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“He did,” Cicely confirmed. “He gave them the name of another child who’d died in Katrina. He figured his boss must have been satisfied, because he stopped pressuring Rocky for Xavier’s name. That’s when Rocky started searching harder for Xavier, so that he could warn him. He was worried that they’d silence him, too. He believed someone in his chain of command was covering this up and at that point he didn’t trust them not to try to hurt Xavier.”
“Rocky was like my second dad,” Xavier almost whispered. “But you were his son, Gabe. Not me. Never me. So don’t you worry about that.”
Gabe managed a smile. “My father was a good man. I’m glad he found you, and that you were all right.”
“Well.” Xavier waggled his hand. “We weren’t so good when he found us. My father had died the year before, and times were rough.”
“I was working two jobs to keep the house,” Cicely admitted. “My late husband didn’t know how to manage money, and I wasn’t aware that he didn’t know. Our financial situation after he died of a heart attack was a huge shock. There was barely enough to bury him. I ended up finishing my nurse’s degree and getting a good job, but there was a lot of debt. We were close to losing our house. Your dad helped us. I didn’t want to take it. Didn’t want to take food out of your mouths, but he promised me that his wife knew and that she wanted to help us.”
“Did you ever meet my mom?” Gabe asked.
Cicely smiled warmly. “We did. Just the once. She was able to travel for a short period of time and your dad drove her to Houston. They spent the night in a swanky hotel, then had breakfast with us the next morning at our house.”
Gabe’s heart pounded harder. “I remember that. Mom said they were having a second honeymoon while she still could. But I didn’t know they were going to see you. I wondered then why they picked Houston for a trip.”
“We were why.” Xavier met Gabe’s gaze. “We didn’t want his charity, so he said we could call it a loan. We paid him back, every cent we borrowed—with interest. It took us a few years, though. Your mother had passed by then. Mom and I both put what we earned against the debt and by the time I was in college, we’d paid in full.”
Cicely’s chin lifted slightly. “We have receipts.”
“I believe you,” Gabe said simply. And he did.
“I told him to stop after we’d paid him back,” Cicely said, ruefully shaking her head. “I was making decent money as a nurse by then. But he kept depositing that money into the John Alan account every month. Said it was a loan for Xavier’s college. He said that he’d helped send you to culinary school, Gabe, and that he was helping Xavier, too. That Xavier could pay him back when he was a rich doctor.” Her lips curved in a sad smile. “But now he won’t see that.”
“I had a scholarship and I worked to pay for school,” Xavier said. “I was saving the loan money for medical school.”
“As you should,” Gabe said quietly. “And someday, when you are a rich doctor? Donate something in his name, if you don’t mind. Money or time. He would have liked that.”
Xavier swallowed. “I will. I like that, too.”
“So do I.” Cicely exhaled. “That conversation was easier than I thought it would be.”
Gabe cleared his throat. “Then I guess we tackle the harder one. Once Dad found you, what did he do next? What happened six weeks ago that got him killed?”
No one answered. Because no one knew.
“We’ll find out,” Molly assured him, and he believed her, too. “Xavier, will you tell us about last night? You said that you called Paul Lott to get Gabe’s number because someone tried to kill you.”
Xavier shifted in his chair. He opened his mouth, but his mother tapped his hand.
She focused in on Burke. “Are you recording this?” she demanded.
What the hell?Gabe thought. What happened last night?
Burke was blinking. “No. We’re not recording any of this. Why?”
Xavier suddenly looked miserable. “Because I killed someone.”
