His mother’s voice whispered in his head, as she always did, Good boy. Bad boy. Good boy.
Chapter 8
Cayce woke up the next morning, tired and sore, realizing it hadn’t even been a week since learning about Elena’s murder. Felt like an eternity. And here she was, still aching inside and out, the pain so acute it was heartbreaking. She had no idea how she was supposed to get through the rest of her life without Elena at her side.
When her phone rang, she didn’t want to answer it. She just let it ring. When it stopped, there was no voice message. She sank back into bed and muttered, “Good.”
Her mind drifted through what she had to face throughout the day. There would be news media and press releases that she would try to avoid. Last night had been a monumental success. The children had added such life and verve to the installation that she had never seen before, and she was thrilled.
But she had another one to do next week. And that one was lagging behind schedule, adding to the pressure on her. However, for the moment, she was in bed, completely snuggled into multiple pillows and under a huge down comforter, as she allowed her body and mind to relax the day after a presentation. Surely there had to be some rest for those who worked hard. The trouble was, every time Cayce relaxed, Elena filled her thoughts. Elena, who had never complained, had always showed up early, had stayed late, and always did her utmost to make Cayce’s design world come to life any time it was an installation she was involved in.
Naomi, on the other hand, tried to be the prima donna all the time. And she never wanted her back painted so she could give shock value with her beautiful form, completely exposed on her backside, as she wandered through the installation. As it was only adults at that point, it was fine, and Cayce wasn’t in the position of having to body-paint Naomi’s back, like she did with Elena because Elena was an art piece all unto herself. And Cayce had always given Elena the respect that an art piece deserved and had finished the job, meaning, doing her front as well as her back.
Unfortunately Naomi was absolutely nothing like Elena.
The phone rang again. She groaned, rolled over, looked at her screen, and saw it was the detective. She picked up the phone. “Now what?”
“Good morning. So your installation last night went off beautifully.”
“It did,” she said warmly. “The children added so much life.”
“I was there,” he said easily. “And it was pretty special. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
“It was a bigger background than I would have liked to do,” she said, “but it was part of the scope of what the patron wanted,” she said.
“Well, it was certainly something to see.”
“Do you have any update for me, or are you just bothering me with more questions?”
“We talked to Elena’s lawyer last night,” he said. “He’s traveling, but we did catch him by phone.”
“And?
“We spoke about the will,” he said, “and you are definitely inheriting half.”
Her heart stilled and warmed at that. “God. I’ve cried so many buckets of tears, I don’t want to cry anymore.”
“What relationship did you have with her outside of the art world?” he asked abruptly.
“You already grilled Anita,” she said, “so why are you asking me this all over again?”
“Because Anita said I should ask you,” he said mildly.
She sighed. “Right, so we were friends way back when,” she said. “She was having a tough childhood, and I reached out to her. Many years later we reconnected when I was in a bad spot, and she reached out to me. When we came together in the art world, it was just a natural meeting of minds, energy, and souls.”
“Interesting phrasing,” he said. “Do you believe in that energy stuff?”
“Everybody believes in the energy stuff,” she said drily. She shifted herself in her bed so she was sitting up, leaning against the headboard, staring out at the fast city around her. “It’s just that no one likes to talk about it or to explain it because it gets into the woo-woo territory.”
“You saw Dr. Maddy many years ago, didn’t you?”
She froze. How did he know? Or was something like that in her medical file? She’d never considered the information to be something to hide, but that didn’t mean she wanted everyone to know. She let out a long, slow breath. “Interesting barb, Detective. But then, that’s what you do, isn’t it? Detect, I mean. I’m sure that seeing one of the most prominent healthcare officials in the world could not be construed as a crime, even by you.”
“Well, it wasn’t a crime,” he said, “but it was definitely interesting.”
“And why is that?” she asked.
“Because, of course, Dr. Maddy works on energy.”
“She does, indeed,” she said mildly, rubbing her temple.
“I spoke with her.”
“What? You spoke with Dr. Maddy?” she asked, clearly surprised. She leaned forward. “I haven’t seen her in years. How is she?”
“She seemed to be quite fine,” he said. “She wouldn’t tell me much.”
“There is that pesky doctor-patient confidentiality business,” she said snidely.
“True, that’s why I’ll ask you point-blank, just what the relationship was.”
“You mean, between me and Dr. Maddy?”
“Yes.”
“I had a health problem,” she said, “and so did Elena. I paid for both of us to see Dr. Maddy.”
“So, Elena didn’t have any money back then?”
“No. Since then she had a relationship with someone wealthy. He passed on and left it to her.”
“So, why did you both go to see Dr. Maddy?”
“Because she was abused early on in her life, and she endured a lot of trauma.”
“That’s hardly Dr. Maddy’s forte, is it?”
“I’m not sure there’s anything that Dr. Maddy can’t do,” she said. “But, at that point in time, I had heard that she had the ability to help with various things, and I knew that Elena had more than the usual physical disturbances,
