Brendan put a hand to his heart. “I promise, she won’t be any trouble at all. And I’d be happy to contribute toward whatever you feel is a fair charge for her meals and rent. At her age, she doesn’t eat much. All she needs is a bed and a TV to keep her happy. Please,” he begged. “She’s eighty-one years old, she lives alone, and I don’t know what else to do for her. All I’m asking for is a few days. Just until we can get her power and water turned back on.”
I sighed, already hearing my mother’s lecture, which would inevitably contain an abundance of Bible passages and guilt. “I suppose she can stay for a few days.”
Relief washed over Brendan’s face as he handed me her coat. He shook my hand fervently before I could change my mind. “These are her house keys,” he said, handing me a key ring. “I’ll call her insurance company first thing tomorrow and try to get some repairmen out to look at the place. And this is my cell number,” he said, scribbling a number on the back of a business card. “Call me if either of you need anything. The name and number of the detective in charge of her case is on the front. I left Detective Tran a voice message earlier, letting him know she’d be staying with you.”
“Presumptuous much?” Vero mumbled.
Brendan continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “Everything Maggie needs is in her suitcase. If there’s anything she’s missing, this should cover it.” He opened his wallet and handed me several twenties. Vero plucked them away from me as Brendan gushed out a flurry of emphatic thanks and showed himself out the door. A moment later, he disappeared into his Volvo and it peeled off down the street.
“She’s not sleeping in my room,” Vero said.
“She can sleep on the rollaway in my office.” I hurried up the stairs, hoping Mrs. Haggerty hadn’t woken the children, but she was standing in my bedroom, rummaging in my drawers. She handed me a pile of my jeans and sweaters, then placed her own nightgown and a stack of granny panties in the drawer she had just emptied. My window blinds were open, even though it was well past dark, affording her a clear view of her deserted house across the street.
“Mrs. Haggerty, this is my room,” I said, plucking her panties out of my drawer. I slammed it closed with my hip before she could put anything else inside it.
“I suppose it will have to do.”
“There’s a rollaway bed in my office,” I said, taking a stack of clothes from her arms so I could return them to her suitcase. “You’re welcome to sleep in there.”
Mrs. Haggerty stole her clothes out of my hands. “I prefer this one. It’s on the right side.” She poked me in the ribs, nudging me away from the dresser.
“Right side of what?”
“The right side of the house. You know, facing the street. How else am I supposed to keep watch?”
“Over what?”
“My home! How else will I know if the killer comes back?”
I bit my lip, holding on to my temper by a thread. She had, after all, spent a week in jail after discovering a body in her backyard. I suppose I couldn’t fault her for being anxious. “I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about, Mrs. Haggerty. I seriously doubt we’re in any danger here.”
“All the more reason to stay vigilant. Anything can happen in the middle of the night. Burglaries, vandalism, human trafficking,fires…” She pierced me with a look, pointedly reminding me of a night only a few short weeks ago, when Vero and I had been trapped atop a burning building at the police academy training grounds and Mrs. Haggerty had been the only one to answer our desperate calls for help. Whatever favor she felt she was owed, she was apparently cashing in now.
“Fine,” I conceded. “You can stay in my room. But is it really necessary to unpack? You’re only going to be here until—”
“Where’s my other suitcase? It’s late, and I’d like to get some sleep.” She stared at me impatiently over the rims of her glasses, though we both knew she was more than capable of carrying hersuitcase herself. Not more than two weeks ago, she had tackled me, handcuffed me, and nearly beat me and Vero in a police academy obstacle course, but I also knew from experience there was little point in arguing with her about it.
“I’ll bring it up,” I offered grudgingly.
“I’ll need a fresh set of sheets, too. Yours smell funny.”
My hands clenched at my sides. Mrs. Haggerty might not have been guilty of murder, but I wasn’t sure I would be able to say the same for myself by the time the weekend was over. Surely this situation justified a homicide.
I negotiated with myself as I retreated down the hall to get her bag. One weekend. I would give the woman one weekend in my bed, if only to repay her for saving our lives. I would call Brendan Haggerty first thing on Sunday and have him fetch his nosy, overbearing, pain-in-the-ass grandmother and find somewhere else for her to stay, or I would load the woman into my minivan and relocate her body myself.
CHAPTER 2
“Hold still,” I told Zach as he tried to wriggle out of his pants while I hiked them over his Pull-Up.
“No pants!” he screeched. He’d been in a foul mood all day since Delia had decided that she was going to start her own school and Zach would be her pupil. She’d spent hours trying to force him to keep his clothes on and learn to write the alphabet. Zach had rebelled by streaking through the house, shredding her notepad, and throwing her crayons in the toilet.
“I don’t like wearing pants either, buddy, but Daddy’s going to be here any minute to pick you up. If you keep your clothes on like a good boy, maybe he’ll take you someplace fun for dinner.”
Zach’s tiny mouth pursed, holding stubbornly to the promise of a tantrum as I fed his feet into his overalls. The quiet was nothing more than a temporary victory. The rest of the evening would hinge on a game of toddler roulette; he was either going to lose it the minute I put him in his car seat or he’d conk out in the truck, sleep thewhole way to Steven’s house, and then remain awake for the rest of the night.
“Delia!” I called up the stairs as I wrestled him into his coat. “Are you ready to go?”
She thumped down the steps wearing a plaid romper and a pout that was giving off teen-angst-grunge-band vibes. “I want to wear my Barbie pants.”
