The Misadventures of the Laundry Hag 00 - Swept Under the Rug

law-abiding husband fibbed to me, he’d play straight with the feds.
    “So you didn’t drive past the Valentino estate at any point today?” Special Agent Salazar had finished note-taking and looked at me. From his slightly melodic accent and dark features, I guessed he had some Arabic blood. He certainly didn’t glow in the dark like I did during a New England winter.
    “No, they’re kind of out of the way. The closest I came was driving past the turnoff on my way to Wal-Mart. I wasn’t due to clean their house until Friday morning.” Neil’s grip on my shoulders tightened to near pain and I winced. “I was probably going to cancel anyhow.”
    “Why?” Special Agent Feist inquired.
    I thought the answer was obvious, I wanted nothing to do with whatever oddness was happening with the Valentinos, but the men waited for a reply. “I’m looking into expanding my business, taking on more work.
    Special Agent Salazar snorted. “In this economy? Good luck.”
    A perverse part of me was delighted to have gotten a human reaction from the stalwart FBI special agent. The larger part asked, “Any more questions, gentlemen?”
    “I think we’re done for now.” Special Agent Salazar flipped his notebook closed. “We’ll be in touch.”
    “Please let me know when you find her.” Too concerned with the prospect that I was “a person of interest,” my brain hadn’t registered the nightmare Candie was enduring.
    Special Agent Feist turned and looked at me. “We’ll be in touch.” He parroted. Neil followed them to the door.
    “Shit,” I muttered. “Shit, shit, SHIT!” God, the Phoenix wacko had taken Candie. Or maybe not. She might have been traumatized by the fricasseed Falcon and taken off on her own. Except, according to Capri, there had been another note left with ransom instructions. Thank the Lord I’d made a copy for Capri. For some reason, Valentino hadn’t bothered to divulge that detail to the feds.
    Neil returned and leaned on the counter so his face was a few inches from mine. “You went back to Dr. Bob’s.” He pointed out.
    “So did you.” I retorted. Neil blinked and I hid a smile, having taken him off guard.
    “Just to get my phone.” His eye contact was direct.
    “I could have retrieved it for you.” I said.
    “Yeah, and I would have asked you to, except you didn’t tell me you were going back there today.” He pointed out.
    What was it about some men that they could spin anything to make a woman doubt her own thoughts? In one statement, he revealed that he had no reason to hide his cell phone from me and made me feel guilty about withholding the Dr. Bob visit. Damn his reasonable hide!
    “So, I went back to Dr. Bob’s today.” I told him.
    The corner of Neil’s mouth hiked up and laugh lines crinkled around his eyes. “Really? I had no idea.”
    “I kind of hate him a little bit.” I divulged.
    “He seems like an okay guy to me.” Neil extracted his now cold tuna casserole from the microwave and scraped the plate. “This stuff reeked before it sat for forty minutes. I’m not hungry anymore.”
    “So, wanna tell me about your day?” Please, please, please, tell me all about your day, I silently begged.
    Neil rinsed the plate and set it in the dishwasher. “Right now, I just want to go to bed. Even if it is in a camper.”
    “Sorry,” It wasn’t hard to sound sincere, since I was sorry, for a multitude of reasons. Glancing at the clock, I realized it was practically Thursday. “Oh, no Leo,” I groaned
    “Is he sleeping over, too?” Neil didn’t sound like he was joking.
    “No, I promised him, I’d look for more work, so I could hire his friend.”
    “You have to stop taking in strays, Uncle Scrooge. I understand you want to save the world, but this is ridiculous.”
    “I told you I’d send Marty away if you wanted—“
    “I don’t want you to send him away.” I looked at Neil and he shrugged. “He’s your brother and Penny’s his, well, I don’t know what, but sort of family I suppose.” Neil took a breath and shook his head. “But this thing with Sylvia and Eric, Candie Valentino and now Leo’s friend…?”
    “Richard.” I supplied.
    “You don’t have to be so involved with every person you meet. I mean, I love that you are, you have a generous heart, but really Maggie, you’re….”
    “What?” Dear God, was Dr. Bob right? Was I spreading myself too thin and neglecting Neil and the boys? “What do you want me to do?”
    He