"Yes. She used to take us to museums on the weekends. It was always art and music, sometimes both at the same time. I loved the music more than the art. She played the violin, and she was my first teacher. After she died, I kept on playing. I felt like the music connected us." My gaze drifted to the violin I'd put on the table. "I guess she still plays."

"She's very talented," Kade said. "I don't know if she ever performs professionally, but I often hear her playing late at night. She's good."

"I used to hear her play at night, too. It was such a beautiful sound. But it also felt lonely, yearning… At least, that's how I remember it, and how I feel when I play."

"You're a musician, too?"

I didn't really know how to answer that question. "Sometimes. Did she ever talk about her family?"

"Laura told me she didn't have any family. She said she regretted that, that family was the most important thing in the world. She became quite sad, so I didn't pursue the conversation."

His words made me angry. "She had a family. She walked away from us. And we grieved for her. How could she hurt us like that? How could she let her husband and her children think she was dead?"

His expression turned grim. "I don't know. What about your father? What does he say?"

"I haven't been able to reach him. But he's the one who told me and my sister that our mother had died. I can't believe he wasn't duped, too. But I guess I don't know for sure." I changed the subject, not wanting to think about my father possibly being a liar, too. "What about my mom's friends? Did she have any? Did she have a boyfriend?"

"She has had people over a few times. I ran into a man leaving early one morning, but I don't know his name. Sorry. I wish I could tell you more. Do you have her phone? You could probably start there if you can access her contacts."

"I looked in her contacts, and she only had a couple of numbers, which seemed odd. I have hundreds of numbers in my phone, people I haven't seen for years. Why did she have so few?"

"I don't know."

"The police still have her phone. They're contacting everyone. They don't seem to have learned much in the hours since she was shot. The detective I spoke to said they don't have any witnesses or cameras showing the shooter, just my mother falling to the ground. They've spoken to her employer, but no one seems to know of any threats she might have received."

"Maybe it was random."