Chapter 5
Five
Michael pushed aside the fatigue clinging to him after his night shift and lugged the bags of groceries into the house.
He should be grateful for the few hours of sleep he’d gotten this morning after his shift, but it never seemed like enough.
And the hours he’d sat staring at the pages in his mom’s file weren’t getting him anywhere.
At least he could provide food for the family.
Hopefully, Eliza had a filling meal planned, because he was especially hungry.
From the chaos in the family room, it sounded like his brothers were hosting a video-game party with friends. Three of his four sisters scrambled around the kitchen.
“Thanks for grabbing the grocery order, Mike.” His sister Kate plopped a quick kiss on his cheek.
Like their father, she’d always been the most affectionate.
She still wore her dark hair pulled back, her brown blazer, and her dress slacks for her work at the prosecutor’s office, but at some point, she must’ve kicked off her heels and slipped her feet into the fuzzy-lined clogs.
Eliza grabbed the bags from his hands and set them on the counter.
“It’s my night to cook, but we were out of everything I needed, so it’s gonna be frozen pizza and salad.
” Unlike Kate, she’d already changed into leggings and her favorite University of Minnesota sweatshirt.
No one would guess that she was a defense lawyer by day.
“No complaints here!” Gabe jogged in, grabbed a bag of chips from the groceries, and ran back to his friends.
“I swear that boy has junk-food radar. I only see him when he’s hungry.” Eliza pulled the lettuce out of the grocery bags. “I suppose we’d better make enough for Jackson and Colby too. Those boys will eat us out of house and home.”
Their youngest sister, Frankie, who sat on the counter in her wide-leg jeans and name-brand sneakers, clicked her manicured fingernails on the granite. “You’re just jealous because they actually have friends.” She reached around Liza for a box of crackers sticking out of one of the bags.
Eliza snatched it away before she could grab it. “Francesca, if you have nothing nice to say, you could at least help.” She shoved the big salad bowl into her hands. “Make the salad.”
“It’s not my night. It’s yours.” She pushed the bowl away, hopped off the counter, and left the kitchen in a huff.
“What’s her problem?” Eliza asked while she finished putting the last of the refrigerated items away.
“Mom is the only one who could call her Francesca and get away with it.” Kate stared Eliza down. “Why do you push her like that?”
“She needs to grow up and contribute around here. Have you noticed that she conveniently schedules things when it is her night to cook? And she never helps with cleanup either. Michael always does—”
“Hey, let’s forget about it and get these pizzas in the oven. Pops will be here soon.” Michael set the oven to four hundred twenty-five degrees.
“You’re going too easy on her.” Eliza looked at him, hands fisted on her hips. “And you’re a cop.”
Maybe he was. But Frankie was his baby sister. “She’s having a rough time. Cut her some slack. Ever since Mom—”
“Don’t go there.” Liza’s voice shook. “We’re all in the same boat. And the rest of us are able to do our part. So can she.” She spun around and ripped open one of the pizza boxes sitting on the counter.
Kate gave Michael a look behind Eliza’s back and shook her head.
Let it drop, she mouthed.
Somehow, they managed to pull together a meal. As Michael pulled the pizzas out of the oven, their father walked in.
The girls rushed to give him hugs. He greeted Kate and Eliza with a kiss on the cheek and then the forehead. “Hello, darlings. How was work?”
“Busy. How was your day, Daddy?” Kate asked.
“Yeah, Pops, how was your patient load today?” Michael grabbed a sparkling water from the fridge and handed it to his father.
“The patients kept us busy. And thanks to you, I’m still apologizing to my new nurse and making excuses for my son running out on her.” He gave Michael a pointed look. But it didn’t dim his affectionate smile.
“I would’ve apologized, but I had no way of getting ahold of her. And I had to save Dani. She could’ve really been hurt.”
“I suppose Daniella needed you more.” He always used the Italian version of her name, ever since she was little and had asked him to give her an Italian name like all the other girls in the family. “I’ll set up a time when you can explain it to Sage.”
“Aw, Pop. Come on. It was probably for the best that we didn’t finish the date. I’ve got a big case right now. A couple of break-ins that I think are tied—”
“Michael, Michael, you work too much. You go to work and work. You come home and work. You take care of everyone else. But when are you going to live? You should be dating, hiking, enjoying friends. Look at Josh. He’s married already.
