Identity (40 page)

The next morning, Fina’s alarm woke her at seven
A.M.
, and she couldn’t remember why on earth she’d set it in the first place. She rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling, willing the neurons and synapses to start firing and help her recall.

Frank. That’s right. One of the few people for whom she’d set an alarm.

She called him to be sure he wasn’t headed out for the day, and then showered. Fina skipped breakfast, hopeful that Peg would have something on offer, and at eight
A.M.
she was not disappointed by the aromas that greeted her when she came in through the Gillises’ front door.

“That smells good,” she said, walking into the kitchen.

Frank and Peg were both wearing sweatsuits, presumably having already completed their morning constitutional.

“You chose the right morning to visit,” Frank said. “She’s taken pity on me.”

Peg put a plate of iced cinnamon rolls on the table. “Want some juice, hon?” she asked Fina.

“Yes, please. What’s the occasion, Peg?”

“His numbers from his checkup were good, and I know I shouldn’t reward him with food, but he was getting kind of cranky.”

Frank had had a heart scare a few years before, and as a nurse, Peg took it upon herself to ensure he followed a healthy diet.

“I’m the same way,” Fina said, pulling one large roll apart from another.

“You get cranky if you haven’t had sugar or fat for two hours!” Frank exclaimed. “I’m talking about months—years—of watching what I eat.”

“Wow. You
are
cranky,” Fina said before taking a bite.

Peg placed a glass of juice in front of Fina and topped off Frank’s coffee. She joined them at the table and claimed a roll for herself.

“Delicious, right?” Frank asked his wife.

Peg chewed slowly and wiped a smudge of icing off her finger. “It’s almost too sweet for me.”

Frank and Fina exchanged eye rolls.

“So, what brings you over here so early?” he asked.

“I just wanted to bounce the case off you and get your advice.”

“Shoot.”

Fina updated him on the recent developments: the video footage from Korfa disproving Rosie’s and Tyler’s alibis, Ellen’s claims that Walter had stolen files, Juliana’s alleged expansion plans and fight with Hank, and Danielle’s subterfuge regarding Hank’s calls to Walter Stiles. She finished with the photos of Haley.

“That poor girl,” Peg said, shaking her head.

“Trust me. I feel terrible.” Fina looked at Frank. “But what am I supposed to do about it? I don’t know who’s making the threats.”

“Did you report it to the police?”

“I told Cristian and his boss, but I haven’t done anything official yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because I haven’t told Haley about it.”

“You haven’t?” Peg frowned.

“I didn’t want to needlessly freak her out.”

“But if she isn’t aware of it, she might not be careful,” Peg said.

“Scotty knows,” Fina said, “and we discussed hiring protection for her, but only as a last resort.”

Frank sipped his coffee. “How close are you to wrapping up the case?”

Fina raised her hands in a question mark. “Pretty close, I think, but you know how this works. I could be on the threshold or barking up the wrong tree completely.”

“Maybe you should pull her out of school for a few days. At least at home someone could keep an eye on her,” Frank said.

“I wish I could just draw the guy out somehow,” Fina mused. She ran her finger along a hillock of icing on the plate.

He shook his head. “That sounds like a terrible idea.”

“That’s what Cristian said.”

“I’ve always liked that young man,” Peg said. “Do you two date?”

“Can we please focus on one crisis at a time?” Fina asked.

“Unfortunately, I think you have to remain on the defensive,” Frank concluded. “Be alert and solve the case.”

“Oh, that’s all? Well, then.”

Peg offered her half-eaten cinnamon roll to Fina, who happily scarfed it down. The three of them sat in companionable silence for a moment.

“Do you think I have a bias against rich people?” Fina asked finally.

“I don’t understand the question,” Frank said, leaning back in his chair, his hands folded over his stomach.

“Michael Reardon claims that I’m giving the cryokids a free pass since they’re less privileged than he is, and that I’m holding his family up to more scrutiny.”

Frank considered for a moment. “I think if you have any bias—well, we all have biases—it’s in reaction to your upbringing. At times you
are
more sympathetic to the underprivileged, but I don’t think you’ve demonstrated a bias in this case. It sounds like you’re following the evidence.”

