Mad, Bad and Blonde (19 page)

“Like I said, I’m sure there’s no cause for concern,” Faith reassured her mom. “But I’ll check things out and see what’s going on with Dad.”

“I knew I could count on you,” her mom said, dabbing at her tears with the balled-up Kleenex.

Faith handed her a new tissue. “Of course you can count on me.”

Her mom took a ragged breath before voicing her biggest fear. “What if . . . what if he
is
having an affair?”

Here’s where Faith’s worst-case scenario train of thought came up. What if her dad really was cheating on her mom? What if they got divorced? What if her dad took off to Bali to find himself like Alan did?

Okay, she was losing control here. And control was required to get through this tricky situation. She didn’t want to go borrowing trouble. Maybe she’d have to rethink that worst-case stuff and go with something else instead. “Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, okay? No use worrying about something that in all likelihood isn’t true. Let’s go with the plan that I’ll find out what’s wrong and clear this misunderstanding up. Think how relieved you’ll be knowing that Dad isn’t being unfaithful to you.”

“But if he is cheating, he’d be good at hiding it. I mean the man is the top private investigator in Chicago. He’d be hard to catch.”

“Yes, but I’m a former librarian, and you know one of our mottos: If we don’t know the answer, we know where to find it. So don’t worry. I’ll find the answer.” Faith just hoped it was the answer they both wanted to hear and not one that would break up her family.

“So how are you settling in?” her dad asked Faith at work the next morning. She was seated in his office to go over an insurance fraud case.

“I’m doing good. How about you?”

“Overworked and underpaid.” It was a long-standing joke of his.

“Well, you’re the boss. Maybe you should ask for a raise. Or take some time off. You should take a vacation. You and Mom together. Doesn’t that sound like a great idea?”

“Hmmm.” He’d already focused his attention on a file he was studying on his computer screen.

“When was the last time you and Mom got away?”

“Hmmm.”

“Hello?” Faith rapped her knuckles on his desk. “Dad, I’m talking to you here. When was the last time you and Mom got away?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then it’s been too long. Your anniversary is coming up soon. You should go somewhere romantic.”

He gave her a look. “Like Italy?”

She squirmed. “Or someplace else. Or a cruise.”

“Just shoot me now. Being stuck on a boat with a thousand other people is my idea of hell.”

“Okay then, no cruise. And it’s a ship not a boat. But there are plenty of other options. Isn’t there someplace that you’ve always wanted to see?”

“Yes. The National Security Agency in Maryland, but it’s a restricted area.”

“And not a romantic location.”

“I don’t have time to take off.”

“Sure you do. You’re the boss. Who’s going to say no to you?”

“Me.”

“Let’s get a second opinion,” Faith said as her uncle joined them. “Uncle Dave, don’t you think it would be a great idea if Dad and Mom took off on a romantic getaway for their anniversary?”

Her uncle eyed her uncertainly. “Is this a trick question?”

“No,” Faith said.

“You see, he doesn’t think I should leave either,” her dad said.

“He didn’t say that. Aunt Lorraine said you wouldn’t have the gumption to go,” Faith said, hoping to goad her dad into proving her wrong.

“I doubt she said gumption. She probably said I didn’t have the balls to go. And I don’t care.”

“What’s so important here that you couldn’t get away?” Faith demanded.

“A number of things.”

She leaned forward in her chair. “Tell me about them.”

“There’s no time. I’ve got a meeting in five minutes.”

“Uncle Dave, tell him to take a vacation.”

“Take a vacation,” her uncle obediently said.

“There, you see? Your brother agrees with me.”

“I’ll think about it,” her dad said absently.

“You will not. You’ve already wiped it from your memory banks. This is important, Dad. You really need to focus on this idea, okay?”

“I said I’d think about it, and I will.” Now he sounded irritated.

Fine. She was irritated too. The least he could do was cooperate with her here. She was trying to save his marriage. Not that she could tell him that.

Her dad had always been an uber-workaholic, but her mom was right. Now that Faith was tuned in, she was picking up weird vibes from her dad. Not necessarily “I’m cheating” vibes, not that she was sure she’d know what those were like coming from her dad. But she was getting the feeling that he was hiding something.

She could tell she wasn’t going to get anything more out of him right now, so she withdrew from his office and cornered Gloria later that morning. Casually cornered her.

“My dad seems a little more stressed than usual,” Faith said with daughterly concern, which wasn’t faked. She truly was concerned. “Do you think my botched wedding upset him more than he let on?”

Gloria shrugged, her shoulders broader than usual in her poppy red sweater set. “As if I know what goes on in that mind of his.”

“Come on, Gloria. You are such an astute woman, and you’ve known my father for ages . . . I mean a long time,” she hurriedly edited. The frown on Gloria’s face clearly indicated that she didn’t like the “ages” reference. “What do you think is the cause of his raised stress level?”

“I’ll tell you one thing I do know for sure. Your father has raised
my
stress level. He was always impatient, but now . . .”

“Gloria!” he bellowed from his office. “Where’s that file I asked for?”

“I e-mailed it to you five minutes ago,” she yelled back before returning her attention to Faith. “You see? It’s little things like that. The straw that breaks the camel’s back. And I’m not the only one who has noticed. Your uncle made a comment about it. A very oblique comment, because that’s how Dave is. But still . . . you know it has to be pretty noticeable for Dave to see it, because he’s off in his own math world most of the time.”

