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"I might do a little more cleanup first," I said.
"Why don't you just leave it? Take a break. Find a place to stay and then check in on your mom."
He suddenly seemed eager to get me out of the house. I wondered if that was because he wanted to do some searching on his own. "I'm going to keep going for a while longer," I said.
"Do you want me to stay and help you?"
"Help me or hinder me?" I challenged.
"What does that mean?"
"Our mothers are tied together, and now you suddenly want me to leave this house. I have to assume that's because you want to look around here without me."
"Actually, I just want to think about everything that we learned, because it's fucked up," he said, anger burning in his gaze. "Laura never said one word to me about my mother or about sending her money. But she made a point to get to know me, to buy my art, to set me up with a show. What the hell is going on?"
"Clearly, my mother has a lot of secrets."
"Clearly," he echoed, betrayal in his gaze. He blew out a breath. "I won't be able to work now; I'm too pissed off. I'll help you get organized here. I'm in this, too, now, for better or worse."
"The way things are going, I'm expecting worse."
* * *
Kade and I worked for a couple of hours, not talking much as we sifted through files and papers and put the house back together. We didn't find anything else of interest. There was no information on the nonprofit, no evidence of a checkbook or bank account in that name. I looked for the group online as well but found nothing.
By six o'clock, I was tired, frustrated and in need of a break. I was thinking about leaving when Dani called. "I'm still at the house," I said pre-emptively. "But I'm going soon."
"You're supposed to be at a hotel, Brynn."
"I had to clean up and change the locks. It took longer than I thought. How was your drive home?"
"It was fine. I talked to Steve, and we think that we should hire a private investigator to look into Mom's death and her sudden reappearance. Steve knows a PI in San Francisco. He called him, and he's interested in working with us. Since you're in the city, he'd like to meet with you as soon as possible."
"Okay." A private detective probably wasn't the worst idea. "Text me his number, and I'll call him. Have you heard from Dad yet?"
"No. I just talked to Vicky again, and she's whipping up all kinds of bad theories in her head, most of them having to do with Dad cheating on her."
"I wish I thought that's what his silence was about, but the longer he stays out of touch, the more I worry."
"I feel the same way. Has anything else happened since I left?" Dani asked.
"I discovered Mom was involved with a nonprofit that sends money to single moms with financial problems. One of those women is Kade's mother."
"What?" Dani shrieked. "Kade? As in the guy downstairs? I told you to be careful about him. I told you there was more to the story."
"Kade was as shocked as I was. He never knew there was a connection between Laura and his mother. His mom said she got the money from a nonprofit, but it never had Laura's name on it. I don't think she was lying, because I saw the pre-addressed envelopes that had been sent to his mother, and Mom's name wasn't on them."
"This is bizarre, Brynn. You need to get out of there. For all we know, Kade could have been the one who shot Mom."
A shiver ran down my spine. "I don't believe that. He wants to find out the truth as much as we do."
"That's what he says, but you don't know."
I needed to get her off Kade. "Let's put him aside for the moment. The money started going to Kade's mom the year Mom left us. So, there's another coincidence. What happened that year to change everything?"
"Who knows? I don't like any of this, Brynn. I still think you should leave San Francisco and come back here. We can hire the investigator and do this from afar."
"It will be easier for me to talk to the investigator in person. I'll call him now. Don't worry about me, Dani. This new wrinkle isn't dangerous. It's a clue that will hopefully lead to more answers."
