Death of the Family Recipe (A Scotti Fitzgerald Murder Mystery Book 3)

by Anita Rodgers

  I sighed and looked away, wiping tears from my face. "I know."

  Jennifer whispered. "I’m so sorry. I wish things were different. I wish you could’ve grown up with your mother. Rose would’ve been a wonderful mother."

  I turned to Jennifer. "Why haven’t you asked me?"

  Jennifer frowned. "Asked you what, dear?"

  I glared at her. "What happened to me? This is the third time we’ve spoken and still you haven’t asked about my life. Why?"

  Jennifer stared at me for a long while. "Was it terrible?" I nodded. Her eyes glazed with sadness. "Were you abused?"

  I boiled over with sarcasm. "Not so bad. If you like having the crap kicked out of you on a regular basis."

  Jennifer’s hand flew to her mouth. "By whom?"

  "By any kid who wanted what I had. My sandwich, my fruit punch, my pillow." I shrugged. "Sometimes just for fun."

  Jennifer looked into my eyes as though she really cared. "You were never adopted? Why?"

  I couldn’t control my attitude. I hurt and I wanted her to hurt too. "How do I know? Nobody wanted me. It’s just that simple."

  Jennifer’s eyes brimmed with tears. "I’m so sorry."

  "Don’t be sorry." I cradled my belly. "I have a good life now. A family who loves me, the best husband in the world, and two perfect babies on the way. I don’t need your sympathy."

  Jennifer tilted her head. "You’re still angry and hurt."

  "Does that surprise you? There’s nothing you can do to change that." I stared at her. "Except tell me the truth."

  Jennifer reared back. "But I have told you the truth."

  I shook my head and smirked. "I talked to Father Fran. The priest who found me in the church. Well, not exactly found, right? Because the plan was to have him line up a proper family for me, right?" I squinted at her. "What went wrong? The family back out?"

  Jennifer looked away. "I don’t know what you mean."

  "And I talked to Detective Marley. Remember him? He confirmed the secret adoption scam running at that church." I shrugged. "Can’t afford your baby? No problem, we’ll find a family who can. Something like that?"

  Jennifer stood and backed away from the sofa, shaking her head. "No, you were abducted."

  "And yet somehow, I ended up at the very same church that arranged secret adoptions for inconvenient babies." I snarled at her. "Now you’re going to tell me you never saw the story in the papers? That you didn’t know that baby was me? You kept it from Rose too, didn’t you?"

  Jennifer stared at the floor. "Rose didn’t know."

  A breath caught in my throat. "Rose didn’t know what?"

  "About the baby in the church." She chanced a look at me. "She was in the hospital for weeks after you were taken. Under sedation. The doctors worried she’d have a breakdown…"

  I got to my feet. "Sounds like that worked out fine for you."

  Jennifer backed away. "You can’t honestly believe I took you to that church and left you there? And let Rose believe her baby was kidnapped?"

  "What else can I think?"

  Jennifer cried outwardly. "Why would I do such a thing? Why would you think that?"

  Her tears didn’t faze me. "You didn’t go to Child Services to see if I was that baby, did you? Why wouldn’t I think it?"

  Jennifer snatched her handbag from the floor. "Coming here was a mistake. I hoped we could put the past behind us and start new. Jason said you’d be open to that."

  "Jason didn’t steal me from my mother to give me to strangers."

  Jennifer shook her head and rushed toward the door. "This was a mistake."

  I followed her. "You’re right, this was a mistake."

  Before she left, Jennifer whispered, "Someday you’ll understand."

  I watched her hurry down the walk to her car. "I’ll understand all right, Jennifer. When you tell me the truth. I’ll understand."

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  On Tuesday, the Atkinson case went to the jury. On Thursday, the jury came back with a guilty verdict. I heaved a sigh, celebrated silently and washed my hands of the whole disgusting mess. Maybe Joe and I could smooth things over, after he got over it. But for the time being, I was concentrating on my business, my babies and my mother.

  When the weekend rolled around, Ted, Zelda and I put in a garden — complete with an automatic watering system. And I fantasized about making homemade baby food from the harvest. I wanted to start my kids off right and put all the crap behind me. The babies were less than two months from their world premiere — if they'd wait that long — and peace and family were all I wanted.

  I lay in bed trying to see over my belly, while Ted changed into his red silk pajama bottoms. He laughed at me. "What are you doing?"

  I raised my head a little. "Trying to get a peek."

  He slipped his pajamas up over his hips and snapped the waistband. "I’ll give you more than a peek, baby."

  He came toward the bed, and I raised the blankets to my chin. "Didn’t I tell you? Sex is off the table, until after the babies are born. Yep, Dr. Val’s orders."

  Ted slid into bed beside me and chuckled. "So now Dr. Val is running our sex life too?"

  I patted his cheek. "Yeah, I guess so. She’s afraid I’ll go into premature labor."

  Ted looked like a cat had farted in his face then after a few seconds of mental calculations, he made the math work. "Oh."

