Identity (45 page)

She called Emma, who had found the same information as Fina regarding Brett Linder’s arrests. He had been raised by a single mother, but that didn’t mean he was the product of Hank Reardon or even Heritage Cryobank.

“Okay. I need you to look into a guy named Denny Calder next.”

“All right. Fina, you don’t happen to have any tickets for the Pats-Jets game, do you?”

Fina sighed. Her family had season tickets to all of Boston’s professional sports teams, and they were constantly doling out tickets to keep their contacts happy.

“How many do you need?”

“Just two.”

“New boyfriend?”

“No comment.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” She hung up and her mind wandered, trying to imagine her computer genius on a date. Either she’d spend the evening debating algorithms or having hot, freaky sex. Emma truly was an enigma.

•   •   •

In Arlington, Marnie opened the door and brought her into the kitchen. She was dressed for work, in pants and a short-sleeved sweater, and a bowl of cereal sat on the table.

“Is this a bad time?” Fina asked.

“No, it’s fine. I have a meeting downtown in a bit, so I’ve had a leisurely morning.” Marnie sat down and nodded for Fina to join her. “Do you want some coffee?”

“No, thanks. Is Tyler around?” Fina asked, taking a seat.

Marnie shook her head and lingered a moment too long on Fina’s face. “He’s in class this morning and then work this afternoon. I don’t expect him back until late tonight.” She dipped her spoon into the cereal.

“I’d leave a message, but it’s probably better to speak with him in person.”

“Is this about the night of Hank’s death? The field trip to the Reardons’?”

“He told you about that?”

“Yes. Tyler doesn’t have great impulse control, obviously, and sometimes that means he admits things to me that other children might keep to themselves.”

“Well, since you already know about it, you can pass on a message. I watched some surveillance tapes that back up his story. It shows him and Rosie hanging around, smoking.”

Marnie nodded. “Of course there’s video. I imagine they have a sophisticated security system.” She used her spoon to chase an oat cluster around the bowl.

“They do, but I wouldn’t worry about the tape. Danielle Reardon doesn’t have any plans to disseminate it in any way.”

“I’m not worried, actually, but I can guess who is.” She grinned slyly.

Fina smiled. “You are correct.”

“Renata can create more drama than anyone I’ve ever met. It must be exhausting being her.”

“Being her and living with her, I suspect.”

Marnie sipped her coffee. “So does this put Tyler in the clear?”

“We’re moving in the right direction, but I’ll have to check with the cops to see exactly where he stands.”

The front door banged open, and Marnie cocked her head to the side. “Hello?”

“It’s me, Mom,” a female voice called from the front hall. “I forgot something!”

Marnie and Fina listened as Jess trotted up the stairs.

“I thought she lived in Brighton,” Fina said.

“She does, but she stays here occasionally.”

Jess’s footsteps echoed overhead, and a moment later she appeared in the kitchen.

“Oh,” she said, eyeing Fina. “I thought you were alone.”

“Fina stopped by to give us some good news. It seems that Tyler is slowly getting out of trouble.”

“That’s good,” Jess said. She shifted a stack of papers and a few other items around on the kitchen counter. “I can’t find my Clarinex, and we have a long run this afternoon. It’s going to be a killer.”

“Did you look in my bathroom?” Marnie asked.

Jess pivoted and ran back up the stairs.

“Allergies,” Marnie said, responding to Fina’s unasked question. “They always flare up in the fall, and she spends a lot of time outside running in all that pollen.”

“I assume you don’t suffer or your gardening would be torture.”

“Thankfully, I don’t. I would hate to give up my garden.”

Jess came back into the room. “Found it!”

“I was right?” Marnie asked with a grin.

“You’re always right, Mom.” Jess leaned down and gave her mother a peck on the cheek. “I’ve gotta run. See ya.” She gave a limp wave to Fina and banged back out the front door.

“So you’ll let Tyler know I stopped by?” Fina asked as Marnie carried her cereal bowl over to the sink.

“He’ll be sorry he missed you. I think he has a bit of a crush on you.”

“That’s very flattering, but let’s hope his tastes change as he gets
older. He should look for a nice librarian or pediatrician in the making. Private investigators don’t exactly live staid lives.”

