“As though Kenny had a secret that he didn’t want you to find out?”
Rachel gave him a knowing smile. She’d said something similar that first night in his office, though at the time, her premise had seemed too convenient in her brother’s case and too far-fetched in everyone else’s.
“I might be blowing it out of proportion when he could have just been flexing his muscles as village manager. Letting me know who’s boss. But what you’d said about someone covering a secret…” He paused, tilting his head back and forth. “Possibly?”
“Did you find anything else?”
“Wasn’t that enough?”
She didn’t get the chance to answer as the twins rushed into the kitchen, their faces fairly well scrubbed, their matching pj’s this time a light yellow with daisies. Each carried a wad of pink laundry in her arms. With an apologetic look, Rachel ran the dirty clothes to the basement. Then she led the girls into the living room to set them up with their promised show.
When she returned, she hurried to the sink and went back to work. “I might have found something, too,” she said, focusing on the faucet where she rinsed.
Mick took an automatic step closer, his throat tight. “What is it? You said, ‘might have.’ Not that you found something concrete. Which is it?”
Her shoulders shifted, but she kept washing and rinsing. Without looking at him, she held out a plate and waited for him to take it. “Riley called today. He said some things.”
His fingers suddenly cold, Mick lowered the dish on the counter so he wouldn’t drop it.
“Why didn’t you say that before?” He faced her, but she still wouldn’t look over from the water. “If I hadn’t come tonight, you wouldn’t have mentioned it at all, would you?”
He already knew the answer, but he waited for her to say it, anyway. When would she ever trust him?
She lifted her chin and finally turned his way. “I’m telling you now.”
“Well, what ‘things’ did he say?”
“Like before, he said I should stop asking questions. About Dad’s death. About everything. He told me to stay out of it. Even said he’d deal with the questions at the station when he got out of rehab.”
“I like your brother already.”
They exchanged a look that stated the obvious. No matter what happened in the investigation, he and her brother were unlikely to ever be friends.
“I’ll be sure to tell him that…when I see him.IfI see him.”
She chewed the corner of her lip and stepped to the kitchen doorway to check on the girls. Mick stared at her back, searching for clues. There had to be something she wasn’t telling him.
“Did you at least admit to him that you aren’t going to stop looking?”
“Not exactly. But he didn’t seem to believe me when I said I would.”
“Then he’s a smart guy, too.”
She gave him a mean look before crossing into the dining room and slumping into a chair. Whether wise or not, she believed she had to keep searching.
He followed her to the table and sat on the side that faced the living room where the girls were on the couch, cuddling under the same throw from the night before.
“That’sallhe said? That you should stop looking? I mentioned that a few times myself.”
Her gaze flicked to his and then back to her hands, gripped in front of her. “He asked if Dad had ever mentioned anything about Bilton Foundation to me.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“You’re not from Mount Isabel. But everyone from around here knows a little about Bilton. At least those who care about major improvement projects in town. That foundation has funded every project I can think of for as long as I can remember.”
“Like which ones?”
“Station 1 is the most recent example. Including equipment like the new Engine 1. Then there’s the playground at Mill Race Park, the Isa Wildflower Garden and all the community walking paths.” She ticked them off on her fingers as she provided names. “Not to mention the Mount Isabel Community Recreation Center. Have you seen that place?”
