Her mother was far more exuberant than she needed to be, and there was a thickness to her voice that suggested she had either just finished crying or was just about to start.A lump formed in Kate’s throat, but she didn’t have time to confront those emotions either.
“Mom, I need to ask you a question about Dad, and I need you to be honest.”
“Of course,” Catherine replied.“When have I ever not been honest with you, Kate?I know sometimes I’ve kept things from you, and I know it was wrong of me, but we talked about this.I don’t hide things from you anymore.Is that why you haven’t talked to me?”
Catherine’s hurt, accusatory tone tightened the lump in Kate’s throat.She blinked away the tears forming in her eyes and said, “That’s not it, Mom.”
“Then why?I love you.I miss you.”
Kate took a steadying breath.“I miss you too, and we can see each other when I’m done with this.We can talk about everything and get it all out in the open, but right now, I need you to answer my question.”
“Does this have something to do with Cox?Is he harassing you again?”
“Jesus, Mom, can you just answer the goddamned question?”
A family walking to their car looked across the parking lot at Kate.She waved an apology and started walking toward the supermarket on the other end, just to move her feet.
“You haven’t asked a question, dear,” Catherine replied stiffly.
Well, you haven’t given me a chance.
Kate stifled that reply.She would just get dragged into another argument, and God knew she was in no shape to deal with that right now.“Did Dad ever steal anything?”
“Did your father everstealanything?”Catherine repeated.
“Yes.Money, equipment… Maybe he took credit for someone else’s work or took the lion’s share of the credit for a joint project.”
“Are you seriously asking me if your father was a thief, Kate?”
“Mom…”
Weariness washed over Kate.Her shoulders slumped, and she sank to the curb of an island in the middle of the parking lot.A carefully pruned maple filtered the sunlight over her, leaving bruise-colored shadows on the bare skin of her forearms.
“Mom, please.Everyone’s questioning me right now.Everyone’s treating me like I’m fragile and on the verge of collapsing or like I’m deluded and can’t tell up from down.I can’t deal with it right now.I can’t explain every reason for everything I do.Can you just please answer my question, and can we have the rest of the conversation when I’m not trying to catch a serial killer?Please?”
Catherine was quiet for a moment.Her voice was gentle when she replied, “Your father never stole anything, Kate.He insisted on giving everyone credit for their contributions to his research, and if he ever borrowed a stethoscope without asking, I’m sure he returned it with an apology letter and a muffin basket.Your father was always attentive to everyone’s feelings except…”
She caught herself too late.Except us.
Kate wondered if that was Cox’s message.Her father stole time and affection that belonged to his family and gave it to others.
But no, Cox had covered that with the Fifth Commandment killer.Honor thy father and mother.He'd pointed out her father's flaws in Quinn Marsh's mission, hidden behind the supposed message that Kate was flawed for not honoring him regardless.If he wanted to dig that up again, he would have made Olivia Prentiss’s photograph the centerpiece.Instead, the evidence of Gloria’s wronging of her family was ignored in favor of a meaningless object taken from a stranger.
So what the hell was he trying to tell her?What was she supposed to see?
“Kate… I just don’t want you to feel angry with him.Especially when he did nothing to deserve it.Cox is a liar, Kate, and he’s manipulating you.He’s trying to make you see things that aren’t there.”
Kate sighed and pressed a hand to her temple.“Okay.Thank you, Mom.”
“Kate, please.”
“Later.I have to go.”
She hung up and sighed heavily, staring up through the leaves.Sunlight speared through the leaves, searing her eyes.She imagined each one was a letter opener piercing her vision, shooting rays of accusatory light straight into her brain.
Kate tilted her head.The objects flitted through her mind one at a time.All of them are positioned in carefully chosen locations.All of them are pointing at the windows.
No, not at windows.Throughthem.