“You’re not listening!” Addison said, grabbing a Bible off the floor. “The wives died. Every fucking one of them and my grandfather knew it. The son-of-a-bitch knew my mother was going to die, and he didn’t do anything about it. He even says so in his notes. He knew that in three hundred years, not one Kane woman survived after their child was born. Not one.”

“Oh, that’s impossible,” Joanna said, shaking her head.

“No, it’s not!” Addison said. Tossing the papers on the coffee table, she began scrambling to gather the Bibles and notes from the floor. “Read them,” she said, stacking everything on the table. “Joanna, please, I’m begging you. Just read his notes, look at the Bibles. There are family trees started in every one of them, but they all end at the birth of the child and the death of its mother...on the same day.”

“Addison, you’re tired, and you’re not thinking clearly.”

“Jesus Christ!” Addison said, running her fingers through her hair. “Will you please just read his bloody notes? Can you do that? Can you do that for me?”

Joanna looked at the stack of books and papers. “Addison, this is ridiculous. I don’t want to spend my Sunday in here reading a bunch of...a bunch of crap.”

“It’s not crap!” Addison screamed. “It’s the history of my fucking family, and you need to read it!”

Addison’s face had turned scarlet, and her eyes were opened so far that the white almost overtook the blue. Whether it was crap or not, it was obvious to Joanna that Addison believed whatever she had read, and it terrified her.

“Okay. Okay,” Joanna said, holding up her hands. “I’ll read it, but on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You don’t hover,” Joanna said, and dropping into a chair, she reached for Xavier’s notes. “Meaning you go get a shower or something. I’ll come find you when I’m done.”

“I’d rather—”

“This isn’t up for discussion,” Joanna said, glaring at Addison. “You’re tired, and you need a shower, and I need a clear mind for all of this. I can’t do that if you’re going to be pacing back and forth watching every page I turn.”

“You’ll find me when you’re done?”

Joanna took a slow, steady breath, and as she exhaled, her annoyance escaped with the air. “Yes, I’ll find you when I’m done.”

***

The shower had washed away the scent of liquor, sweat, and smoke, and not one to own many clothes falling under the heading of casual, Addison pulled on a pair of dress trousers and an Oxford shirt. Forgoing a belt, tie, or tucking in her shirttails, she sat on the bed drumming her fingers on her knee.