safe?” Lucas patted his friend on the leg as he passed.
“Yes, yes.”
The task force members were maybe at the same hotel, but not in a rental like Josiah and his family. Did they each have their own car, or would Nguyen travel with Evelyn? Jane craned her neck to see if she could catch a glimpse of them leaving.
“That makes two.”
“Is there anything we can do for you or Nick?” Tiffany asked.
“I think, at a time of grieving like this, privacy is all our little family asks.” Theo didn’t move a muscle, and his voice was likewise emotionless.
“Tiff and I are going to slip into the office and get some work done, but we won’t come out again until your mom gets home or we give up waiting. How does that sound?” Lucas got up and helped his wife into her wheelchair.
“Peachy.”
Lucas rolled Tiffany away.
Jane perched on the step stool, trying to make her motions as small as possible. She wavered, and realized she had been holding her breath. She still had three bookshelves full of books to dust, so she couldn’t just leave with Theo sitting there. She shoved the Reader’s Digest Condensed Best Books of 1987 back into its spot on the shelf.
“Sure good to have you around. Without you, we might have all died of decorative-book-dust poisoning.”
His words were like a slap from nowhere, and Jane burst into laughter.
Theo opened his eyes. “Funny?”
“Hilarious, because that’s just what I was thinking.” She stepped off of the stool and folded it up. “Do you know how hard it is to think of reasons to linger in a clean house? The spying-maid gig is harder than I thought it would be.”
Theo leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “So whodunit?”
“Don’t know.”
“Did the A-Team drop any illuminating clues?”
“Nope.”
“So what do you do next? Report ‘nothing to see here’ to the police detective?”
Jane packed her dusters into her cleaning caddy. “As a matter of fact, I kind of have to keep this all on the down low. Turns out cops don’t love amateurs poking their noses into murder investigations.”
“Despite that, you’re happily taking my mother’s money to clean a perfectly clean house.”
“Sure.” Jane shrugged. “I don’t charge her any more than I charge my other clients. And no one ever lets the maid clean a dirty house.”
This time Theo laughed.
“What about you?” Jane ventured. “Do you really think Francine did it?”
“Sure. Or maybe a delusional religious fanatic.” Theo’s face reddened. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find out who stuck him, since there were only so many people on the stage with him that day. The question is, who ordered him killed?”
“Did you believe in your stepdad’s ministry?” Jane’s heart beat so loud she thought the neighbors could hear it, but she needed to take advantage of the boy’s unusual chattiness.
“It worked for them.” Theo’s face froze, though it reddened another shade.
“But not for you?”
“People pay good money to get what they want out of life. If Josiah Malachi gave people what they wanted, who am I to complain?”
“So, is life a lot different with your mom than with your dad?”
“Not really.”
Jane tilted her head. How could it not be vastly different with all of the travel and the revivals? “What do you mean?”
“Dad’s rich too, though maybe not quite as famous. And he’s also never home. Can’t be any closer to the same than that.” Theo leaned back again.
Jane was losing him, but she wasn’t ready to yet. “How does losing Josiah compare to losing your sister?”
Theo kept his mouth shut.
“She was your sister, wasn’t she?”
“Yes, Haven is my sister.” Theo’s voice was clipped. He took a deep breath and held it.
“What happened to her?”
“No one ever told me.” His jaw worked side to side.
“But she was twelve when she disappeared. How could they not talk about it? Not explain what happened? Not try to find her?”
Theo didn’t
“Yes, yes.”
The task force members were maybe at the same hotel, but not in a rental like Josiah and his family. Did they each have their own car, or would Nguyen travel with Evelyn? Jane craned her neck to see if she could catch a glimpse of them leaving.
“That makes two.”
“Is there anything we can do for you or Nick?” Tiffany asked.
“I think, at a time of grieving like this, privacy is all our little family asks.” Theo didn’t move a muscle, and his voice was likewise emotionless.
“Tiff and I are going to slip into the office and get some work done, but we won’t come out again until your mom gets home or we give up waiting. How does that sound?” Lucas got up and helped his wife into her wheelchair.
“Peachy.”
Lucas rolled Tiffany away.
Jane perched on the step stool, trying to make her motions as small as possible. She wavered, and realized she had been holding her breath. She still had three bookshelves full of books to dust, so she couldn’t just leave with Theo sitting there. She shoved the Reader’s Digest Condensed Best Books of 1987 back into its spot on the shelf.
“Sure good to have you around. Without you, we might have all died of decorative-book-dust poisoning.”
His words were like a slap from nowhere, and Jane burst into laughter.
Theo opened his eyes. “Funny?”
“Hilarious, because that’s just what I was thinking.” She stepped off of the stool and folded it up. “Do you know how hard it is to think of reasons to linger in a clean house? The spying-maid gig is harder than I thought it would be.”
Theo leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “So whodunit?”
“Don’t know.”
“Did the A-Team drop any illuminating clues?”
“Nope.”
“So what do you do next? Report ‘nothing to see here’ to the police detective?”
Jane packed her dusters into her cleaning caddy. “As a matter of fact, I kind of have to keep this all on the down low. Turns out cops don’t love amateurs poking their noses into murder investigations.”
“Despite that, you’re happily taking my mother’s money to clean a perfectly clean house.”
“Sure.” Jane shrugged. “I don’t charge her any more than I charge my other clients. And no one ever lets the maid clean a dirty house.”
This time Theo laughed.
“What about you?” Jane ventured. “Do you really think Francine did it?”
“Sure. Or maybe a delusional religious fanatic.” Theo’s face reddened. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find out who stuck him, since there were only so many people on the stage with him that day. The question is, who ordered him killed?”
“Did you believe in your stepdad’s ministry?” Jane’s heart beat so loud she thought the neighbors could hear it, but she needed to take advantage of the boy’s unusual chattiness.
“It worked for them.” Theo’s face froze, though it reddened another shade.
“But not for you?”
“People pay good money to get what they want out of life. If Josiah Malachi gave people what they wanted, who am I to complain?”
“So, is life a lot different with your mom than with your dad?”
“Not really.”
Jane tilted her head. How could it not be vastly different with all of the travel and the revivals? “What do you mean?”
“Dad’s rich too, though maybe not quite as famous. And he’s also never home. Can’t be any closer to the same than that.” Theo leaned back again.
Jane was losing him, but she wasn’t ready to yet. “How does losing Josiah compare to losing your sister?”
Theo kept his mouth shut.
“She was your sister, wasn’t she?”
“Yes, Haven is my sister.” Theo’s voice was clipped. He took a deep breath and held it.
“What happened to her?”
“No one ever told me.” His jaw worked side to side.
“But she was twelve when she disappeared. How could they not talk about it? Not explain what happened? Not try to find her?”
Theo didn’t
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