Cavanaugh Reunion

by Marie Ferrarella

  “Sure. I understand. Thanks again,” he said, holding up the phone she’d brought to him.

  Kansas merely nodded and then turned and walked quickly away before O’Brien found something else he wanted to talk about. She headed toward the vehicle she’d left in guest parking.

  Closing his hand over the charred phone, Ethan watched the sway of the fire investigator’s hips as she moved. It was only when he became aware of the door of the apartment cattycorner to his opening that he quickly beat a hasty retreat before his neighbor stepped out and tried to entice him with yet another invitation. Last time she’d come to the door wearing a see-through nightgown. The woman spelled trouble any way you looked at it.

  Andrew smiled to himself when he looked up to the oven door and saw the reflection of the man entering his state-of-the-art kitchen through the back door.

  “C’mon in, little brother.” Andrew turned from the tray of French toast he’d just drizzled a layer of powdered sugar on. His smile widened. He knew better than anyone how hectic and busy the life of a chief could be. “It’s been a long time since you dropped by for breakfast.” Maybe he was taking something for granted he shouldn’t. “You are dropping by for breakfast, aren’t you?”

  Brian moved his shoulders vaguely, trying to appear indifferent despite the fact that the aroma rising up from his brother’s handiwork had already begun making him salivate—and food had never been all that important to him.

  “I could eat,” he answered.

  “If breakfast isn’t your primary motive, what brings you here?” Andrew asked, placing two thick pieces of toasted French bread—coated and baked with egg batter, a drop of rum and nutmeg—onto a plate on the counter and moving it until it was in front of his brother.

  Brian took the knife and fork Andrew silently offered. “I wanted to see if you’d gotten over it.”

  Andrew slid onto the counter stool next to his younger brother. “‘It’?” he repeated in confusion. “Someone say I was sick?”

  “Not sick,” Brian answered, trying not to sigh and sound like a man who’d died and gone to heaven. His wife, Lila, was a good cook, but not like this. “Just indifferent.”

  Rather than being clarified, the issue had just gotten more muddied. “What the hell are you talking about, Brian?”

  Brian’s answer came between mouthfuls of French toast. He knew it was impossible, but each bite seemed to be better than the last.

  “About not answering when someone calls to you.” He paused to look at his older brother. The brother he’d idolized as a boy. “Now, my guess is that you’re either going deaf, or something’s wrong.”

  Andrew frowned slightly. None of this was making any sense to him. “My hearing’s just as good as it ever was, and if there’s something wrong, it’s with this so-called story of yours.”

  Putting down his fork, Brian looked around to make sure that his sister-in-law wasn’t anywhere within earshot. He got down to the real reason he’d come. Lowering his voice, he said, “I came here to tell you to get your act together before it’s too late.”

  This was just getting more and more convoluted. “Explain this to me slowly,” he instructed his brother. “From the top.”

  Brian sighed, pushing the empty plate away. “I saw you with that woman.”

  “Woman?” Andrew repeated, saying the word as if Brian had just accused him of being with a Martian. “What woman? Where?” Before Brian could elaborate, Andrew cut in, concerned. He knew how hard Brian worked. “Brian, maybe it’s time to start considering early retirement. We both know that this job can eat you alive if you let it. You have a lot to live for. Lila, your kids, Lila’s kids—”

  This time Brian cut Andrew off. “This has nothing to do with the job, and I’m well aware of my blessings. I’m just concerned that maybe you’re taking yours for granted.” He hated being his brother’s keeper. Andrew was always the moral standard for the rest of them. But after the other day, he knew he had to say something. “I know what I saw.”

  Andrew sighed. “And what is it that you think you saw?”

  He’s actually going to make me say it, Brian thought, upset about having been put in this position. “You, walking into the Crystal Penguin, with another woman.”

  “The Crystal Penguin?” Andrew repeated incredulously. The Crystal Penguin was an overpriced restaurant that didn’t always deliver on its promises of exquisite dining experiences. “Why would I go to a restaurant? And if I did go to one, it certainly wouldn’t be a restaurant that overcharges and undercooks.”

