"Other insects."
"Yuck!"
"That's a good thing," Caleb said. "It helps keep the bad bugs in the garden from eating all the vegetables."
Brianna's nose was still wrinkled in distaste. "Ooo."
"Don't you find gnats and mosquitoes particularly appetizing?" he teased.
"What's appetizing mean?"
He chuckled. "Never mind. Do you want to hold it?"
Brianna shrank away from him. "I don't think so."
"Come on." He pulled back the plastic and gently withdrew the mantis. "It won't hurt you. It has spiny legs that feel a little funny, but it's harmless."
Brianna remained skeptical at first, but the longer Caleb let the praying mantis perch on his hand, the more confident she became. "Okay."
He carefully transferred the insect to her just as Madison's cell phone rang. The LED readout identified the caller as Danny.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped away from Brianna and Caleb. "Hello?"
"You left a message on my voice mail this morning that you want to talk about Brianna," Danny said without the courtesy of a greeting. "What's going on?"
"I do want to talk, but I'm afraid now isn't a good time."
"What could possibly be wrong? God, she's six," he said.
Madison lowered her voice. "I have some very legitimate concerns, Danny. Our daughter is going through a difficult time, and I'm hoping you'll cooperate with me for her benefit."
"She'd be fine if only you'd let her come and live with us. She's perfectly happy when she's here. Ask Leslie."
"I don't need to ask Leslie anything," Madison said, irritated by the way he constantly discounted her feelings. "I know my own daughter. And I'm not going to give up my rights to her."
"Well, I don't want to conference with you about every little thing."
"Every little thing?" she replied. "Our daughter isn't a little thing."
"I think you just like to bother me, although I can't imagine why. When we were married you certainly didn't give a damn about anything other than protecting your beloved father."
Madison glanced up to see Caleb watching her. She didn't like him witnessing the discord between her and Danny, but she wasn't willing to end the conversation just yet. She was tired of Danny's unrelenting bitterness. He thought she'd ruined his life, but dealing with him wasn't easy.
"I'm going to pretend you never said that and say what I called to tell you in the first place," she said in carefully measured tones, thinking she might as well get it over with. "You're expressing opinions and attitudes in Brianna's presence that aren't good for her to hear. It's as simple as that."
"What opinions?"
"You're criticizing me in front of her, and I'm her mother."
"I haven't told her anything that isn't true," he said, and laughed.
Rolling her eyes, Madison consciously tried to sidestep an argument. "Just...just be careful of what you say in future, okay?"
"I'll do what I damn well please."
Another glance at Caleb and Brianna told Madison that her daughter was still absorbed with the mantis, but Caleb was watching her intently enough to suggest he recognized that something was wrong.
"Listen, we'll have to talk about this later," she said. "I've got someone here."
"Someone? Don't tell me you're finally starting to date."
She moved farther away from Caleb and Brianna and lowered her voice. "Whether I'm dating or not is none of your business. Anyway, I'm not seeing this guy. I'm renting to him."
The tension between them turned palpable. "You leased the cottage house?" Danny said, all sign of levity gone.
"I told you I was going to."
"And I told you I didn't want you to. Do you even know this guy?"
Madison curled the nails of her free hand into her palm. He thought he could walk out on her and still have a say in her choices; his presumption tested her patience, but she was determined not to lose her temper. "I'm getting to know him," she said calmly.
"So he's basically a stranger."
"A lot of people live in homes that are built closer together than my house is to the carriage house, Danny," she said. "If it helps, think of us as having a new neighbor."
"I'm taking you back to court," he snapped. "You'll be sorry you didn't listen to me when I cut my child support in half."
Disgusted that he'd threaten her with something that would hurt Brianna, Madison let her true opinion of him ooze into her voice. "You're pathetic, you know that?"
"Be careful. You really don't want to piss me off," he said, and hung up.
Madison was shaking by the time she hit the End button. Caleb was talking about the praying mantis again, but Brianna had finally clued in to the drama unfolding on the phone, despite his efforts to distract her.
"Was that Daddy?" she asked, watching her mother with wide, uncertain eyes.
Madison shoved her cell into her purse. "Yes, but don't worry, honey, everything's okay."
Brianna shaded her eyes against the sun. "Your face gets all red when you talk to Daddy."
Madison started moving toward the house. "It's a little hot in this suit. I'd better go change."
"I'll bet some ice cream would cool you down," Caleb said before she could get very far.
Brianna immediately jumped to her feet and clapped and danced. "I want some ice cream! Elizabeth wants ice cream, too!"
"I've got a yes from Brianna," he said. "What about you?"
Madison didn't want to go out for ice cream. After her conversation with Danny, she didn't want to go anywhere. Especially with her handsome renter. Letting another man into her life was like embracing a tornado. But she knew Caleb was trying to help her, so she made a conscious effort to let him. "Ice cream sounds good," she said.
THREE HOURS LATER, Caleb sat at a table at a McDonald's not far from Holly's house in Alderwood Manor, a suburb between Whidbey Island and Seattle. He tapped his pen on his leg, waiting impatiently for Detective Gibbons to answer his call as Holly inched forward in line. He'd spent most of the afternoon with Madison and Brianna, but he hadn't been able to get anything new out of Madison about her father or the murders. Even while they were having ice cream, she'd been too preoccupied by that phone call she'd received from her ex.
Caleb couldn't blame her. From what he'd overheard, Danny Lieberman was an ass.
When Gibbons finally came to the phone, Caleb had to yank the receiver away from his ear before the loud, foulmouthed, twenty-year police veteran blasted out his eardrum.