Heather laughed, and I was floored by her transformation. She turned to watch one of Pari’s artists tattoo a young man’s calf. He was getting a steampunk clock that was melting down his leg.

“So, what did the doc say?”

Pari motioned for me to join her in the front parlor. Two young girls were perusing the photo albums.

“He didn’t find anything, but he said her pallor is too yellow and her white blood cell count is high. She told him she gets stomach cramps sometimes and feels nauseated and has to swallow a lot.” She leaned in closer. “Chuck, he thinks she’s the victim of chronic, low-dose poisoning.”

I closed my eyes. “Son of a bitch. Why hasn’t another doctor picked up on this?”

“I don’t know. He said he only suggested that because I told him she could be the victim of a crime, and all the signs are there. Unfortunately, without a thousand tests, there’s no way to know what she’s been poisoned with. If at all.”

“But we have her now, and the dosing has stopped. Will she get better, or do we need to get her to a hospital?”

She shrugged. “He’s coming back in the morning. Said he knows a guy who knows a guy who can run some very basic tests on the side, if you want to go that route. It’ll cost around five hundred.”

“That’s fine. Anything.”

“And I wish I had better news, but you were right about Nick Parker. He has a file on you on his home computer. It seems like more of a personal project than an official one.”

“You’re kidding me. Did you get a look?”

“I did.” She handed me a manila envelope. “This is a copy of everything he has on you. Charley, he knows you had a baby and that the baby is gone. He suspects foul play.”

I’d started to open the envelope but stopped and stared at her a solid minute. “This is about Beep?” I asked, the edges of my vision darkening.

“He’s been going around to hospitals, showing your face, asking if anyone in the maternity ward had seen you. And I think he found the doctor Reyes hired. Somehow figured out he knew something. Threatened him.”

I closed my eyes. “This is not happening. Not with everything else.”

“I’m afraid it is. And this is serious stuff. He could bring you up on all kinds of nasty charges. Bizarrely enough, from what I could tell from his notes, he stumbled upon the pregnancy while investigating Reyes.”

I had to sit down. Pari grabbed a visitor’s chair and pushed it under my shaking knees. “Reyes?”

“I guess he can’t just let it alone. Some people feel like there was something fishy about his release from prison and exoneration of all charges. He’s looking into both of your financials, too. And he’s been e-mailing the authorities in Sleepy Hollow, New York, asking about your stay there.”

“How the fuck does he know about Sleepy Hollow?”

“He’s following the money. Chuck,” she said, cupping my face and turning me toward her, “you have to get in front of this.”

“I know. You’re right. I have no choice. He is going to push too far.”

“No,” she said, hardening her gaze. “Don’t let it come to that. Tell Reyes. He’ll know what needs to be done. More importantly, he’ll be willing to do what needs to be done.”

“Pari, we can’t kill him.”

“I know,” she said, but I wasn’t sure she did. “I don’t mean kill him. Just, you know, put him in the hospital for a few days. Or years. Whichever.”

If the situation hadn’t been so dire, I would have laughed.

“Can I get a soda?” Heather had searched us out and was standing in the door to the front room.

“You absolutely can have a water. You know where they are.”

“Okay,” she said, disappointment lining her fragile face.

Well, either way, dealing with Nick the Prick Parker was going to have to wait until I could find out more about Heather and the home.

“Heather,” I said before she went back to the tattoo room, “who told you that what you had was the curse? Anyone in particular or just a general consensus among the ranks?”

She thought back. “Just the kids, I guess.” Her breath wheezed when she took a breath. I stepped over to her and felt her forehead and neck, just in case things were taking a turn for the worse. She let me, like it was an everyday act. Her temp seemed normal. “They were all talking about me like I was next. My friend Amelia freaked. She doesn’t want me to die.”