“That would suggest that she favors people who have experienced
fewer benefits in life,” Peg said. “Is that really a bias? Sounds like a correction of sorts.”

“It’s a bias if she turns a blind eye to evidence or gives the poor guy the benefit of the doubt that she wouldn’t give the rich guy. I don’t think that’s happening here. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Okay,” Fina said. “I wanted to be sure. I think he assumes that he and his family are beyond reproach, that they shouldn’t have to answer my questions or explain their behavior.”

“Because that’s probably how they’ve lived their whole lives,” Frank said.

“Probably.” Fina finished her orange juice. “Thanks, you guys. You’re the best, you know that? Good food and good advice.”

“How are your folks?” Peg asked as she cleared the dishes from the table.

“What about good food and good advice brought Carl and Elaine to mind?” Fina asked, rising from the table.

“You’re very hard on them,” Peg said.

“They taught me well! Gotta run.”

Fina checked her messages, and since no one was demanding her attention, she drove out to Worcester to run some records checks at city hall. There were often items on Fina’s to-do list that weren’t particularly urgent but certainly inconvenient. She attended to these tasks when her schedule permitted, thereby killing two birds with one stone: crossing something off her list and distracting herself while waiting for a more pressing case to break.

Lunch was a plastic sleeve of powdered donuts from a gas station, and her phone rang as she licked her fingers clean. It was the private lab in Longwood. The caller refused to release test results over the phone, so Fina hopped on the Pike and headed east.

She cooled her heels in the medical area traffic that seemed prevalent no matter the time of day. Parking was another headache, so by the time she’d signed the various release forms, the suspense was killing her. She sat down on a couch in a waiting area smelling of antiseptic
and floor polish and ripped open the envelope. Inside was a small sheaf of papers; it took a moment for her to find the pertinent data.

Well, I’ll be damned.

At least she was making progress on one of her cases.

•   •   •

Fina spoke to Risa’s housekeeper and tracked her down at Grahamson, the private school that her kids and Haley attended. After checking in with the front desk and getting lost in a warren of hallways, she was led to the gymnasium by a girl with patrician bone structure wearing a school uniform blazer and kilt. She looked like she’d just finished a session of dressage.

Inside the gym, a gaggle of tweens and teens in shorts and T-shirts bounced basketballs while being corralled by two coaches. Fina scouted the stands and found Risa sitting on one of the top risers in the corner. She trotted up the stairs and sidestepped to her spot.

Risa looked taken aback to see her.

“Is this some kind of punishment?” Fina asked, sitting down next to her. The constant thumping of the balls and their echoes thundered through the gym. “How can you even hear yourself think?”

“Jordan asked me to come for his scrimmage since I can’t make his game tomorrow.” On the court below, the boys had broken into two teams, one of which was pulling on red pinnies. A student was gathering the extra balls and putting them in a large bin.

“Got it. I can catch up with you later. I don’t want to distract you.”

“Like I’d be able to concentrate now if you left? I assume you have some news for me?” Risa chewed on her bottom lip. It was an uncharacteristic display of anxiety, which convinced Fina that she should put her out of her misery.

“I do have news. Greta finally got her DNA test done, and it’s a match.”

Risa was silent. Her eyes followed the progress of the ball across the court. She took a deep breath. “Okay, well, I guess now I know.”

“You do. I haven’t spoken with Greta. I wanted to tell you first.”

“Do we know for sure that she’s my aunt?”

“We know that the two of you are related, separated by one generation.”

Risa’s features slackened. “Could she be my mother?”

“No,” Fina assured her. “She’s definitely not your mother.”

With the scrimmage under way, there was only one ball echoing through the space, but it was coupled with the squeaks of ten pairs of expensive basketball sneakers, a whole new sensory torture.

“Now what?” Risa asked.

“That’s up to you. I’ll handle it however you want. I think we should tell her the results, but whether you want to have contact with her is your call.”

“I don’t know. I— Good shot, Jordan!” she hollered toward the court. “I don’t know what to do.”

“You don’t have to decide right away. Why don’t you take a little time to digest the news, talk to Marty? Greta hasn’t been in your life for forty-six years; a week or a month isn’t going to make a difference.”

