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I got up and showered and then went downstairs.
Without the children here, the house was too quiet. After a quick coffee, I hung around the kitchen and waited until Adelina went upstairs so that I could sneak her cell phone out of her purse.
As I rummaged through the capacious bag, I frowned, not being able to see the cell. I looked through it more carefully, taking my time to search all the pockets, but I still couldn’t find it.
I heard Adelina coming back down the stairs, so I hurriedly put the bag back where I’d found it.
As Adelina came in, holding a vase of flowers that needed its water changed, I casually asked, “How are your grandkids doing?”
Her face lit up as she told me the latest news of them.
“I’d loved to see some more photos of them. Do you have any new ones on your phone?”
“Yes, my daughter sends me pictures almost daily.” I had known this, of course, but used it as an excuse to find out where she had put her phone.
Adelina picked up her purse and looked through it. She sighed. “I must have left my phone at home.”
My heart sank. I had been counting on using her phone to gain access to the net so that I could do some research on the clinic’s employees.
Noticing my disappointed expression, she added, “Don’t worry. I’ll remember my phone tomorrow and show you the photos then.”
I felt bad for deceiving her, so I mustered up a smile. “That sounds great.”
I wandered back to the den and thought about how else I could prove who the leak was. I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing while Lorenzo continued to think that I was a traitor.
Apart from Adelina, I wondered who else I could ask for help. Cosima wouldn’t go against her son to help me, not that I had any way of contacting her without access to a phone.
Then I thought of Aloysius. Why hadn’t I thought of him before? He was always willing to help me. All I had to do was keep an eye out for anyone arriving at the house today. He was in and out of our mansion all the time, so, hopefully, he would pop by today.
I got my college books out to do some reading in the hope of taking my mind off the current situation. That was the only college work I could do without my laptop.
I set my study materials out on the dining room table, and although I tried to read, my mind couldn’t concentrate with everything else that was going on.
If I could tell Aloysius my suspicions about the clinic employees, then he could do the background checks on them, focusing on the nosy nurse. He could get one of his men to do a financial check on her, and I was sure that would tell us all we needed to know, including showing a nice big pay-off to her from the Feds.
I knew that there was a good likelihood of Aloysius coming to the mansion today and an even better chance of him agreeing to help me.
It had to be the nosy nurse who had followed us and then leaked the factory location to the Feds. As Lorenzo was always saying, there was no such thing as a coincidence.
I kept hoping that Aloysius would come by today, but as the hours passed and it became late afternoon, he still hadn’t appeared. I checked the time again. If he came by, I really needed to be able to talk to him alone before Lorenzo arrived home.
I told myself that there was still another couple of hours during which Aloysius could appear before Lorenzo came home and that Aloysius was sure to help me. He was always turning up and helping me—like when I snuck out to the grocery store at the strip mall, and when there was no guard to accompany me and the kids to the playground, and the time I got arrested at Chicago Cat-Con.
There’s no such thing as a coincidence.
Lorenzo’s words rang in my ears, and I stilled.
Aloysius was always appearing when I needed help—was that just a coincidence?
CHAPTER 49
ANNUNCIATA
When Lorenzo arrived home for dinner that evening, he had dinner in his study like the previous day.
Even though he was ignoring me, I needed to talk to him. Knocking once and then entering the room, he looked up at me with a scowl.
“I’ve been thinking about who the leak might be,” I began. Before he could accuse me again, I hurried on. “I thought it might be the nurse from the clinic—you know, the one who was flirty with you and was asking those questions about where you work. I thought that maybe she followed us from the clinic to the factory—”