  "And we’re having twins, so I probably won’t go to term. So no touchy, only looky." I patted his chest. "Sorry, honey."

  He slid his arms around me. "What do you think I am, some horny teenager? You think I have no restraint?"

  I laughed. "You’ve never shown any."

  He bit my ear. "I’ve faced tougher challenges than that."

  "Ouch!" I elbowed him. "I think biting is off limits too."

  He took my hand and frowned. "Where are your rings?"

  I groaned. "Like everything else, my hands are too fat. I took them off to bake and couldn’t get them back on." I pointed to the bedside table. "They're on the chain with my locket."

  Ted scooted up against me. "We can get them resized if you want."

  I shook my head. "No, I don’t want somebody cutting my beautiful rings. I’ll just wear them around my neck until I have the babies." I sighed. "It’s only eight more weeks."

  He kissed my neck. "I know."

  "If I go to term." I faced him. "What if I don’t?"

  "It’ll be fine, honey."

  "But they’re twins and they’ll be little already. If I don’t go the whole nine months then what? I don’t want them starting out their lives in incubators."

  Ted caressed my cheek. "Think good thoughts. And maybe you could ease off on the baking? We’re almost to the finish line. You copy?"

  I twisted my lips. "Since I’m the one growing these babies, ah yeah, I think I do." I kissed him. "I’ll try to slow down a little, but it’s not my style."

  "Can’t Matt do some of the baking? And Zelda too?"

  I propped up on my elbow. "Doesn’t seem fair. They’re out on the truck all week and then they have to work on Sundays too?"

  "They’d understand."

  "But it’s easier if I bake during the week. That way, we all get the weekend off." He gave me the one eyebrow raise, which meant he wasn’t buying it. "All right, we’ll huddle and figure something out."

  He tweaked my nose. "And what about after the babies are born?"

  It felt like a trick question. "What about after the babies are born?" He looked at me. I looked at him. "What?"

  "Two babies, one for each breast. How does baking fit into that game plan?"

  I fell back and stared at the ceiling. "Oh crap."

  "Scotti?"

  "I’m thinking." I sighed like a little girl. "I don’t know. Guess Matt and Zelda are going to have to wing it." I cringed. "They’ll ruin my beautiful kitchen." I poked his chest with my finger. "This is all your fault."

  He laughed. "My fault?"

  "Yeah,
if you didn’t have such super sperm, I wouldn’t be knocked up."

  He grinned proudly. "Super-sperm, I like the sound of that."

  I swatted him. "Easy, Romeo — it’s not a new product line."

  He kissed me. "Nope, definitely private reserve." He pulled me into a hug. "Everything will be fine honey, the Jordan clan will come to the rescue. We’ll all pitch in."

  I frowned. "I hate imposing on your family like that."

  "They’re your family too."

  I smirked. "My family is useless." I sat up and leaned against the headboard. "It’s not fair that whenever I’m in a bind, your family has to come running.

  Ted rubbed circles on my belly. "Have you heard from Jennifer since her visit?"

  I sighed and gagged myself. "What do you think? She probably left town so she’ll never have to see me again."

  Ted took my hand. "You could call her." He pulled me into a hug. "She’s probably just waiting to hear from you."

  I shrugged. "Maybe. But I still think she was involved in what happened to Rose."

  He cupped my chin. "Baby, you got a raw deal. No question. But that doesn’t mean your aunt was part of it. I know you want someone to pay for what happened — but what if there isn’t anyone?"

  I pulled away from him and punched my pillow. "You mean that it was just fate? Just some kind of bad luck?"

  Ted shrugged. "Bad stuff happens to everybody. It doesn’t mean they deserved it. Or that anyone else is to blame."

  I shook my head. "Well somebody is to blame. Rose didn’t kill herself, and I didn’t crawl out of my crib on my own."

  Ted nodded. "Okay, I’ll give you that. But it doesn’t mean it was her family or friends."

  I rubbed face and sighed. "Maybe so, but I know Jennifer is keeping something from me."

  Ted shrugged. "Even if she is, it doesn’t mean it’s about Rose."

  I groaned and tugged on my hair. "You’re confusing me." I scowled at him. "I’m Rose’s daughter, and it’s my duty to find out what happened to her. I can’t just let it go. She deserves some kind of justice, doesn’t she? And who’ll get it for her if I don’t?" I looked at him. "Who?"

  Ted brushed away my tears. "I’m just saying that instead of assuming her family had something to do with it or even looking for a bad guy around every corner, you could try letting it come to you."

  I smirked. "How does that work?"

  "You find a way to make peace with it and let it go. If there’s some truth out there, it’ll come to you."

  I lay my head on his chest and sighed. "You think so?"

  He put his arms around me. "Yeah, I do."

  "Okay, I guess I could try that."

  But I was pretty sure that letting go would get me exactly nowhere.

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  I sat in my car and stared at the little blue ranch house, imagining my kids playing in the yard. Could Jennifer be a surrogate grandmother? I wanted that for them — and for me too. So there I was, ready to let go, hoping the truth would come to me. Then the front door banged open, and Kathy Morrissey burst out of the house with Jennifer right behind her. Out of reflex, I slumped in my seat so they wouldn’t see me.