Risa inhaled. “You’re right. Just because she wants to be in touch doesn’t mean I have to be.”

“And you can figure out what kind of relationship you want, if any.” A loud buzzer rang over their heads. “Maybe you and Greta talk on the phone or just send letters to each other. Maybe you meet, but you don’t have to. There are no rules even though she’s a blood relative.”

“No? You don’t think so?”

“No. I know it feels like there are, but believe me, I’m up to my eyeballs in a case that’s all about nature versus nurture, and the rules are just theoretical.”

They watched the action on the court for a few minutes. Fina had never understood the appeal of watching basketball. Why watch the whole game when it was often decided in the last two minutes?

“I heard that Haley’s playing field hockey,” Risa said.

“Yes, I’m actually going to her first home game.”

“I think that’s good for her.”

“So do I. Patty and Scotty are taking good care of her.”

“I’m so glad. I know her mom’s death and Rand’s absence have been really difficult.”

“I’m sure she misses her mom a lot. How about you?” Fina asked, anxious to steer the conversation away from her brother. “Melanie was your best friend. How are you doing?”

“Actually, a lot of the time I can’t quite believe she’s gone. I’ll have a conversation with someone or read the paper and think, ‘I need to tell Mel about this,’ and then it will dawn on me: she’s dead.”

Fina nodded.

“Your neck looks better,” Risa commented, peering at Fina’s skin.

“I’m definitely on the mend.”

“Good. You need to be careful, you know. The last thing Haley needs is another family crisis.”

“Believe me, I know.”
Like being the victim of a crime herself.
Fina shook off the thought. “I’ll be in touch in a couple of days, but until then, I won’t update Greta.”

“You think that’s okay?”

Fina stood. “She dragged her feet getting the test; you’re entitled to your own foot-dragging.”

“Thanks, Fina.”

“Of course. And Risa, this isn’t bad news or good news; it’s just news.”

“I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

Fina climbed down the bleachers and escaped into the hallway, where she was greeted by silence and a distinct lack of musty teenage boy smell. She took a deep breath of clean air and walked back out to her car.

The last thing Fina expected to find on her phone was a message from Juliana Reardon. Their lunch hadn’t ended well, and Michael didn’t seem optimistic about changing his mother’s attitude. Fina couldn’t imagine what she wanted.

“Hi, Fina,” Juliana said when she picked up the phone.

“Juliana. How are you?” Fina gazed out at the Grahamson grounds. The school looked more like a country estate than a school, with its rolling hills, looming stone buildings, and winding paths.

“I’m good. I was wondering if you would grant me a do-over?”

“I would be happy to. Just give me a time and place.”

“How about a drink at the Four Seasons in an hour?”

“Works for me.”

•   •   •

Fina wended her way through Newton and arrived at Scotty and Patty’s house a few minutes later. She was pleased to find the front door locked and knocked before letting herself in with her key.

“Patty? Anyone home?” Fina called into the large foyer.

“We’re upstairs,” a voice responded from above.

Fina climbed the wide staircase and collided with Teddy as he raced down the carpeted hallway.

“Hi, Aunt Fina!”

“Hey, buddy! Where’s your mum?”

“In Haley’s room!” he called over his shoulder, disappearing into one of the boys’ bedrooms.

Fina walked down the hall and into Haley’s bedroom. Since she’d moved in a couple months before, Patty and Scotty had made every effort to make the space her own. The walls were painted lilac with shiny white trim. The queen-sized bed was covered in a duvet with a turquoise geometric pattern. Clothes were strewn across the floor, and various cords took up real estate on her desk. There was a bulletin board filled with pictures of hugging teens making goofy faces, and a framed photo of Haley with her mother was prominent on the bedside table.

Fina splayed across the bed next to her niece as Patty did an inventory of the closet. “They say you need a white button-down or blouse.”

“Hey, Aunt Fina,” Haley said. “I think I have one.”

Patty poked her head out of the roomy closet. “Hey.”

“Hey. What do you need a white shirt for?”

Haley rolled her eyes. “School chorus.”