12:00 p.m.
„Any success?“ Tina the clerk asked.
Mia rolled her eyes. „Yes, but of course she was at the very end of the listings.“
„That’s the way it always is,“ Tina agreed.
„Genevieve O’Reilly,“ Abe read from his note pad. „Married Colin Barnett on September 15, 1943, in the parish of Sacred Heart by Father Thomas Reed.“
Tina gave a satisfied nod. „Good. You could check the census to see if they had any children, but if they were members of their parish, the church would have a record of births.“
„What about you?“ Mia asked. „Any progress on our land search?“
Tina handed them a piece of paper. „I remembered Hank was short for Henry, and that’s where I found it. Henry Worth. On his death it passed to a Paul Worth. It’s all I could find. I hope it’s enough.“
Mia scanned the page, then looked up, a gleam in her eyes. „It’s plenty. Let’s call Spinnelli. We’ll need full tactical gear, just in case he’s there.“
Abe grabbed his coat. „I hope he is,“ he said grimly. „I want a piece of him first.“
Wednesday, February 25,
1:30 p.m.
„You should have told me you were allergic to dogs,“ Aidan said, his voice full of laughter as he helped her out to his car.
„Oh, that hurts.“ Gone was the satisfaction she’d felt as she test-fired her new gun back at Givens’s target range. It disappeared once they’d reached their next destination – a kennel full of impeccably trained guard dogs. The first step inside had her sniffling. Five minutes later she was sneezing so hard she would have fallen over if Aidan hadn’t held her up, chuckling all the time. „This really isn’t funny, you know,“ she grumbled.
„Why the hell did you go into a kennel if you knew you had such severe allergies?“
Kristen leaned against his car to catch her breath. „I didn’t know. I haven’t been around that many dogs. Once a Seeing Eye dog came into the diner and I sneezed, but I’d hoped it was just that one dog.“ She wiped her watering eyes and got into the car. Unlike his brother, Aidan went for the smooth sleekness of a Camaro rather than the massive strength of Abe’s SUV. She sniffled and shivered as he started the engine and the heater belched out ice-cold air. „I guess I won’t be getting a guard dog after all.“
Aidan’s lips curved. „I guess you won’t But I don’t imagine Abe will mind filling the role.“
Her cheeks heated despite the cold air from the alleged heater. „Abe is very kind.“
Aidan glanced over his shoulder before pulling out of the parking space. „I’m going to have to give him some pointers then, if all he can conjure is ‘kind.’“ Her face must have reflected her horror because he laughed. „I’m teasing, Kristen. Number one, whatever is between you and Abe is your own business. Number two, he’d kick my ass.“
„That seems to be a common theme in your family,“ Kristen commented.
„Hell, we’re a family of boys.“
„You have two sisters,“ Kristen pointed out.
„They have three brothers,“ Aidan corrected. „It’s different.“
„I stand corrected,“ she said dryly and he chuckled.
„Now you think I’m some Neanderthal whose knuckles scrape the ground.“
Kristen pretended to study his unscraped knuckles. „No, I’d say you’ve advanced to the moderately stooped-over phase of evolution.“ She caught her breath as he made an erratic turn. „What the – “ She looked over her shoulder, then back at Aidan who was checking his rearview mirror with a satisfied expression. „Reporters?“
„One bleached-blonde bitch and her camera-toting toady. No longer tailing.“
„I really hate that woman,“ Kristen said wearily.
„I’d say the feeling is mutual.“
Kristen frowned. „But I’ve never done anything to her. Why me?“
„She has to feed off someone else’s misery and it might as well be yours.“
„Well, still,“ Kristen grumbled.
Aidan leaned over to adjust the heater. „Better?“
„It’s okay. I used to walk to school in weather colder than this.“
„In Kansas, right?“
Kristen blew out a breath. „What didn’t Abe tell you?“
Aidan just grinned wickedly and Kristen rolled her eyes. „For God’s sake,“ she muttered, knowing her face was well past ruby red. Perhaps volcano violet. And for what? A lit-tie petting, that’s all they’d done. And the promise of more, whenever she chose. She got to set the rules this time. It was enchanting. Enticing. Liberating.
„You’ll have to get used to the teasing,“ he said. „It comes with the family.“
Kristen felt a longing so strong, it was like a fist grabbing her heart. What a family to have. She felt a spear of jealousy for Debra, who’d obviously melded so effortlessly with the Reagans. „Tell me about Debra,“ she blurted and Aidan blinked, obviously taken aback.
„Debra?“
„Yeah, you know. The one I sound like. Your former sister-in-law?“
He suddenly began paying a great deal of attention to the road. „No need to get testy, Counselor. You want lunch or what? I’m starving.“
Well, that was a smooth change of subject, she thought. It would appear Aidan wasn’t comfortable discussing Debra. Or maybe he just isn’t comfortable discussing Debra around me. „Sure. We’re not too far from the diner where I normally eat.“ She gave him directions to Owen’s, then sat back to try to think of something else to talk about.
„She was Abe’s life,“ Aidan said abruptly. Kristen turned in her seat, studying his profile. His jaw was clenched hard and his knuckles were white where he clutched the steering wheel. „I thought he’d die when she was shot. I know he wanted to.“
There was a curious lack of emotion in Aidan’s voice that was more meaningful than if he’d broken down. „I’m sorry,“ she said. „I shouldn’t have asked.“
„It’s all right. I suppose you have a right to know.“ He shrugged a powerful shoulder. „I’d been on the force a few years when it happened. I thought I’d seen it all.“ He shook his head and his throat worked as he tried to swallow. „But seeing her so lifeless, for so long…“ He cleared his throat. „But I think burying the baby was the hardest part of all.“
Poleaxed, Kristen’s throat closed. „Baby?“ she managed.
Aidan shot her a quick look. „Debra was eight months pregnant when she was shot. The baby didn’t live. I thought you knew.“
She shook her head and stared out the window, barely seeing the sign for Owen’s diner when Aidan stopped the car. „No, Abe never mentioned a child.“
„Don’t let it bother you. He hasn’t mentioned the baby since the funeral, to any of us. Even to Mom and Dad. I guess it was his way of coping. But he loves kids. You only have to look at how he is around Sean’s kids. I know he wants a family of his own.“
Kristen pursed her lips to keep them from trembling. Aidan thought she was upset because Abe might not want kids. How ironic. His child was taken from him while she… How very ironic. „Was it a boy or a girl?“ she asked, unable to keep the question inside.
Aidan hesitated. „A little boy. Abe named him Kyle after Dad.“
„Poor Abe,“ Kristen murmured. „To lose it all in one day.“ And how will he feel when he learns the real truth about me? she wondered. She didn’t really want to know.
Aidan shut off the ignition and the car was quiet. „For what it’s worth,“ he said, „I haven’t seen him so happy in years than he’s been in the last week. You put a light back in his eyes.“ Again he cleared his throat. „We’re all grateful for that.“
„Thank you.“ She forced a smile and gestured at Owen’s diner. „Let’s have lunch.“ On leaden feet she moved, then frowned when she tugged on the door and it didn’t open. She peered inside where the lights were on, but every cracked vinyl seat was empty.