  That’s what he would have thought if someone had come to him with this story. But he’d been a witness to this. “I saw you, Andrew.”

  Andrew didn’t waste his breath protesting that it wasn’t possible. “And just when did this ‘sighting’ occur?”

  Brian had been sitting on this for several days now, and it was killing him. “Last Friday evening. At about seven-thirty.”

  “I see.” His expression was unreadable. “Why didn’t you come up and talk to me?”

  He almost had, then decided to restrain himself. “Because you’re my older brother and I didn’t want to embarrass you.”

  And then Brian delivered what in his estimation was the knockout blow.

  “Some of the others have mentioned seeing you around the city with this woman. I told them they were crazy, but then on Friday I saw you myself, and now I’m begging you,” he entreated, putting his hand on Andrew’s arm, “break it off before Rose gets hurt. You spent all that time looking for Rose when everyone else, including me, thought she was dead. Don’t throw all that away because of some middle-aged itch you want to scratch.”

  “You done?” Andrew wanted to know.

  “Yes,” Brian said quietly. “Just promise me you’ll break if off with her.”

  “It would seem like the thing to do.” To Brian’s surprise, his brother got off the stool, walked to the doorway between the kitchen and the living room and called out, “Rose? Would you mind coming here?”

  Brian hurried over to him. “What are you doing?” he whispered into Andrew’s ear. He knew that for some, the need to confess was almost an overpowering reaction, but he would have never thought it of Andrew. This had all the makings of a disaster. “Don’t dump this on Rose. Don’t tell her you’ve been cheating on her just to clear your conscience.”

  “Good advice,” Andrew quipped.

  Before Brian could ask if he’d lost his mind, Rose walked in. “Hello, Brian. Nice to see you.” She turned toward her husband. There was no missing the love in her eyes. “You wanted me, honey?”

  “Only every minute of every day,” Andrew said, a gentle smile curving the corners of his mouth. He slipped his arm around her waist. “Rose, could you tell Brian where we were last Friday?”

  Rose sighed, shaking her head. “Don’t see why you would even want to admit to it.”

  He laughed, giving her a quick hug. “Humor me, my love.”

  “Okay.” Rose turned toward her brother-in-law. “We saw the most god-awful movie. Heaven Around the Corner. Quite honestly, I still can’t figure out how the people behind that silly thing managed to get funding to produce it.” Her eyes crinkled as she slanted a glance and a grin in her husband’s direction. “Even Andrew could have written a better story.”

  “Thank you, dear,” Andrew deadpanned. “I can always count on you to extol my many talents.”

  She laughed. Standing on her toes, she brushed a kiss against his cheek. “Don’t worry, dear. No one can touch your cooking.”

  Still holding his wife to him, Andrew turned his attention back to his younger brother and Brian’s allegations. “Satisfied?”

  Rose looked from one man to the other, a curious expression filling her eyes. “Satisfied about what? What’s this all about, Andrew? Brian?” She waited for one of them to enlighten her.

  “Brian thought he saw me clear across town last Friday. At the Crystal Penguin. With another woman. I don’t know which is
more absurd, the restaurant part or the other woman part.” He caught the look on Rose’s face. “The other woman part. Definitely the other woman part,” he assured her.

  Amused, Rose laughed. “Not unless Andrew’s suddenly gotten superpowers and found a way to be in two places at the same time.”

  Brian sighed with relief. “You don’t know how glad it makes me to hear that.” But then he frowned slightly. There was still a mystery to be unraveled. “But whoever I saw looked just like you, Andrew.”

  “Maybe it was one of the boys,” Andrew suggested.

  But Brian shook his head. He’d already thought of that. “Too old.”

  Andrew gave him a quick jab in the arm. “Thanks a lot.”

  He hadn’t meant it as an insult. “You know what I mean. Around our age, not younger.”

