Damn, she was good. What would be the point of having a poker face anyway? Mom would always be able to see past it.
As if I were Pavlov’s dog, I started talking the minute Mom gave me that look. “Nothing’s wrong. Oh, well, except I just had a silly little run-in with Austin. But seriously, it’s no big deal. In fact, they should be here any minute and I’m as happy as pie about it.”
“So you’ve already stopped off at Austin’s?”
“Yes, Derek wanted to ask Robin a few questions about that guy she was dating recently.”
“The one she found murdered in her bed.”
I grimaced. “That’s the one.”
“What about him?” She whipped an apron out of a drawer and wrapped it around her waist. As we talked, she grabbed two pot holders, opened the oven door, and removed a huge casserole dish of lasagna. I didn’t want to give Mom too much information about big guys knocking down my door and dying in my house, because she would worry about me. But she turned and looked at me with those clear blue eyes and I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
“There are more questions than answers. Someone’s still out there causing trouble, and we need Robin to fill in some blanks.”
“So let me guess what happened,” Mom said. “Austin became the ferocious knight in shining armor, protecting his lady fair, Robin, from your impertinent questions.”
I chuckled. “Impertinent? You’ve been watching reruns of Pride and Prejudice again, haven’t you?”
“Busted.” She let out a trill of laughter. “I can’t get enough of that Colin Firth.”
I followed her into the dining room, where she’d already set out serving dishes filled with potato salad, Japanese cole slaw, marinated green beans, and a green salad, along with flatware, plates, and napkins on the wide Mission-style table we’d used forever. I placed a trivet in the middle of the table and Mom settled the lasagna on top of it.
“I blame you for Austin’s behavior,” I said, nudging her as we returned to the kitchen.
“Me?”
“Yes. Your enchantment spell has turned them both upside down and inside out. Robin’s perfectly happy with her head stuck in the sand, and Austin’s gone into total protective mode. It’s freakish.”
Mom made a tsking sound as she pulled a bowl of fresh corn-and-blueberry pasta salad from the refrigerator. “I’d love to take credit for that, sweetie, but honestly. Enchantment spells?” She rolled her eyes at me. “You know it’s all a bunch of hooey, right?”
“Hooey?” My eyes goggled. “Mom, are you feeling okay?”
She laughed again. “Oh, sweetie, you’re so gullible.”
“Moi?” I said, my voice squeaking in outrage. “Come on, Mom. Hooey is your raison d’être.”
She bopped me with a pot holder. “Silly. Help me get the rest of the food on the table.”
It was a beautiful day, so we filled up our plates and took them outside on the terrace. Dad had made lemonade, and there was plenty of wine and beer. Gabriel showed up a bit late with apologies, then eagerly filled his plate with Mom’s food. He’d recovered from his injuries and looked amazingly healthy and handsomer than ever, if that was possible. I secretly wondered how long it would be until he grew tired of the quiet life in rural Sonoma County.
Despite Austin glowering at me occasionally, I was happy to be here for so many reasons, but especially because there was so much food. I didn’t remember starving myself lately, but I was scarfing down food like I hadn’t had a meal in weeks.
Mom insisted on clearing the dishes by herself, so the rest of us pretended to relax on the terrace, enjoying the sunshine and the views.
It was Dad who finally got the ball rolling. “Don’t you kids have some things to talk about?”
“Yes, we do,” I said.
Dad nodded and pushed himself out of his chair. “I’ll go help Becky in the kitchen.”
Robin met my gaze. “Do we?”
Austin scowled again.
“What is up with you two?” I said irately. “We just have a few questions. It’s no big deal.”
Robin swallowed a sip of wine. “Right.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Austin said when she reached out and clutched his hand.
“Austin, enough,” I said. “She does have to talk about it and she knows it.” I turned to Robin. “What is wrong with you?”
She straightened her back and said in a quiet voice, “I just don’t want to think about Alex anymore. I was hoping I could use this time away from the city to try to put the entire ugly experience behind me. I need to do that if I ever want to be whole again.”
I grabbed her free hand. “Please believe me: I want you to be whole, too. I want that for you more than anything in the world.”
Stiffly, she nodded her gratitude.
“But unfortunately,” I said, trying to keep my tone even, “you left town, and the ghost of your dear Alex is now haunting me. And I’m sorry, but that’s partly your responsibility, Robin. If you truly want closure, the least you can do is answer a few questions.”
She pulled her hand away. “Well, aren’t you the queen of compassion?”
“No,” I countered, “I’m the queen of big messes dumped in my lap by other people.”
“Now, just a minute,” Robin said, her old fire rearing its head.
“No, you wait a minute,” I snapped. “I love you, but there’s a huge crap storm raining down on me, and I need your help to make it go away.”
Robin frowned, but she didn’t argue.
“Hell, Brooklyn,” Austin began.
I held up my hand to stop him. “I don’t need this from you, Austin.”
“Leave him out of this,” Robin said.
“Jeez Louise, will you two give me a break?” I jumped up from my chair and paced back and forth in front of her. “Austin, you can just butt out.”
He looked astonished but said nothing, so I kept going. “All of a sudden you’re Robin’s white knight? Where was this devotion a month ago?”
“Hold on there,” he argued, while Robin looked at him thoughtfully.
“No,” I said, then reconsidered. “Sorry. I apologize. That has nothing to do with why we came here. We’re here because we need to figure out what’s going on if we ever want it to stop.”
He didn’t look happy, but at least he was quiet, so I turned to my friend. “Now, please, for God’s sake, Robin, all we want to know is, where did you park your damn car the night you stopped at Kasa?”
She was taken aback at that. Frowning, she said, “That’s all?”
I didn’t meet her gaze. “There might be another question or two, but let’s start with that one.”
She stared out at the hills, thinking, then looked back at me. “I parked on the street, directly in front of the restaurant. On Eighteenth. What does that have to do with anything?”
“Could you see the car while you were inside Kasa dining with Alex?”
“Yes.” She glared at me. “You’ve been to Kasa. The whole front wall is windows. So, yeah, I could see my car the whole time. Why?”
Derek took over seamlessly. “We believe the people who killed Alex are looking for something that was planted in the book your mother gave you to bring to Brooklyn.”
“The Kama Sutra?”
“Yes.”
She looked from Derek to me. “Is that the flash drive you were talking about?”
“Yes,” Derek said. “It’s not a regular flash drive, but a very tiny one, the latest technology. And it’s said to have highly sensitive information on it.”
She tipped her head to one side and gave him a skeptical smile. “Sounds like a spy novel.”
“Doesn’t it?” Derek said lightly. “I assume you left the book in your car when you stopped at Kasa.”
“I did.”
“And it’s obvious that no one broke into your car or tampered with it, because you would’ve seen them.”