“I wasn’t sure if I should mention it,” Marnie said, gesturing toward her face and bandaged hands.

“A work mishap. Nothing permanent. Tell Tyler I said hi.”

Fina sat in her car for five minutes, recent conversations rolling through her mind like waves at the beach. Something was stirring in the recesses of her brain, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Patience was not a virtue Fina had much of, but she’d learned that her brain would make the connections when it was good and ready.

•   •   •

Risa had left her a voice mail, so Fina called back and they planned to meet at her house in an hour. Fina drove to Newton and spent twenty minutes making phone calls and checking e-mails. Shari had sent over the report for Carl’s insurance physical as promised; Carl hadn’t been exaggerating about its breadth. Fina was marveling over her father’s 16 percent body fat, wondering if he’d outsourced the appointment with the fat calipers, when Risa drove up.

Outfitted in a white tennis dress and zippered top, Risa hauled two bags of groceries out of the car before Fina took one from her. She tossed a carryall holding her racquet over her shoulder and unlocked the front door. In the kitchen, they placed the grocery bags on the counter, and Risa dropped her sports gear in the mudroom.

“I’m so thirsty,” Risa said, opening the refrigerator door. “Iced tea?”

“Yes, please. Good match?” Fina asked, climbing onto one of the stools at the granite counter.

Risa waved her hand in the air. “It was fine. Doubles, and I had to play with Terry Livingstone. Melanie used to call her Tweety because the woman doesn’t shut up. Ever.”

“That must be distracting.”

“It is, but if I asked for another partner it would create a scandal of epic proportions at the club. I can’t be bothered.” She placed a glass
of iced tea down in front of Fina. “I’m not even going to ask about your face. Are you hungry?”

Fina smiled and took a sip. “Depends on what you have.”

“Because you can always make room for certain things?”

“Exactly. I don’t understand people who say otherwise.”

Risa opened the fridge and took stock. “Oh! I know. I have to make something for a Grahamson meeting, so I tried a new recipe.” She pulled out a large glass bowl. “Grand Marnier chocolate mousse.”

“Bless you, Risa.”

Fina watched as she doled out a large helping of mousse and topped it with fresh whipped cream. She slid the bowl in front of Fina and took a long drink from her glass of tea before unloading some perishables from the grocery bags and putting them away.

Fina dipped the spoon in and took a bite. “This is sublime.” She scooped another spoonful and dredged it through the whipped cream. “I assume you’re going to make it for the meeting?”

Risa scrunched up her face. “I don’t know. It’s just chocolate mousse, and they’re a pretty tough crowd.”

“There is nothing ‘just’ about this. There’s a reason some recipes are classic. Everybody loves them.”

“It depends how inspired I feel in the next couple of days.”

Fina licked the spoon. “I doubt you asked me here to weigh in on the dessert.”

“No, although I do like feeding you, Fina. You’re always an appreciative eater.”

“Tell my mother that.”

“Oh, that’s not about food, sweetie. That’s about control.”

“Yes, her infinite need for it.”

Risa smirked.

“Okay, so maybe I have control issues, too,” Fina said. “Moving on . . .”

Risa leaned her elbows on the counter. “I’ve decided to be in touch with Greta Samuels.”

Fina relished the delicate flavor of chocolate and orange in her mouth. “Okay. Sounds good.”

“Do you have an opinion about it?”

“No.”

Risa looked at her, tilting her head.

“Really, I don’t,” Fina insisted. “It’s your decision. I assume you talked to Marty about it?”

“I did, and we agreed that I would proceed, but if at any point I don’t like where things are going, I can call the whole thing off.”

“That’s reasonable. How do you want to proceed?”

“You haven’t told her the results yet, right?”

“Nope.”

Risa retrieved the glass pitcher of iced tea from the refrigerator. She refilled her glass and topped off Fina’s.

“I think we should meet,” Risa said decisively.

“You don’t want to ease into it with some letters or phone calls?”

“I thought about that, but what’s the point?”

“Well, sometimes people like to take baby steps. It helps them get used to the idea of having a relative they didn’t know about before.” She ate another spoonful.

Risa considered this for a moment and shook her head. “I don’t think baby steps will help. It’s like ripping off a Band-Aid: I’d rather just get the thing done.”