  “Someone else out there with those handsome features?” Rose teased, brushing her hand across her husband’s cheek.

  “I know. Lucky dog,” Andrew deadpanned. He grew a little more serious as he asked Brian, “And you’re saying this isn’t the first time this doppelgänger’s been spotted?”

  Brian nodded. “Jared’s mentioned seeing ‘you,’” he told Andrew, referring to one of his sons. “Said you ignored him when he called out to you. And Zack said he thought he saw you walking into the Federal Building about a month ago. Same scenario. He called out and was ignored.”

  Listening to this, Rose glanced at her husband. He’d become quietly thoughtful. “I know that look,” she said. “You’re working something out in your head.”

  “What’s on your mind?” Brian probed.

  Andrew raised his eyes to look at Brian. “That maybe Mom wasn’t imagining things all those years ago.”

  Chapter 5

  S till completely in the dark, Brian and Rose exchanged quizzical glances.

  Brian was the first to speak. “Mom wasn’t wrong about what?”

  Andrew looked up as if he’d suddenly become aware that he wasn’t alone and talking to himself. “That the hospital had given her the wrong baby.” He doled out the words slowly, thoughtfully, as he continued sorting things out in his mind.

  “The wrong baby?” Brian echoed, staring at Andrew as if his brother had just sprouted another head. This was making less sense now, not more. “Which one of us is supposed to have been this ‘wrong baby’? Mike or me?”

  Andrew took a deep breath before answering. It had been a very long time since the name he was about to say had been uttered. An entire lifetime had gone by. It had become a family secret, known to only his late parents and him. Maybe it was time to air out the closet. “Sean.”

  “Sean?” Brian repeated, more mystified than ever. “Andrew, maybe you’ve been standing in the kitchen too long and the heat’s gotten to you. I know that there are a lot of Cavanaughs to be tallied these days, but there is no Sean in our family.”

  “I know.” Andrew’s eyes met Brian’s. “That’s because he died.”

  Brian shook his head as if to clear it. It didn’t help. “Andrew, what are you talking about?”

  In for a penny, in for a pound. He needed to get this whole thing out. It was long overdue.

  “Something Mother and Dad never wanted to talk about.” He looked from his brother to his wife. “Sit down, Brian. You, too, Rose.”

  Rose dropped onto the counter stool beside her husband. “I think I’d better. Is this where you tell me I’m married to someone who’s descended from the Romanovs?” she asked, clearly trying very hard to lighten the somber mood that was encompassing them.

  Maybe he should have done this years ago, after their parents were both gone. But he’d always felt it wasn’t his secret to share. And he’d been so young when it was all going down. There were times he had almost talked himself into believing it had all been just a dream.

  “No, love.” He felt her slip her fingers through his, as if silently offering him her support, no matter what was ahead. God, he loved this woman. “This is where I tell Brian that there were actually four Cavanaugh boys, not three.”

  None of this was making any sense to Brian, and it was only getting murkier. And if this Sean person was supposedly dead, who was it that he had seen walking into the Crystal Penguin on Friday?

  “So where is this Sean?” he asked, struggling with a wave of angry confusion that was totally foreign to him. “Did Mom and Dad decide they could only afford to keep three of us and made us draw straws to see who’d stay and who’d go? And why haven’t I heard anything about this before?”

  Andrew chose his words very carefully. “Because Sean died before he was a year old.” He backtracked a little to give Brian a more concise picture. “He was born between Mike and you.” Andrew closed his eyes, remembering the anguish on his mother’s face. Everything about the day had left an indelible impression on his young mind. “One morning, Mom got up all sunny because Sean had slept through the night for the first time. She went into the nursery to get him and then I heard her start screaming.” As he spoke, it all came back to him in vivid color. “I remember Dad rushing in and then coming out with the baby in his arms, trying desperately to revive him. But it was too late to save him. He was blue. Sean’d died somewhere in the middle of the night.” He felt Rose tighten her grasp on his hand. “They called it crib death back then.”

