"You said my mom ran into you at a gallery in Seattle two years ago and became a fan. Wouldn't she have known that you were the same kid she was helping to support? You and your mom have the same last name." I shook my head as I tried to piece it together. "There has to be a connection we're missing."

Kade gave me a grim look. "I agree. It doesn't add up. I need to talk to my mother more about it, but she had a dinner to go to with her cancer support group. They're celebrating her friend's remission. She said she'd call me later."

"Maybe she'll be able to tell you more then."

"I hope so." He ran a hand through his hair. "I have to get out of here. I need to paint. I need to work on the pieces for my show. What is your plan? Are you leaving now? Are you going to find a hotel?"

"I might do a little more cleanup first," I said.

"Why don't you just leave it? Take a break. Find a place to stay and then check in on your mom."

He suddenly seemed eager to get me out of the house. I wondered if that was because he wanted to do some searching on his own. "I'm going to keep going for a while longer," I said.

"Do you want me to stay and help you?"

"Help me or hinder me?" I challenged.

"What does that mean?"

"Our mothers are tied together, and now you suddenly want me to leave this house. I have to assume that's because you want to look around here without me."

"Actually, I just want to think about everything that we learned, because it's fucked up," he said, anger burning in his gaze. "Laura never said one word to me about my mother or about sending her money. But she made a point to get to know me, to buy my art, to set me up with a show. What the hell is going on?"

"Clearly, my mother has a lot of secrets."

"Clearly," he echoed, betrayal in his gaze. He blew out a breath. "I won't be able to work now; I'm too pissed off. I'll help you get organized here. I'm in this, too, now, for better or worse."

"The way things are going, I'm expecting worse."

* * *

Kade and I worked for a couple of hours, not talking much as we sifted through files and papers and put the house back together. We didn't find anything else of interest. There was no information on the nonprofit, no evidence of a checkbook or bank account in that name. I looked for the group online as well but found nothing.

By six o'clock, I was tired, frustrated and in need of a break. I was thinking about leaving when Dani called. "I'm still at the house," I said pre-emptively. "But I'm going soon."

"You're supposed to be at a hotel, Brynn."