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Authors: Leann Sweeney
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there's also my mom and my stepfather.''
''Their names?'' I reached over the end table and opened its drawer. I took out the pad and pencil I always keep there.
''Adele and Leopold Hunt. Also, my half sister, Si mone, and my mom's ex-husband, Ian—he's Simone's dad.''
''What about your biological father?'' I said.
Scott again focused on the Oriental carpet. ''He died when I was a baby.''
''Sorry,'' I said quietly. Perhaps this was why he had such a strong bond with JoLynn—they'd both lost a biological parent. But why was an ex-husband still considered family? Because of Simone?
Scott must have read my mind because he said, ''You're probably wondering why Ian's still around despite the divorce. It's because he's a damn genius. A geologist from England. Richter Oil and Gas couldn't function without him.''
''How's that situation working? Does he keep his distance aside from the job?''
''Oh, that would make things too easy,'' Scott said. ''Not that I don't like Ian, because he's an okay guy. Weird, but okay. Uncle Elliott, however, includes him in everything and when Ian and my mom are in the same room, shrapnel flies the entire time. Especially when Ian brings the latest girlfriend with him to dinner or parties.''
''I see.'' Ah, families. Some of them walk around forever in misery up to their armpits. ''Tell me more about Mr. Richter and JoLynn. This agency directed her to him and then what happened?''
''What do you mean?''
''Come on, Scott. She must have told you something about her past aside from how she found her grandfather.'' Time to push this guy a little. I could tell he was holding back.
''Okay, I did ask her once, but she only told me that her past was painful, not something she wanted to discuss. She said life is about the present, not the past. She's learned to live in the moment and she does. She's so . . . different than the rest of us. She's happy .''
I thought about this for a second. Happy, maybe, but she'd sure made someone very angry.
8
I awoke Monday morning feeling anxious and irritable. The long hot weekend had dragged on without a call from Elliott Richter all day Sunday. I wondered if he'd learned something about me he didn't like, something that made him decide to exclude me from the investigation into JoLynn's attempted murder. Seems I had a bruised ego; I had thought that Richter would know I could save the day. But good work seldom comes from someone with a swelled head, and I needed to get over it. I rolled out of bed and Diva followed me to the bathroom. I thought about how humility never applied to her. Cats are exempt from humility.
After a steamy shower that normally would have revived me, I realized I was still tired. Jeff had been called at four o'clock Sunday morning to help out the night shift with a triple homicide and asked me to go to his place and stay with Doris. I hadn't caught up on my sleep yet. This drill was becoming routine—me getting up in the middle of the night to care for Doris. I told him I might install a fire pole from my bedroom to the first floor and have my clothes ready in the foyer, maybe even buy myself a little fire engine. He liked the idea of a pole in my bedroom, but not the kind I was referring to.
If we lived together, things would be easier as far as Jeff's emergencies, but Doris's arrival last year had halted any ideas of us moving in together. With Doris in the mix now, making a home together before we got to know what the added challenges were might spoil what Jeff and I had. Neither of us wanted that to happen. We decided we could wait.
I was on my second cup of Stellar Brew coffee when the phone call from Richter came. He got right to the point.
''You come highly recommended, Abby. Nothing but good reports from your former boss, Mr. Molina, your lawyer friend Mark, and several of your more publicized clients.''
''Why did you have to bother my ex-clients?'' I
''Their names?'' I reached over the end table and opened its drawer. I took out the pad and pencil I always keep there.
''Adele and Leopold Hunt. Also, my half sister, Si mone, and my mom's ex-husband, Ian—he's Simone's dad.''
''What about your biological father?'' I said.
Scott again focused on the Oriental carpet. ''He died when I was a baby.''
''Sorry,'' I said quietly. Perhaps this was why he had such a strong bond with JoLynn—they'd both lost a biological parent. But why was an ex-husband still considered family? Because of Simone?
Scott must have read my mind because he said, ''You're probably wondering why Ian's still around despite the divorce. It's because he's a damn genius. A geologist from England. Richter Oil and Gas couldn't function without him.''
''How's that situation working? Does he keep his distance aside from the job?''
''Oh, that would make things too easy,'' Scott said. ''Not that I don't like Ian, because he's an okay guy. Weird, but okay. Uncle Elliott, however, includes him in everything and when Ian and my mom are in the same room, shrapnel flies the entire time. Especially when Ian brings the latest girlfriend with him to dinner or parties.''
''I see.'' Ah, families. Some of them walk around forever in misery up to their armpits. ''Tell me more about Mr. Richter and JoLynn. This agency directed her to him and then what happened?''
''What do you mean?''
''Come on, Scott. She must have told you something about her past aside from how she found her grandfather.'' Time to push this guy a little. I could tell he was holding back.
''Okay, I did ask her once, but she only told me that her past was painful, not something she wanted to discuss. She said life is about the present, not the past. She's learned to live in the moment and she does. She's so . . . different than the rest of us. She's happy .''
I thought about this for a second. Happy, maybe, but she'd sure made someone very angry.
8
I awoke Monday morning feeling anxious and irritable. The long hot weekend had dragged on without a call from Elliott Richter all day Sunday. I wondered if he'd learned something about me he didn't like, something that made him decide to exclude me from the investigation into JoLynn's attempted murder. Seems I had a bruised ego; I had thought that Richter would know I could save the day. But good work seldom comes from someone with a swelled head, and I needed to get over it. I rolled out of bed and Diva followed me to the bathroom. I thought about how humility never applied to her. Cats are exempt from humility.
After a steamy shower that normally would have revived me, I realized I was still tired. Jeff had been called at four o'clock Sunday morning to help out the night shift with a triple homicide and asked me to go to his place and stay with Doris. I hadn't caught up on my sleep yet. This drill was becoming routine—me getting up in the middle of the night to care for Doris. I told him I might install a fire pole from my bedroom to the first floor and have my clothes ready in the foyer, maybe even buy myself a little fire engine. He liked the idea of a pole in my bedroom, but not the kind I was referring to.
If we lived together, things would be easier as far as Jeff's emergencies, but Doris's arrival last year had halted any ideas of us moving in together. With Doris in the mix now, making a home together before we got to know what the added challenges were might spoil what Jeff and I had. Neither of us wanted that to happen. We decided we could wait.
I was on my second cup of Stellar Brew coffee when the phone call from Richter came. He got right to the point.
''You come highly recommended, Abby. Nothing but good reports from your former boss, Mr. Molina, your lawyer friend Mark, and several of your more publicized clients.''
''Why did you have to bother my ex-clients?'' I
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