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infectious sound that made me smile wider. "Oh, he knows, sugar. He knows."
    I wasn't worried for their relationship. They were perfectly matched. Perry's exuberance was the perfect foil to Mario's cool confidence.
    "Now," he said, looking at me through a pair of lightly tinted aviator sunglasses, "either my happy pills are too strong and I'm hallucinating, or I saw an actual turkey waddling down your street."
    Adjusting the blower on the dash, I directed heat toward my frozen face. I laughed. "No need to adjust your medication. The Mill is apparently the new home of a pair of wild turkeys."
    He sighed wistfully. "Too bad you're not referring to my kind of Wild Turkey."
    I stole a glance at his face. "I thought you quit drinking."
    "I did, but I miss it."
    Times like these I could see why. Fortunately, Perry hadn't had a problem with alcohol—just the calories that came with it. He was on a diet and hoarding points for Thanksgiving dinner like a hungry squirrel gathering nuts for hibernation.
    Five days. Thanksgiving was in five short days, and I hadn't even bought the turkey yet. Maybe the neighborhood's wild turkeys were a sign from above to get my act in gear. Twenty people were due at my house Thursday afternoon. The Big Day. The day my family was to meet Bobby's. Plus, I'd invited a few strays. Mario and Perry, Tam and Ian, Flash Leonard, several people from work, and of course Kit.
    "No inside scoop on Kit?" Perry asked, slowly turning onto the northbound I-75 on ramp. Sparse traffic kept a steady pace, sloshing down the salt- and snow-covered highway.
    I slipped on my sunglasses, the glare from the sun on the snow harsh. "Nothing." He'd simply vanished. Poof. Gone.
    Perry glanced at me. "Have you been watching the news?"
    I warmed my hands in front of the blower, started counting all the cars that had slid off the side of the road. Five minutes and I'd already seen three. "I've been trying not to."
    According to the reports I had seen, the police weren't saying much. Daisy was shot to death, Kit was a person of interest, and it appeared that drugs might have been a factor in her death. One newscast mentioned a broken window at Heavenly Hope and how the perpetrator might have gained access that way.
    Little did they know.
    "Stupid bloodthirsty media." Perry's creamy skin glowed with good health, and his tawny hair lay hidden beneath a cream-colored cashmere stocking hat.
    Usually I wasn't as jaded as Perry, but I couldn't help but agree with his assessment, especially since the media was going out of its way to make it seem that Kit was guilty until proven innocent.
    "We need to think about this case rationally," he said.
    "Are you saying I'm not rational?" I teased.
    "Sugar, I'm surprised you're functioning. I know how you feel about Kit."
    To me, Kit was another sibling. Nina, Maria, Peter . . . Kit. It tore me apart to think about all the what-ifs in light of Daisy's death.
    Obviously trying to comfort me, Perry patted my hand. "Back to rational. Who would want Daisy dead? What are some motives?"
    "Money, greed, betrayal, revenge. The list is endless."
    "We know Kit didn't do her in, so someone out there did. We need to put her life under a microscope, talk to anyone and everyone who knew her. She had to have employees, right?"
    "Heavenly Hope looked well-established. I would think so."
    "They'd be a good place to start. Clients too. Do you think we can track any down?"
    "I don't know. The master list was probably on her hard drive, and that was missing from her office. Maybe we can find a few through her employees."
    "It's not much to go on," he said. "But it's a start."
    It was more than the police were doing.
    "Lord above, it would be nice if Kit's hiding out at his mom's, and we can get the whole story."
    Again my mind went to the dark side. That he couldn't be at his mom's because whoever killed Daisy killed him too.
    Think positive, Nina. Think positive.
    It was hard. Very hard.
    Dropping my head back against