  “SIDS,” Rose murmured. “Sudden infant death syndrome.”

  Andrew nodded. He noted that Brian still looked confused, and unconvinced.

  “So this is what?” Brian pressed. “Sean’s ghost walking the earth?”

  “No,” Andrew answered patiently. “But when she first brought Sean home from the hospital, I’d see Mom staring at him, shaking her head. Saying that she felt there’d been a mix-up in the hospital. That this baby didn’t feel like her baby.” He took a deep breath. “After Sean died, Dad told me that maybe some inherent, unconscious defense mechanism had made Mom find reasons not to get close to Sean. He said it was as if she’d subconsciously known that Sean wasn’t going to live long.

  “The very thought of losing Sean upset her so much, Dad told everyone at the time, including me, that we weren’t to talk about Sean anymore.” He looked at his youngest brother. “You were born less than a year after that. She went a little overboard and completely doted on you,” he reminded Brian.

  Brian shrugged, trying to lighten the moment for both his brother and himself. “I always thought it was because I was so adorable.”

  Andrew laughed shortly and snorted. “Not damn likely.”

  “So now what?” Rose prodded gently, looking from her husband to her brother-in-law and back again.

  “Now,” Andrew answered, “we go and find out who this guy who looks like me is—”

  “And more important, exactly where and when he was born,” Brian interjected. “That includes the name of the hospital.”

  Rose sighed. Shaking her head, she rose from the stool. “I’ve got a very strong feeling that I’m going to have to be buying more dishes soon.” She looked at the table in the next room. “Not to mention more chairs.”

  Andrew laughed and gave her a one-arm hug while planting a quick kiss against her temple. “This is one of the reasons why I love you so much, Rose. You’re always one step ahead of me.”

  “Only to keep from being trampled by the Cavanaugh brothers,” she quipped just before she left the kitchen.

  Since Andrew had dropped this bombshell on his unsuspecting brother, he knew that his wife had made a graceful exit so the two could talk in private. However, he had no doubt that she would ask her own questions later.

  With almost five hours of sleep under her belt, Kansas was back at the shelter. Bypassing the yellow crime-scene tape that encircled the entire outer perimeter of what was left of the building, she made her way inside. Once there she began sifting through the rubble in an effort to piece together as much information as she could about what had gone on here less than a day ago.

  She’d managed to find the fire’s point
of origin and also to rule out that the fire had been an accident. She discovered what was left of the incendiary device. It had a timer on it, which could only mean that the fire had been deliberately set, and whoever had done it had a definite time in mind. To kill someone specific? she wondered. If so, whoever had set it had miscalculated. No one had died last night.

  The device wasn’t a match for the MO of any of the known arsonists or pyromaniacs in the area. There was an outside chance that it could still be the work of someone belonging to one group or the other, someone who had managed to go undetected. Until now.

  It was frustrating, she thought. There had to be some kind of a connection, no matter how minor, if she was to believe that these weren’t just random fires haphazardly set. But what connection? And why? Why these structures and not the ones down the block or somewhere else? What did these particular buildings that had been torched have in common—assuming, of course, that they actually had something in common?

  Rocking back on her heels, Kansas ran her hand through her hair and sighed. It was like banging her head against a concrete wall. There were no answers to be found here.

  “Penny for your thoughts.”

  Caught completely off guard, Kansas swallowed a gasp as she jumped to her feet. When she swung around, she found O’Brien watching her from a few feet away. She’s been so preoccupied, she hadn’t heard anyone come in. She was going to have to work on that, she told herself.

  “A penny?” Kansas hooted. “Is that all it’s worth to you? I take it I’m in the presence of the last of the big-time spenders.”

  “I don’t believe in throwing my money away,” he told her matter-of-factly. “I also didn’t expect to find you here.”

  “Oh?” She looked at him, perplexed. “Tell me, just where would you expect to find a fire investigator, Detective?”

  He shrugged, joining her. He looked down at the rubble she’d been sifting through. “I just thought you’d gotten everything you needed last night.”