"I've tried to find out. I've never gotten anywhere. The case is a dead end."

"And if you got a clue?"

"I'd chase it down until I hit a brick wall," he admitted. "Even then, I might try to crash through that wall. But there might be a big cost."

"I know I'm taking a risk, Kade. But I can't stop, not yet. There's a vigil tonight at my mom's school. I said I would go, and I want to do that. I don't know if it will provide a clue to who shot her, but it might tell me more about her life, and I'm hungry for those clues as well. Maybe I won't find out who tried to kill her, but I need to at least know who she is."

He nodded. "I get it. I admire your persistence, Brynn. You're a lot braver than you think you are."

"Thank you for this afternoon. For taking me away for a little while. I never thought I'd enjoy riding a motorcycle. I thought I'd be too scared, but it was wonderful. I enjoyed it."

"When you weren't holding on to me in sheer terror," he teased.

"I got better," I said defensively.

"You did. You definitely eased up your grip on me. Not that I was complaining about you holding on to me so tightly."

A light simmered in his gaze now, the one that made my stomach do a little dance every time it appeared. I needed to ignore it. At least, for now.

Kade cleared his throat, as if he'd come to the same conclusion. "I'll take you back. And I'll help you find the truth, Brynn. You were right when you said your mom has an unusual attachment to me. That keeps gnawing at me, and I need to understand why Laura made a choice to meet me after my mother turned the money away. Laura was eager to encourage me, to support my art, to get me this showing. I need to know what was motivating her to do that. And I hope…" His voice drifted away as his gaze moved back to the city view.

"What do you hope?" I asked, worried about the change in his demeanor. He'd stiffened, lost his teasing smile.

"That we don't end up on opposite sides," he said finally, looking back at me.

I knew what he was thinking, but I didn't want to accept it. "She couldn't have had anything to do with your father's death," I said. "It was a robbery on Long Island. She was living on the other side of the country."

"Maybe she was. Maybe she wasn't. I hope she didn't have anything to do with what happened to him, because I like your mother. Or I did. I'm not sure how I feel about her now."

"I wish she'd wake up so she could tell us what's going on."

"I hope that happens. Until it does, we're on our own."