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

from him, than to set me up as blackmailer?”
    Neil’s fists clenched on the arms of the desk chair. “If this is true, you were arrested as a red herring, so Valentino would feel confident enough to make his next move. Then, the feds would close in. You really should sue, Uncle Scrooge. Or at least let me beat the snot out of them all.”
    Not the most romantic offer, but it filled in the cold pit in my stomach with light and warmth. “Never mind that now. There are still pieces missing. First, we don’t know if Candie is involved or not. If not, then Markus has an accomplice. While he may have sent those faxes and the dead bird, he didn’t bash himself over the back of the head then set fire to his own house. My money is on Dick Head. It’s too coincidental that he hooks up with Leo right after I started cleaning for the Valentinos. Look at the facts. He uses Leo to get to me and the guise of the cleaning gig to nose around Valentino’s private office. He has a stalker-esqe file on them, for Pete’s sake.”
    Neil mulled that over, absently stroking my arm. “Then again, he could be just some whacked-out groupie. Valentino might’ve hired some random thug. You can buy anything on Craigslist.”
    “Or it could be the guy who was driving us around. Or possibly Sierra. As his personal assistant, she could cover for him at any point when he was out doing something unscrupulous. Then too, there’s Lucas Sloan. Lord knows that guy has so much financial trouble, he’d get in bed with the devil for a few coins to rub together.” I looked Neil in the eye. “Whoever it is, they’ve decided to take Valentino out. Chances are high the police have a guard posted at his hospital room door in case the perp has another go at him.”
    The corner of Neil’s mouth kicked up. “Perp? You’re really getting into this.”
    “Not like I had much of a choice.” But he was right, I realized. While running my own business had been kind of cool, it didn’t occupy my mind the way the CI position did. I turned to my husband. “With cleaning, there was always going to be a need to do it again and the effort is often overlooked. Helping out Capri made me feel as if I was making a real difference, not just a temporary one.”
    Neil reached out, pulled me onto his lap. “You make me absolutely crazy, you know that?” He said as his hand stroked lazily through my hair. “All I want in this world is to protect you and the boys and to see that you’re all happy. Figures that the only way for you to be happy is pasting a giant bull’s eye on your forehead.”
    “That’s not true, I’m happy doing stuff with you and the boys.”
    His hand stilled and dropped to the arm of the chair once more. “Are you? Is that why you went out of your way to invite Leo to come skiing with us?”
    My mouth dropped open. “Was that why you were in such a snit this morning? Neil, Leo gets like two days off every six months, otherwise your mother keeps him chained to a radiator. I thought he’d like a change of pace. Besides, you know darn well that I wasn’t going to ski and I know you needed a little physical action.”
    “Speaking of which…” Neil mumbled, before claiming my lips.
    Someone knocked on the door.
    “Go away,” We shouted in tandum.
    “Maggie, I need to talk to you.” Sylvia’s meek plea seemed even more pathetic filtered through the door.
    I rested my forehead against Neil’s. “Cripes, I should hang up a shingle next to Dr. Bob’s.”
    “Come on in, Sylvia,” Neil called out as I scrambled off his lap.
    “Hey, you guys. Sorry to interrupt.”
    “We’re use to it.” Neil said easily. “I’m going to see what’s left from dinner.”
    “Save me something,” I pleaded as he shut the door. On a sigh, I turned to face my friend.
    “What’s up, Sylvie?” My heart broke as I watched her wring her hands. Sylvia had changed so much in the last week. Her usual confidence in tatters, she looked like a little girl who’d been abandoned in a foreign city.
    “Well, first, I wanted you to know how grateful I am that you’ve been here for me. I know I’m weird and out there and you don’t get all my new age hocus pocus, but you’re still here for me.” Her hands gestured wildly. “And I wanted to tell you, I’ve decided to sell the house.”
    I dropped back into the padded chair. Crap. “When?”
    “As soon as possible. Eric promised I could have the house, since he’s the one who still has a job,