The Root of All Trouble (28 page)

Kevin and I stood outside Maria
's door. He said, "Are you wearing one of my shirts?"

I looked down. I had grabbed an old shirt of Kevin
's along with plaid flannel pajama pants. I'd stolen the shirt when he'd been living at my house for a while after being shot in the line of duty. It wasn't one of my prouder moments, but it had been too hard to resist. "I think it's one of my old ones."

"
It looks like one of mine."

"
You need to get your eyes checked."

He smiled. I smiled.

"My baby sister is going to have a baby," I said softly.

Scooting closer to me, he said,
"You're going to be a great aunt."

I scrunched my nose.
"Do you think I'd be a good mom?"

His mouth dropped open.
"Geez! Are you pregnant?"

At the shock on his face, I laughed.
"No! I'm just wondering. I think about it sometimes. Having a baby..."

He sagged against the wall in apparent relief. His eyes softened when he looked at me.
"I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You
are
a good mom. Just ask Riley."

Before I could get mushy, Nate popped out of the room looking terrified.
"She's already six centimeters dilated. The anesthesiologist is on the way up, and after that you can come back in."

He ducked back into the room.

"Coffee?" Kevin said.

"
We're going to need it. I mean, that is, if you're staying."

"
I'm staying."

I tried to hide the goofy smile on my face as we headed to the cafeteria. The stairs were eerily dark, lit only with small emergency lights along the bottom of the steps. Our footfalls echoed.

"Maria's labor is going fast," Kevin said. "I hope they're ready."

"
They're ready."

"
And I hope they've already set up a college fund for the baby. I was looking into costs for Riley in a year, and I think I should have chosen a life of crime instead of law."

College
. I grabbed his arm. "College!"

Warily, he studied me.
"Right. College..."

"
You don't understand." College had been the thing in the files that had been eluding me these past two days. I quickly explained to Kevin. "I was thinking to myself how Honey's and Ethan's backgrounds were so similar, except for the loss of Honey's brother. They're similar in age, have clean records, and my brain just realized they went to the same college." I shoved him a little bit. "The same college! And they both moved to Cincinnati at the same time. I'd bet my last roll of cookie dough that they know each other."
You love her, don't you?
"Maybe better than any of us dreamed."

His eyes darkened.
"Delphine did say that it was Joey who brought Ethan onto the crew."

"
Undoubtedly Honey finagled that somehow."

I leaned against the wall.
"Did she mastermind this whole thing? The life insurance, having an airtight alibi when her husband was killed..."

Oh my God, Jean-Claude. How did he fit into this mess?

The cafeteria was quiet as we filled cardboard mugs with stale coffee. "Did you interview him earlier? What did he have to say about his prints at the house?"

"
I couldn't find him. He'd been discharged from the hospital, and he wasn't at home. I have patrol looking for him."

You love her, don
't you?

"
You realize he's probably the guy Mario heard in the house with Joey, right?" My mouth dropped open and I latched onto Kevin's shirt as another realization hit me hard.

His gaze dropped to my hand, clutching a fistful of cotton.

"Mario," I whispered. "He tried to kill Mario, too."

"
Nina, that's quite a leap."

"
No, no. It makes perfect sense. Mario said he recognized the voice in Joey's house but couldn't place it. What if Ethan was scared he eventually would? On the day the water heater was installed, Mario was supposed to spend the night at the house, but at the last minute decided to stay another night with Kit. If Ethan tinkered with the water heater before he left, he probably figured Mario would be a goner by the morning."

"
And when he showed up and Mario wasn't dead?"

"
Let's just say it probably wasn't a coincidence that Ethan was working in a space with good ventilation and took lots of smoke breaks. He probably wasn't too concerned about the collateral damage."

Because he was a killer.

My instincts had been vindicated, but this wasn't the time to gloat. "Mario's still in danger."

"
Let me make some calls. I'll get hospital security up to Mario's room right away, and a security detail here as soon as possible. And I might have to leave after all. I need to have a talk with Honey."

I bit the inside of my cheek as he wandered off to find better cell phone coverage. My stomach churned, and I ended up dumping my coffee.

Kevin was back a minute later. "I need to go."

"
Let me get Gracie from your car."

The rain had let up, but it was still drizzling. The worst of the storm had passed to the east, but I had a feeling the aftermath of what it had left behind
wouldn't truly be revealed 'til morning.

Kevin clicked his keychain to unlock the doors, and reached in for the duffle. He
'd left the windows down an inch for air circulation for Gracie, and the upholstery was soaked, but he didn't seem to mind. He handed the bag over to me, and I peeked inside. Gracie was sound asleep.

Footsteps caught my attention and I looked up as a doctor in blue scrubs, a white lab coat, and a surgical mask pulled up over his chin walked by
, heading into the hospital. I squinted after him.

Kevin dropped a kiss on my cheek and headed for the driver
's door. Suddenly, I grabbed onto his shirt again.

"
You really have to stop doing that," he said, staring at my hand.

"
That doctor who just walked by... The scrubs threw me off, but I'm pretty sure it was Ethan, Kevin."

"
You're sure?"

