Chapter 2
Los Angeles, the present
Parker, an all-white bull terrier with the exception of a small black smudge on his left ear and a slightly larger smudge on his tail, lay on his side on the kitchen floor by Morris Brick’s feet, one eye open, his ears perked up. Morris noted, between bites of oatmeal, that the dog did not look happy. He couldn’t blame him. Three weeks ago Morris had switched to eating a healthier breakfast, which meant no bacon, sausage, or scrambled eggs to mooch. Morris used the big toe on his right foot to rub the dog’s chest. Parker consented to halfheartedly thumping his tail once.
“You’re going to hold a grudge, huh?” Morris said.
Parker’s open eye shifted to peek at him, but otherwise no reaction. All at once he lifted his bullet-shaped head and his tail began thumping more enthusiastically.
“Buongiorno,” Natalie announced cheerfully as she entered the kitchen. Parker’s tail thumped against the floor more rapidly and he let out one of his pig-like grunts. Natalie gave Morris a quick kiss, then dropped to a knee so she could hug the dog around his thick neck.
“You’d never guess by the way he’s acting now, but he’s been sulking ever since we got back from his walk. B-a-c-o-n withdrawals.”
“You gave him a can of his f-o-o-d?”
“Of course.”
“That should be enough for him.”
“You can be a cruel woman, Nat.”
She smiled at that. “But just.”
“No question. I’ve got more oatmeal warming on the stove. Would you like some? With a sliced banana and cinnamon?”
“That would be lovely.”
Natalie kissed Parker on the snout and took a seat at the table while Morris got her breakfast.
“Grazie.” Natalie flashed him a dazzling smile. After twenty-four years of marriage she could still bring a lump to his throat and make him weak in the knees. He was a lucky man, no question about it. His wife was still the same slender, dark-haired beauty he’d fallen in love with all those years ago, while he had always been a funny-looking guy with big ears, thick, long nose, spindly legs, and a short, compact body. The type of guy who should own a bull terrier. People had to wonder how they ever ended up together, but the answer was simple: He got lucky when she somehow also fell in love with him.
Morris finished his breakfast, his spoon scraping the bowl. He wondered briefly how the oatmeal would taste with crumbled-up bacon mixed in, but he forced the thought out of his mind. He smiled thinly, thinking how Parker must be sending him psychic messages.
“I’ll get coffee started,” he offered as he took his bowl and spoon to the sink.
“It’s nice getting a later start today,” Natalie said.
Morris nodded. It was almost ten and usually they were both out of the house by seven; Natalie, so she could see clients at her private office where she worked as a therapist, and Morris so he could run Morris Brick Investigations, more commonly known as MBI. But since Natalie had her eight o’clock and nine thirty appointments cancel on her, and since operations at MBI were running smoothly and Morris didn’t have anything scheduled until one, they’d decided to take it easy this morning, which was a luxury for both of them.
Natalie waited until Morris brought the coffee to the table before commenting on how in nine days they would be jetting off to Rome. While it was ostensibly a statement, it was really a probing question: Was he as excited about their upcoming vacation as she was? Morris hesitated just enough before nodding to give away that he had concerns.
“This will be our first real vacation in years,” Natalie said. “Two weeks in Italy. Rome, Sorrento, Florence, Venice, and Milan. This will be a dream for us, Morris. You’ll love it as much as I will. I promise.”
Morris forced a smile and nodded. Nat was right, of course. Outside of a four-day trip upstate to wine country, they hadn’t been on a vacation since they took Rachel to Yosemite National Park for a week when she was twelve. Nat was also being kind in not mentioning that this would make up for the honeymoon they’d never had. Back when they had married, he was a rookie on the force, busting his ass to make something of himself. A year later they had Rachel, and money became too scarce to go on any sort of extended vacation. After Morris was promoted to detective they started saving some money, but whenever they’d plan a big vacation he would get caught up in a case and they’d have to cancel their trip. In fact, they had this very same trip planned three years ago when the Hillside Cannibal case broke, and by the time Morris caught up to the twisted monster, Vincent Robusto, who murdered and ate the internal organs of his eleven victims, they were in no shape to go anywhere. Then, eighteen months ago, Morris retired from the force and started MBI, and with all the hours he was putting in to get his fledging firm off the ground, any sort of vacation seemed impossible. But now things were humming along nicely at MBI, and Natalie convinced him the place wouldn’t collapse if he was gone for two weeks. That they could finally go on the trip that they’d been waiting twenty-four years to take.
“MBI will still be standing when we get back,” Natalie said. “You’ll be leaving it in good hands with Charlie Bogle. Now maybe if you’d picked Polk to run the place while you were gone, you’d have something to worry about!”
“I’m not really worried about MBI,” Morris conceded. “More about leaving this little guy for two weeks. He’s mad enough at me as it is for the current b-a-c-o-n situation.”
“Parker will be fine. More than fine. Rachel will be spoiling him rotten. Like daughter, like dad.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve been tough as nails with the little guy. I barely let him mooch anything from me these days.”
“Ha! I bet you’ve been thinking of frying up b-a-c-o-n and crumbling it into your oatmeal just so you’d have an excuse to give him some each morning.”
Morris made a harrumphing noise. “The thought never crossed my mind,” he insisted. His expression softened. “And Nat, I really am looking forward to Italy.”
“Good.” She hesitated before adding, “And you’ll be careful with the cases you take?”
“I promise. Nothing that will make me cancel this trip.”