Page 22 of Half Baked

Finally, she turned to look at me. “Are you going to tell me what happened with your father at Christmas?”

And there it was. I held her gaze, my jaw setting. “No.”

“Noah—”

“What happened at Christmas is between Dad and me.”

She sighed in exasperation. “That’s what he said, but obviously it hasn’t been resolved.”

“I doubt it ever will be.”

“He’s your father, Noah.”

My eyes widened. “You’re taking his side?”

“How could I take his side if I have no idea what you two fought over?” She shook her head as she stirred the spaghetti noodles in the pot. “Look, I know you two have never seen eye-to-eye, but he’s not getting any younger.”

“So he gets to be a shitty father and husband the entirety of my life, but somehow it’s on me to fix it?” I asked, getting more pissed by the minute. “Unbelievable.”

Anger flashed in her eyes. “I won’t deny he wasn’t the best father while you were growing up, but don’t you dare presume that he was a shitty husband.”

My mother was so stuck in her delusions there was no hope of making her see the truth. “Your marriage is your business, but I don’t see why I’m expected to repair something that never existed. He’s treated me like crap my entire life.”

“Not yourentirelife.”

“The parts I remember.”

Her anger faded. “I also won’t deny that he’s always put his job before us, but he loved you in his own way.”

I started to tell her that was no excuse, and I had no interest inhis way, but my cell phone rang. I was grateful for the distraction, so I slipped it out of my pocket and saw Lance’s name on the screen. I nearly didn’t answer it, but I needed an excuse to end this conversation with my mother.

“I’ve got to take this, Mom,” I said as I moved into the living room, answering the call. “Hey, Lance. What’s up?”

“I stopped by Maddie’s house after I left the station.”

Another meddler. Why couldn’t people just leave me alone? I suddenly felt beyond exhausted.

“I don’t want to talk about Maddie.”

“Too damn bad,” he grunted. “If you’d made it to the tour, you would have had a chance to talk to Detective Bergan.”

“So? I hear Bergan’s dementia is worse than Deidre’s.”

“Maybe so, but he said some really interesting things to Maddie this afternoon.”

That got my attention. My grip tightening on the phone, I said, “Like what?”

“Maddie told him she was Andrea Baker’s daughter, and I guess he got totally paranoid. He said he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about the eagle, and the skinny man would have it out for both of them if he knew.”

“Sounds delusional to me.”

“Maybe, maybe not, but Maddie wants to talk to him again and see if she can get more information.”

I groaned. “She’s getting her hopes up over nothing.”

“Like I said…maybe, maybe not. I told her you and I would look into it, but she countered that the case is closed, and we’d make it low priority. She’s right, of course, and we can’t stop her from talking to him, but I don’t think she should go alone. So…you’re going to go with her, aren’t you?” he asked, making it clear he expected the answer to be yes.

The answer washellyes. Bergan’s ramblings were probably the workings of his diseased mind, but I owed it to Maddie to help her sort through it. The case wasn’t open, so I could unofficially investigate it even though I was on leave. Admittedly, it was a pretty gray area, and I liked to keep things black and white, but there was no hesitation. I wasn’t going to let Maddie do this on her own. This was something I could give her. This was my way to show her how much she meant to me, even if I couldn’t get my act together. “Of course. Besides, I’ve got plenty of time.”

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