
Don't make me throw this apple at your head," she warned.

"
I didn't say anything." He looked at me. "Did I say anything?"

"
A picture is worth a thousand words," I said.

Maria gave him the Ceceri Evil Eye—which she was really good at, but he pointedly ignored her and said to me,
"There's nothing new on the case you didn't already know. The scene is an absolute mess. If we find any evidence it'll be a miracle with the way it was raining today, and then having half the neighborhood traipsing through the yard."