"Right," she said, nodding. "It's coming up again. The family reunion. This weekend, in fact. And I want you to come with me."
I said. "But that's not enough for me to take this case and to take your money. Who was there when he died?"
"We were all there."
"Who's we?"
"The entire family. We use his house and island for our annual reunion."
"You said he died a year ago."
"Right," she said, nodding. "It's coming up again. The family reunion. This weekend, in fact. And I want you to come with me."
My sister and I were jogging along the boardwalk at Huntington Beach. It was midday, Saturday. My kids and her kids were with her husband at Disneyland. I wondered what her husband did to deserve such cruel and unusual punishment. I said as much to Mary Lou.
"Oh, he loves it. He's a big kid himself, you know."
"Does your husband know about me?"
I asked suddenly.
Mary Lou shot me a quick look. We were both dressed in workout pants and tank tops. We both swished as we ran.
Mary Lou's expansive upper half bounced furiously, despite her tight sports bra. Her crazily bouncing chest reminded me of two cats trying to escape a paper bag.
"Of course not," she said. "I haven't told anyone."
I nodded and frowned. I had gotten a sudden hit of her husband isolating my kids to ask them questions about me. Then again, you try living with a secret that could ruin you and see how suspicious you might become. A husband taking not only his own kids - but mine as well - raised some questions.
"Does he suspect anything?" I asked.
"No."
"Has he ever mentioned me?"
"Mentioned you how?"
"In a way that might make it seem like he was digging for information."
"Nothing that I can remember. C'mon, Sam. He's just doing something nice for us so that we can spend the day together. It's been so long since we could just be sisters and nothing more. And now we can spend days together. Glorious days. Not just nights. Okay?"
I nodded. "Okay."