The Girl and the Unlucky 13 (Emma Griffin™ FBI Mystery) by A.J. Rivers (i have read the book .txt) 📕

“She was pregnant with Ashley?” Dean asks.

“Yes,” I say, nodding. “Leona was three. She was staying with Mary while Misty underwent treatment. He said it especially helped because one of the nurses was pregnant, too. So they would commiserate with each other and the nurse would give her a little bit of special treatment because of it. He actually showed me a picture of them with their bellies. One of the other nurses took it and apparently printed out a copy of it to give to Misty when she left the facility.”

“And he happened to be walking around with it?” Dean asks.

“No. Years ago Misty almost relapsed. John took a picture of the picture so he could have it on his phone and use it as a reminder to her of what she overcame and where she didn’t want to return. He asked me not to tell Misty he’d told me. She’s really sensitive about it,” I say.

“Are you going to keep it to yourself?” Dean asks.

“I think so. At least for now. I don’t see any reason to mention it to her yet.”

“You know, I never thought of gambling as an addiction the same way I think of something like alcoholism or smoking. Those are seen in patterns in families, but it never occurred to me that something like gambling addiction could pass down to another generation. But it clearly did. Ashley has a strong compulsion toward gambling.”

I nod. “I know some of it is wanting to act like an adult, but it’s such a draw. She was talking about that with more intensity than she was about her grandmother, who is a few rooms away after barely surviving a heart attack. The only thing she talked about concerning her grandmother was the basic facts about her collapsing. She was much more animated about going to dog tracks and their going together when she gets better. She even said her grandmother wants a greyhound as a pet and that she might want to try one, too. She’s a cat person, but thinks a dog might be an option.”

“A cat person?” Ava asks. “Did she tell you that?”

“Yeah,” I shrug, taking a bite of my veggie-stuffed pita and cramming the wayward ends into my mouth. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t tell you this because I didn’t want you to get mad. But I talked to Leona,” she says, cringing.

“What did you find out?” I ask.

“Use the shovel well,” Xavier says to Ava in a solemn voice.

“I asked her about Sean and what their relationship is and was. She told me that they are seeing each other and have been for years. They’ve always tried to keep it under wraps a bit because they don’t fit into each other’s worlds.”

“But what about Allison?” I ask.

“She didn’t know about that,” Ava says. “But one thing she mentioned was that it was hard back then, because he had a cat and she is extremely allergic. She even hated getting into his car because he would let the cat ride around with him. There was so much fur and dander, it was miserable for her. If she had that kind of reaction to just being near a guy with a cat, there’s no way that the family would own one.”

“I thought I remembered seeing a picture of Ashley with a cat, though,” I say.

Ava nods. “It was one of the pictures the news used to publicize her case. Just a random childhood shot. That cat belonged to a friend of hers.”

This gets my mind turning. Things I’ve heard Ashley say start to bubble up to the surface of my thoughts.

In the hospital, she asked for a banana split with extra pineapple.

She wanted lemonade with lunch.

Wiping off my hands, I pull out my tablet and find archives of the local newscasts. I listen to the statements Misty made leading up to the vigil.

“What’s going on?” Dean asks.

“I don’t know,” I say. “But let’s see if I can find out. Thanks for the picnic.”

I get up and start toward my car. A few steps away, I turn back to them.

“Ava, talk to the police who investigated the house. Find out everything they know. Ask if they tested the blood in the mirror and on the living room floor. Then tell them to search under the front porch. They’ll probably need to dig,” I say.

She smiles softly and nods.

I run the rest of the way to the car and jump in, headed straight for Mary Gray’s house. Before I left the hospital earlier, Misty told me that was where they would be staying once Ashley was discharged. She didn’t want to stay at the house that had already been invaded.

There’s a light glowing on the front porch when I pull up to the address Misty gave me. I ring the doorbell and a bewildered John answers.

“Emma. I didn’t expect you here tonight,” he frowns. “We’re just settling in.”

“I know,” I say. “I’m sorry to barge in like this, but I need to speak with Ashley.”

He hesitates, but then agrees and steps aside to let me in.

“She’s in pain from the stab wound. She went right upstairs to rest when we got her here.”

He leads me to the room and gestures to the closed door.

“Thank you,” I say.

He walks away and I knock.

“Yes?” Ashley says from the other side.

“It’s Emma,” I say.

“Come in.”

I open the door just enough to slip inside and close it behind me. Ashley is curled up in a chair near a bay window that looks out over the lawn. The curtains ripple in a soft breeze coming in. There isn’t a single shred of fear or worry in her eyes as she sits there.

“The doctors didn’t want to keep you overnight?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “They stitched me up and said I would probably do better recovering at home.”

I nod and walk closer. “There are a couple of things I wanted to ask you about. Just some things that