The more I thought about it, the more I was sure. I
'd seen Ethan at Perry and Mario's wearing a dust mask and the look was similar. "Yes! Go, go! Hurry!"

Kevin sprinted off. I tried to keep up, but Gracie and my headache were slowing me down. My heart pounded. Ethan had to be going after Mario. I could only hope that hospital security was already at Mario
's room.

I chugged up the stairs and stopped on the maternity floor to drop off Gracie. I didn
't want to go into Maria's room and have to explain everything, so I opened the door, shoved the duffle bag inside and quickly closed it again.

Maria
's voice echoed down the hallway as I ran for the stairs. "
Neee-naaah!
"

Breathing hard, I raced up the steps. On Mario
's floor, I flung open the stairwell door, took three strides down the hallway, and nearly collided with Ethan, who'd been sprinting for the stairway.

His eyes widened when he recognized me, and suddenly he didn
't look like a creepy serial killer anymore but a scared kid.

Footsteps pounded, coming toward us. Ethan threw a look over his shoulder, then sprinted straight at me, grabbing my arm and twisting it behind my back before I could even think to react. He pulled me against his chest to use as a human shield just as Kevin and two uniformed guards turned the corner, guns drawn.

Ethan pressed something to my neck, and I could just barely make out that it was a syringe.

My knees went weak, but Ethan kept a firm grip on me.
"Not another step!" he said to the men.

"
Let her go, Ethan," Kevin said in a firm voice.

"
No way."

I noticed that Kevin wouldn
't look at me. Cool and calm, he kept his gaze squarely on Ethan.

My pulse jumped wildly in my throat, and I tried to calm down a little. Get a grip on the situation. Figure a way out of it.

"Listen," Kevin said. "You're not too far into this that you can't get out."

I thought that was a bit of a stretch. Ethan had been responsible for killing three people. Possibly four.

Tears stung my eyes as I thought about Mario. I hoped and prayed that Ethan had been thwarted before carrying out his plan to kill Mario.

"
You're not to blame, here." Kevin's voice soothed. "You were duped by Honey to do her dirty work. Put the syringe down, and let's talk about making a deal."

"
Leave Honey out of this," Ethan seethed.

"
Sorry, I can't. She used you, Ethan, plain and simple. She's used you, and she's going to let you take the fall while she picks up her life and moves on with a whole lot of cash and a brand-new lover."

"
You're wrong! She loves me!"

I felt Ethan
's body tense and hoped Kevin wouldn't push him too far. The prick of the needle on my neck kept digging a little deeper into my skin, in direct relation to Ethan's agitation.

"
Yeah, she loves you so much she had you kill her husband."

"
He deserved to die."

"
And frame an innocent woman."

"
She's not so innocent, is she?" he sneered.

"
And to make sure she had an alibi when you made that call to Joey to lure him to his death so her hands would be clean. She had a relationship with another man as a cover."

"
He doesn't mean anything to her."

The needle jabbed harder, and I closed my eyes. I
'd been up close and personal with death and killers before, and decided I'd never understand the psychosis behind their actions. Honey had sought revenge against Joey, yes, but in doing so she became no better than he was, maybe worse, because she had used Ethan to bring her plan to fruition.

Ethan started walking backward, toward the stairs.
"Don't follow us. Or else."

I opened my eyes to find Kevin
's gaze directly on mine. It narrowed and he looked toward the floor, then gave an almost imperceptible nod.

He wanted me to drop.

Easy for him to say.

Taking a deep breath, I pretended to stumble when Ethan took another step backward. Swinging my arm back, I hit him where the sun don
't shine, and let my body go slack. I hit the floor like a sack of flour, and looked up in time to see Ethan bringing his hand down to stab me with the syringe.

I threw my hands up in defense and let out a scream as a single gunshot sounded. Blood splattered over me like a surreal rain shower as Ethan dropped the syringe and crumpled next to me, crying out and cradling his shoulder.

In a blink, Kevin was next to me, cradling me against his chest as the uniformed officers took care of Ethan. Hospital staff and curious patients filtered into the hallway.

Kevin
's heart beat wildly against my cheek, and he held my so tightly I could barely breathe. "You're okay," he said softly.

I knew I was. Thanks to him.

"Mario?" I asked.

"
Fine. The security guards stopped Ethan from getting into the room."

I let out the breath I
'd been holding. What a nightmare this was.

Tucking my hair behind my ear, Kevin let me go.
"Let's get you cleaned up."

I could barely look at myself.
"There's blood on your shirt."

He cupped my face and looked at me tenderly.
"I thought you said it was your shirt."

"
I lied."

He laughed and pulled me back into his arms, hugging me tightly.
"Don't worry, I know where you can get another one."

I let him hold me like that for a long
, long time.

Chapter Twenty-seven

A
few days later, a full moon cast bountiful light over Mario and Perry's back yard. It was a glorious night, warm and balmy, perfect for a party. A slight breeze ruffled the leaves of the newly planted trees, and swished the long grasses along the fence and decks. On a night like tonight it was easy to imagine nothing but clear skies ahead.

People milled through the yard
, talking under giant red lanterns, gathering around the food tent, and dancing in the moonlight. Peppy music couldn't quite drown out the sound of the crickets, but their incessant chirps only added to the festivities.