“I’m sure. I never saw Malina with a package.” Pete’s tone was firm. “Is Mikey really doing okay? I’m worried about how he’s adjusting.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the little boy liberally smeared with pasta sauce. “He’s holding up very well. Try not to worry about us.”
“This package business is worrisome,” Pete admitted. “Maybe I should just leave the conference and come home.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary and I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble with your boss. As the paramedic training coordinator, you have to learn what’s new. I have the police looking for Cocoa, and Mikey is doing great. I promise to call if that changes.”
“Yeah, okay. But please be careful, Eva. Mikey needs you now more than ever. You’re the only mother figure he has at the moment.”
Tears pricked her eyes at the concern in Pete’s tone. “I’ll be very careful. See you in a few days, okay?”
“Yeah. Bye.”
Pete disconnected from the line and she stared at the blank screen of her phone for a long moment, her emotions churning. She couldn’t imagine what her brother-in-law was going through, losing his wife and becoming a single parent overnight. She was glad she could be there for him and for Mikey.
What was the usual stuff married couples fought about? Money? Spending time together? Or had Pete suspected drugs? She knew from her nursing roommates how the opioid crisis was infiltrating every corner of the city. How people got addicted to painkillers and, when they couldn’t get the pills any longer, turned to either heroin or cocaine because they were cheaper and easier to get.
Malina had got her appendix out about five months ago. Was it possible her sister had somehow become addicted to painkillers? An addiction that had sent her searching for something cheaper and more readily available?
“Eva? Everything okay?”
“Huh?” She lifted her head and focused her gaze on Finn. “Yes, fine. Pete doesn’t know anything about a package. And while he admitted to fighting with her over the usual stuff, whatever that means, he didn’t say a word about Malina using drugs.”
“Are you sure he’d tell you something like that?” Finn’s question cut through her like a knife.
“Yes, I’m sure.” She brushed past Finn to return to the kitchen although her appetite had vanished.
After Mikey was finished eating, she looked at the mess he’d made and sighed. “Bath time,” she said with a smile.
“I’ll clean up in here,” Finn offered. They hadn’t said much during the remainder of the meal.
“Thanks.” She picked up her nephew and carried him upstairs to the bathroom, wondering if Finn planned on re-searching the areas of the house she’d done. As a cop, she knew he had to be suspicious of everything, but it still hurt that he’d think the worst of her—and of Pete.
Mikey enjoyed splashing in the bathtub, and Eva had to smile at how he played with the bubbles. When the water went cool, she lifted him out, dried him off and dressed him in his jammies.
When she returned downstairs, she found Finn and Abernathy waiting in the now-spotless kitchen. “I didn’t want to leave without telling you.”
“Thanks for cleaning up.”
“I’ll come by to pick you and Mikey up again in the morning,” he offered. “Unless I’m called away for something.”
“Okay.” It seemed foolish to turn down a ride that was intended to keep her and Mikey safe. “Let me know.”
“I will.” Finn stared at her intently for a moment, then turned toward the door. “Come, Abernathy.”
“Bye, Abe,” Mikey called out.
“Bye, Mikey,” Finn said with a smile.
It was tempting to ask Finn and Abernathy to stay overnight, but she told herself that it wasn’t smart to get any more emotionally involved with Finn than she already was.
Still, after he left, the silence in the house seemed suffocating.
Just like the night before, she didn’t sleep well. Thankfully, Mikey slept through the night. She’d heard from Pete that he sometimes woke up with nightmares. Still, she couldn’t stop thinking about the moment the rock had crashed through her window and how she’d initially thought it might be the sound of gunfire.