  They argued, but Kathy seemed to have the upper hand, and she crowded Jennifer, wagging her finger to punctuate her words. Still, Jennifer held her own until Kathy leaned in and said something. Jennifer reared back in shock, and Kathy proclaimed herself the victor. After giving Jennifer a smug smile, she turned on her heel. Jennifer called Kathy back, but she flipped Jennifer off and went down the walkway to her Lexus. Pausing at her open door Kathy looked around for a moment. Then she tossed her cigarette in the street, got in her car and sped off.

  Even from across the street, I could see Jennifer was rattled. She stood on the porch for a moment, as though waiting for Kathy’s return, then went back inside. I sat there for a few seconds debating whether to follow Kathy or go to Jennifer’s door. Then I switched on the engine and hit the gas. Jennifer would have to wait.

  When I reached Glenoaks and didn’t spot Kathy’s car in either direction, I scolded myself for hesitating. Out of instinct and nothing else, I turned left. A few blocks later, I spotted Kathy a just ahead of me. I eased off the gas and hung back. At Grandview, Kathy turned right, and I had to cut over quickly to avoid missing the turn. Still hanging back, I followed her to a cemetery off Grandview.

  Waiting for Kathy to put more distance between us, I idled in the entrance. There was no traffic to blend into, and I didn’t want to risk being spotted by her — or worse, force a confrontation. After a couple of minutes, I proceeded into the park, slowly. As I neared the center of the park, I spotted Kathy's Lexus parked, about twenty yards away. I pulled over and parked beneath the shade of an old pepper tree and slouched down. Then I grabbed my binoculars out of the glove box and aimed them at Kathy.

  She sat in her car for several minutes, and I wondered if she was going to turn around and leave again. Then she got out, carrying a bouquet of flowers. Quickly disappearing into an area thick with scrub oaks. I got out of my car to follow her.

  Moving slowly, I sheltered behind trees as I scanned the grounds with my binoculars for Kathy — hoping not to bump into suspicious mourners. The trees thinned then opened to a clearing, and I spotted her kneeling in front of a small headstone. Ducking back into the cover of the trees, I used the binoculars to get a better look. She was talking to whoever lay in the grave beneath the cool, green grass and sadly so. After a few minutes, Kathy stood, leaving the bouquet of flowers at the base of the stone.

  As she approached, I ducked behind another tree — but I didn’t miss her obvious grief and the hand covering her face as she passed. It was strange to think of Kathy Morrissey as vulnerable, and I felt a little sorry for her. Maybe it was her mother’s grave or some other close family member. I hesitated, wondering if I had a right to intrude on Kathy’s private life.

  I remained where I was and watched as she got into her car, then drove away. She didn’t seem to notice my SUV as she passed it, and I fought the urge to hurry to my car and follow her again. I leaned against the ancient scrub oak I sheltered under. The rough bark dug into my back, birds twittered among its branches and a soft breeze rustled its leaves as though all was right with the world.

  But all wasn’t right with the world, and I pushed off the tree and headed straight for the grave Kathy had so lovingly attended. I got turned around a few times, but eventually spotted the bouquet of brightly colored flowers laying beneath a small headstone. When I was a few feet away, I snapped a couple of pictures of the area so I could have a reference point if I returned. My irritation and suspicion of Kathy returned and I said, "Okay Kathy, let’s see what all the blubbering was about." But when I reached the gravesite I dropped to my knees and cried. "Daddy?"

  I stared at the small gray headstone, adorned with angels and cursive letters. Rory David McClellan — 1962 – 1985. Your love will light my way, your memory will ever be with me. Had those been Rose’s last words to my father? I hoped so. Tears fell as I took pictures of his grave. I’d found him. Thanks to Kathy Morrissey. But why hadn’t she told me when we talked? She didn’t want to be reminded of Rose, she’d said, but what could remind her more of Rose than Rory? I sat with my father for a long while. Hoping he knew it was me — his daughter. Finally, I put my fingers to my lips then to the headstone. "I’ll be back, Dad. I’ll bring Ted and the babies. Okay?"

  I walked slowly to my car, turning back constantly, feeling a pull I couldn’t deny. For a while, I sat in my car and wept. For Rose. For me. Maybe even a little for Kathy. I knew that Rose was dead, but in my mind Rory hovered in the ether in a way that made him alive to me. But no more. My pained doubled as I mourned them both.

  Then I nosed the car toward Jennifer’s — it was time to talk.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  She led me into her smartly done, modern living room. The walls were deep blue, the furniture ecru, with punches of yellow in pillows, throws
and drapes. The fireplace was made of slate blue river rock and an oak mantle was home to many framed family photos. In the corner of the room, near the window was a reading nook with a couple of big easy chairs, bookshelves and a brass and glass reading lamp. Vases of fresh yellow and white lilies adorned table tops. "Your home is lovely."