Read Lost Legacy (A Zoe Chambers Mystery Book 2) for Free Online Page A

called first. This isn’t a good time for a visit.”
    “Which is precisely why I didn’t call first. It’s never a good time.”
    “But this really isn’t. I have to be in Brunswick to attend an autopsy in a half hour.”
    “Tough.”
    “What?”
    “You heard me.” Nadine stripped the bright red elastic thing from her hair and made a production of slicking back the few stray wisps before rebinding them. “I’ve been taking care of Dad with virtually no help from you for almost five years now.”
    “You volunteered to take him into your house when they first diagnosed him.”
    “Yes. Because the Alzheimer’s wasn’t that bad yet and I didn’t want to see him put in a home.” She drew a deep breath and blew it out. “I still don’t. But I need some help from you.”
    “I work. You don’t.”
    “I do.” She slammed a fist down on the table. “I work from home.”
    Pete winced. “You know what I mean.”
    “You said exactly what you meant. Your work is more important than mine because you go out into the world and arrest bad guys and all I do is transcribe doctors’ notes.”
    Pete wanted to charge across the room and grab his sister by her shoulders. Shake her. But that would mean putting weight on his ankle. “What do you expect me to do? Quit my job?”
    Nadine stuck her chin out. He remembered this same obstinate pose from when they were kids. One time he’d given in to temptation and belted her. He’d been six. She’d been four. But their dad had made it clear that hitting a girl—any girl, but especially his sister—would not be tolerated.
    “I’m the one who’s quitting,” Nadine said.
    “What?”
    “Okay. Not quitting. I’m taking a vacation.”
    Oh. Were she and Dad headed somewhere and simply dropped in along the way? Was this entire argument over nothing? But somehow, that chin and the look in her eyes...
    “I need a break. You never listen to me when I tell you I need you to take Dad for a weekend every now and then. If you’d even come stay with him for a few hours once a week so I could go shopping. But no. You have your precious job.”
    “Now hold on. I come out to visit every chance I get.”
    “Oh, sure. Once, maybe twice, a month. Never when it’s convenient. Never with enough advanced warning I could plan to do something while you’re there. Fine. I’ve had all I can take. If I don’t get away for a few weeks, I’m going to...I don’t know. I don’t want to find out.”
    So she and Dad weren’t going on vacation. “What are you getting at?” Pete knew the answer, but hoped—prayed—he was wrong.
    “Dad will stay with you for the next two weeks. Maybe three. I’m going to the ocean to rest and regain my sanity.”
    Damn it. He wasn’t wrong. “Nadine, I can’t take him today—”
    “I’m not asking you. You’d never say ‘Okay, Sis. Sure I’ll take him.’ It’s always ‘Not today.’” Her impersonation of his voice wasn’t particularly flattering. “I’m telling you. This is how it will be. He’s all yours. I have a suitcase of his stuff in my car. You can bring it in. It’s the black one. The other suitcases are mine.”
    He glared at her. She glared back. And he knew damned well, she was not going to back down.
    Nadine hoisted her massive handbag from the chair and thumped it on the table. She flung it open and dug around inside, coming up with a large zippered plastic bag filled with pill bottles. “These are Dad’s meds.”
    Holy shit. There had to be a whole pharmacy in there.
    After more digging, she came up with a sheet of paper, which she shoved at Pete. “This tells you all you need to know. Which pills he gets when. Don’t mix them up or forget.”
    Pete took the paper and unfolded it. “Are these all for his Alzheimer’s?”
    “No. The donepezil is for his dementia. The lisinopril and atenolol are for his heart and blood pressure.” She waved a dismissive hand. “You don’t need to know what they’re all for.