“Thanks, Gloria.” Faith grabbed her uncle’s arm as he left her father’s office. “Let’s talk.”

“I’m really busy . . .”

“I know you are, but you have to eat lunch.”

“I eat lunch at my desk.”

“That’s not good for you.”

“Has Megan been talking to you?” he asked suspiciously.

“No. Why would she? Is something wrong?”

“My cholesterol levels were a little high. Tell her I’m eating a healthy lunch, even if it is at my desk.”

Faith was alarmed by this news about her uncle’s health. “Did the doctor put you on medication?”

“No, no. My numbers are slightly elevated, that’s all. No need to get upset.”

“Is my dad upset because he’s worried about your health?”

“He’s upset because he’s your dad.”

“So it
is
my fault.”

“No, that didn’t come out right. What I meant is that your dad is always upset. That’s just the way he is. And, yes, he seems a tad more . . . irritable, shall we say.”

“Do you think it’s because of Vince King?”

“I’m sure their vendetta isn’t helping.”

And it probably wasn’t helping that Caine was out there accusing her father of having botched the Karl Hunter investigation. That meant the sooner Faith proved Caine wrong, the better.

Friday night, and Faith had a big date. Not with a hot guy but hopefully with Weldon. She’d dressed for the occasion. Her colorful batik halter top showed off her tanned shoulders, while the black skirt she’d paired with it showed enough leg to keep things interesting.

The weather had turned hot and muggy, and storms were predicted for later in the evening. Her favorite WGN weatherman had warned viewers that some could turn severe. Her outfit was designed to keep her comfortable in what could turn into an uncomfortable situation, depending on so many things out of her control.

Faith was not surprised to find Caine casually lounging a few doors down from a northside Indian restaurant celebrating its grand reopening tonight.

The small eatery was a favorite of the elusive Weldon’s. Faith could only hope that the third time of trying to find him would be lucky. She also hoped that Caine wouldn’t repeat his previous distraction technique of grabbing her and kissing her or giving her an under-the-table orgasm.

She needn’t have worried. Caine’s scowl wasn’t the least bit welcoming.

“Are you trying to irritate me?” he growled.

“I’m trying to solve this case,” she said.

“No, you’re trying to convince yourself that your father didn’t botch it.”

“My father may not have actually conducted the entire investigation himself—”

“Doesn’t matter. He signed off on it.”

“Because it seemed like an open-and-shut case—”

“Seemed like? Are you leaving some room for doubt here?”

“I’ve got plenty of doubts, and most of them center around you.”

His scowl disappeared as he gave her a slow, sexy smile. “Been thinking about me again, huh?”

She looked away to prevent herself from kissing that smile off his lips. “Get over yourself.” That’s when she caught sight of a young man with a White Sox cap pulled low. The baseball cap got her attention, but the face beneath it cemented the deal. “Hey, that’s him.”

“Wait here.” Caine took off.

“No way.” She took off right after him. She was wearing athletic shoes meant for fast chases. She’d come prepared tonight.

“Hey Weldon, can I talk to you for a minute?” Caine said.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Faith reassured the nervous-looking Weldon. He reminded her a little of Aunt Lorraine’s Chihuahua: skinny, gangly and high-strung. His hands were tucked into the pockets of striped shorts that clashed with his plaid short-sleeved shirt, while his white socks and sandals would make a fashionista cry. On the positive side, he had really nice green eyes, and his glasses were no longer held together with tape.

“So you’re a White Sox fan, huh, Weldon?” she said. “Me too.”

Caine wasn’t about to let her use baseball to upstage him again. “My name is Caine Hunter. You worked with my father, Dr. Karl Hunter.”

“Caine is a Cubs fan,” Faith told Weldon.

“I’m really not into baseball,” Weldon mumbled. “Somebody left this hat on the bus.”

“Still, you were smart enough to pick it up,” she said. “That shows you are very smart. Brilliant, some would say.”

“Would you stop with the fake compliments?” Caine glared at her.

She blinked at him with feigned innocence. “They are not fake. Are you calling Weldon stupid?”

“No, of course not.”

“I’ve been told by people who know that Weldon here is a brilliant man.”

Weldon stood a little straighter. “Who told you that?”

“People who work with you.”

Weldon’s expression turned suspicious. “Why are you talking to people I work with? Do I know you?”

“Not yet, but I’m looking forward to getting to know you, Weldon.” She gave him a thousand-watt smile.

“Don’t trust her,” Caine said. “Her father is the one who drove my dad to do what he did. She’s just using you to get back at me.”

“That’s not true!” Faith said.

“Weldon, if you had any respect for my father, then you’ll work with me,” Caine said.

“I did respect your father a great deal,” Weldon said.

Confidence radiated from Caine. “Then work with me.”

“Look, we all want the same thing here,” Faith said.

“I doubt that,” Caine said.

“We want the truth.”

“You only want to prove that your rich daddy was right.”

“And you only want to prove that your father was innocent.”

Faith glared at Caine.

Caine glared at Faith.

It took both of them a moment to realize that Weldon was gone.

Anger flew over Caine’s face. “Shit. Where did he go?”

“He took off,” Faith said. “Can you blame him?”

“Hell yes.”

“If you’d done your research, you’d know that Weldon doesn’t deal well with social confrontations.”

“Tough shit.”

“That’s very empathetic of you. Obviously you scared him away.”