With two children! You know I can pull some strings if you want to go back to med school. ”
Michael refrained from rolling his eyes and citing verbatim what his father was saying.
“You know I love the job I have. And it wouldn’t be much better if I’d stayed in med school.
I’d be pulling long shifts for my residency.
When the time comes, sure, maybe I’ll find someone, but right now, I’m happy with things the way they are. ”
His father sipped his drink. “And the investigation?”
Michael’s sisters remained strangely quiet in the background, watching the exchange.
“Nothing new.” Michael threw the tomatoes into the salad and tossed it.
His father’s warm hand landed softly on his shoulder. “Maybe it’s time to—”
Michael spun around to face his father. “I’m not going to stop. Don’t ask.”
Sadness in the older man’s gaze brought an uncomfortable pressure to Michael’s chest.
“I don’t want to lose you too, son. At some point we need to move on. She wouldn’t want this.”
“She wouldn’t want a murderer running loose in our city either. Mom was the most relentless cop there was.”
It was their typical argument. Neither wanted to back down. But Michael couldn’t go on pretending everything was okay. Nothing was okay with the way his mother had died. Why couldn’t the others see that?
“Everything’s ready to eat. I’ll call the boys and Frankie in.” There she went again—Kate, always trying to keep the peace. She left the kitchen calling out “Dinner!”
“Where’s Maria?” their father asked.
“Had to work late. She’ll be here soon, hopefully. She said she might have a plus-one tonight.” Eliza finished cutting the pizzas and carried one to the adjoining dining room.
While the teens all rushed in for the food, his father greeted them all by name and hugged Frankie.
Michael stepped back, wishing once again for his mother’s presence. She would’ve understood his drive. The necessity of what he was doing. He was acutely aware that nothing would bring her back from the dead. But he could find her killer and bring him or her to justice. That much he would do.
While their guests sat down and piled up plates at the table, Eliza set out salad dressing. Kate, still in the kitchen, slapped Raphael’s hands away from the zucchini brownies she’d whipped up, now cooling on the counter. “Grab drinks for your friends, Raph.”
It was a comfortable chaos, except for the gaping hole at the open end of the table. Michael lingered on the memories of Mom sitting there, laughing, scolding, listening, directing the flow of food and reminding them all of their manners.
The sound of a car pulling into the garage intruded on the memories. Maria must be home. Michael checked his watch. This was late for her. Her social-work job didn’t typically require late hours. Maybe this plus-one had something to do with it.
The door to the garage opened, and Maria, the only one to get Mom’s curly hair, walked in holding a little boy on her hip.
The boy from the convenience store.
His big eyes widened as he witnessed the noise and activity of a kitchen full of people.
“Hey, hey, settle down you guys. You’re gonna scare Maria’s guest.” Pop’s voice carried over all the noise and immediately settled everyone down. They all looked to Maria.
“Everyone, this is Eduardo. He likes to be called Eddie. He’s going to stay here with us tonight while his father is being helped in the hospital, right?” She smiled down at the boy.
But he just buried his head in her neck and held her tighter.
“Oh, the poor thing. Let’s get him some pizza.” Kate, channeling their nonna’s generosity, got a plate ready and tried to tempt the boy to eat. Once the others cleared out of the kitchen and settled around the huge table in the next room, Michael approached Maria and the boy.
“Rough day, huh?”
The boy peeked at Michael but still held tight to Maria.
“You could say that.” Maria sounded tired.
“I met Eddie last night. I’m glad you got his case. So, no open foster homes?” Michael asked her.
“I’ve got an emergency placement for him, but the family is out of town tonight. They’ll take him tomorrow.”
“How long will it be?”
“Not sure. The father is in a coma. We can’t find the aunt, who is usually the one to take care of him. Sounds like mom passed away last year.”
The similarity struck Michael deeply. At least he’d had twenty-five years with Mom.
This little guy probably wouldn’t be old enough to have many memories of his mother.
Michael sat with Maria and Eddie at the counter, away from the chatter and laughter in the dining room.
Eventually, the boy managed to eat a few bites and drink some milk.
But they couldn’t get him to talk at all.
“Has he said anything?” Michael asked his sister.
She shook her head. “Trauma does that. In the meantime, we’ll love on him the best we can and pray for his papa. Right?” She smiled down at the boy and brushed the long brown hair out of his face.
Michael took the boy’s hand. “Do you remember me from the store last night?”
The boy just stared.