Smoke in Mirrors

mist.
    “She seemed right at home at your place last night,” Deke offered very casually. “Using your shower and all.”

    “Uh huh.”
    “Cassie mentioned that she passed Leonora on the jogging path early this morning. Said it looked like she was on the way to your house. For breakfast maybe.”
    “We’re both early risers.”
    Deke nodded. “Something else you two have in common.”
    “Something else?” Thomas glanced at him and then went back to watching the ghostly joggers. “You’ve noticed other things Leonora and I have in common?”
    “Sure.”
    Thomas hesitated but curiosity got the better of him. “Such as?”
    “Hard to explain. Maybe it’s the way you two do things.”
    “The way we do things?”
    “Yeah, you know.” Deke moved one hand a little, searching for the words. “Once you’ve made up your mind to do something, you just keep at it until it’s done. You make a commitment, you keep it, even when you’ve got some doubts. Look at how you’ve stuck by me this past year. I know you’ve wondered, deep down, if I was looney-tunes.”
    “Hey, so what if you are a wack-job? You’re still my brother.”
    “And the Walker brothers stick together, right?”
    “Right.” Thomas wrapped both hands around the railing. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t have any doubts about your mental health. Not anymore. When it comes to your conspiracy theories, you’ve made a believer out of me.”
    “I think I’ve got Leonora to thank for that,” Deke answered. “My point is that she is a lot like you in some respects. Look how she put her life on hold to come here tofind out what happened to her half sister. That’s the kind of thing you would have done. Hell, it’s exactly what you did.”
    Thomas shrugged. “You’d have done it for me.”
    “Sure.”
    They both looked out at the cove for a while. The fog coalesced into an impenetrable veil. The thud-thud-thud on the path announced a covey of joggers. They materialized in the mist, three middle-aged men who should have known better. Thomas wondered if any of them had started to notice some problems in his knees. Just a matter of time when you got close to forty.
    “I hear we’re invited to Leonora’s house for dinner tonight,” he said after a while.
    “Cassie called about an hour ago. She said she and Leonora are going to cook for us.”
    “Be a good chance for all of us to put our heads together and discuss strategy.”
    Deke’s face became impassive. “Cassie thinks I’m obsessing.”
    “You are. So what? It’s what we Walker boys do.”
    “Might be a little embarrassing talking about some of this stuff in front of her,” Deke said.
    “Nah. Look at it this way, after six months of doing yoga with you she knows as much about this mess as the rest of us. Maybe she can give us a different perspective, the way Leonora is doing.”
    “I never thought about it that way.” Deke hesitated. “I just don’t want her to conclude that I’m a total space cadet, you know? Things are awkward enough between us as it is.”
    “Give her a chance, Deke. Also, you could look on the bright side.”
    “What’s the bright side?”

    “Worst-case scenario is that, even if Cassie decides you’re a total nut case, we get a home-cooked meal and the company of two very nice ladies tonight.”
    “There is that,” Deke said.
    Maybe Leonora really was some sort of catalyst, Thomas thought. A lot of things around here were starting to show signs of movement and change.

    He and Wrench walked back to the house along the jogging path. The late afternoon rush hour was in full swing. Runners, bikers, walkers and people with dogs crowded the trail. Twice he almost got run down by a jogger. Life in the fast lane was dangerous.
    The phone was ringing when he and Wrench let themselves into the hall. He closed the door and picked up the cordless extension.
    “This is Walker.”
    “Thomas?” Leonora said.
    “I’ll be there in about half an hour.” He glanced at his watch. “I need to shower and change.”
    “No rush. Cassie and I are still fussing with the last-minute stuff. I called to ask if you would mind bringing your tools?”
    A rush of red-hot anticipation warmed his blood. “Don’t worry. I never go anywhere without my tools.”
    There was a short, startled pause on the other end of the line.
    Leonora giggled.
    “Actually, I was referring to your other tools,” she said. “The kind you keep in your workshop. I’ve got