“Great. Sounds like you’re really looking forward to it.”

Risa smiled. “I don’t mean to suggest that it’s going to be awful, but I think the initial contacts will be awkward. I’d like to bite the bullet and get through that phase as quickly as possible.”

“Okay.” Fina scraped her spoon around the sides of the bowl. She licked the last smears of mousse off her spoon.

“I can give you a doggie bag if you’d like. There’s plenty.”

“No, thank you. This stuff is dangerous.” Fina brought the bowl and her glass over to the sink and ran them under the water. “Where do you want to meet her?”

Risa leaned with one hip against the counter. She was in terrific shape, her legs lean and tan. “You said it was about an hour and a half to her place?” Fina nodded. “How about halfway?”

“I’m sure there’s a restaurant or a diner that would work. Let me figure something out,” Fina said.

They walked to the front door and exchanged a hug.

“I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve been in touch with Greta,” Fina said.

“I hope I’m doing the right thing,” Risa said.

“Like you said, you can change your mind at any point.”

“It’s not that I’m not happy with the family I have, but I guess I’m a little curious.”

“That’s natural.”

“Given the chance to learn something about my biological relatives, I feel like I should take it,” Risa added.

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”

“Neither. I’m comfortable with my decision, it’s just hard to articulate something that feels so primal, if that makes any sense.”

“I understand. Follow your instincts. You never know; this could be the start of something wonderful.”

“You must be on pain pills. Let me know when you talk to her.”

Fina returned to her car and made a note to call Greta Samuels. She was anxious to facilitate the meeting between aunt and niece, but there was another meeting that was more pressing.

•   •   •

Fina had more questions for Juliana, but couldn’t imagine she’d be more forthcoming than she was at their last meeting. Divide and conquer was a popular strategy, but occasionally unite and conquer could be equally effective. This was the thinking behind her meeting with Juliana and Michael. She’d planned on seeing them on neutral territory, but when Juliana suggested the Reardon Center, Fina agreed. It might be interesting to see Juliana work the home field advantage.

The parking lot behind the center was like a brainteaser; there were a couple of available spaces, but getting her car into one seemed to require math and a PhD-level understanding of angles. One shouldn’t break a sweat while parking, but by the time Fina emerged from her car, she felt like she’d had a mini-workout.

The center was in what had originally been a single-family Victorian-style home. The front door opened into a large foyer with high ceilings and a wide staircase leading to the second floor. The space was flooded with natural light, the walls painted a light eggshell color, which provided a backdrop for the original artwork lining the walls.

Fina checked in at the front desk and took a seat in a comfortable upholstered chair. There were a few women scattered around the waiting room, a couple without hair.

A young woman appeared before Fina. “Can I get you something to drink? We have a selection of teas and water flavored with cucumber or lemon.”

Water flavored with cucumber? Really?

“I’ll try the cucumber water, please.”

Fina perused the stack of magazines on the side table next to her.
Health
,
Natural Health
,
Holistic Health
,
Yoga Journal
—slim pickings for a junk food devotee. Where was the waiting room that was geared toward her interests? Journals devoted to sugar, fat, and lounging on the couch?

She picked up a copy of
Yoga
magazine and started paging through it. There were men and women with perfect, sculpted bodies in pretzel-like poses. Fina felt like a child staring at
Playboy
, turning the magazine this way and that in an attempt to make sense of the body parts on display.

“Ms. Ludlow? I have your water, and Juliana and Michael are ready to see you.”

Fina followed the woman up the stairs to a room at the front of the building, overlooking the street. There was a small Parsons table in the corner, but most of the room was dominated by two couches that
looked soft and inviting. Juliana was sitting in the corner of one, with Michael seated at the other end. They were deep in conversation when Fina walked in and claimed a spot on the other couch.

“Fina, how are you?” Juliana asked, and reached for a mug on the coffee table. “You look like you were in an accident.” She was wearing a fitted sheath dress in navy blue topped with a blazer in a small silvery blue pattern. Her short blond hair was tucked behind her ears. Fina may not have been a fan of Juliana’s, but she couldn’t deny that she was a stellar role model in terms of embracing life after fifty. When she grew up, Fina wanted to look like her.