“We talked to Dr. Keller. He said it was old age—the natural progression of whatever illness he had.”
“Idiopathic,” Declan sneered. “The catch-all for, ‘We’ve run out of ideas.’ What if it was poison? She said he refused to eat anything that wasn’t prepared by her in the house.”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself. He didn’t die suddenly. He was sick for months! Wouldn’t they have looked for toxins or something?”
“They did,” Declan conceded. “However, certain poisons require special tests or are only detectible in an autopsy—which Courtney refused and then promptly destroyed any evidence by cremating his body.
“You don’t trust Dr. Keller? He was Dad’s closest friend.” She rubbed at the headache building between her brows.
“I’m not saying that. From what my experts say, he followed every logical step and referred Dad to specialists when he couldn’t diagnose him.” Cara heard a car door slam, and the car’s Bluetooth took over. “There’s something else Mrs. Woodson said. Just before his death, Dad took a trip. He didn’t say where he was going, only that he had business that had to be done in person. She tried to talk him out of it because he was so ill, but he insisted. The only other person who knew was Vincent. He handled the travel. But he seems to have disappeared.”
Pieces of a memory fell into place. “He went to Ireland.” Cara stared blankly at the wall.
“How the fuck do you know that?”
“Don’t yell at me,” Cara snapped. “I just put it together. When I told Corinne Dad was dead, she was shocked. She said she had just seen him. She ran into him in Dublin.” Her mind raced. “The last time I saw Dad—a week or so before—it ended in an argument. But before we argued—when I saw how sick he was–I asked what the doctors were doing to help him. I didn’t think much of what he said at the time but now…”
Was Declan’s paranoia contagious? Was she seeing something where there was nothing?
“What! What did he say?”
“Something like, don’t worry, I’m taking all the precautions I need.”
Declan inhaled sharply. “Precautions?That’s the word he used?”
The scene flashed in front of her. The violet eyes she and Declan had inherited dulled to gray, his skin pasty—nothing like the virile man he’d been. “One last puzzle, little star,” she murmured.
“What was?”
Cara swallowed, her throat thick with regret. “The last thing he ever said to me. We argued; it was stupid. I wanted a job with more impact in Bloom Communications. He told me that what I was doing was important and not to worry.” Her voice caught. “That one day I’d figure out where I needed to be, but for now, I served him best by being his ‘perfect little star.’ I was so angry, but he was tired, and I dropped it. He told me we would talk again. He needed to solve ‘one last puzzle.’ I was hurt. I was talking about my life, and he was talking about one of his stupid riddles. If I’d known…” Cara’s eyes welled up.
“I’m sorry, Car-Bear.”
“That’s why I remember it so clearly. I was never able to get him on the phone again. Courtney always said he was too sick. I should have forced her. If we hadn’t argued, maybe he would have found a way—”
“You can't think like that!” Declan’s voice was sharp. “Heis the one who shutusout.”
A horrible thought began picking at her. “Declan, if he thought he was being poisoned, and then he changed his will… Doesn’t that mean he thought one of us had something to do with it?”
“I don’t know how Courtney did it, if she coerced him or threatened him. But I don’t believe our father would betray us like that. Take awayeverythingwe’d been promised.”
Cara’s heart clenched. Declan and their father had been inseparable at one point, and she knew Declan had done everything humanly possible to earn their father’s approval—until David Bloom must have gone too far, and Declan said no. The two men were broken after that, too stubborn to make peace.
“Not everything, Dec. We still have each other.”
After a moment of silence, he answered, “You’re right. I’m sorry. I still have my family. I have to go, Cara. Be careful.”
“Okay.” Cara wished she knew what to say to make it better for her brother, but she was worried that the wounds he’d accumulated before and after their father’s death would never be fully healed.
“I love you, Dec.”I’m worried about you.
“Love you, too.”
CHAPTERTEN
“Hey!”Wes speared a zucchini noodle and stopped halfway to his mouth. He glanced up at her and then down again at his food. “I have tickets for a thing this weekend. I bought them a long time ago… I thought Melody and I…” He paused again. “I wondered if maybe you would want to go?”
“I don’t have anything going on this weekend. What is it?”
