Katie woke up late Monday morning and rushed out of the house, grabbing a granola bar on her way through the kitchen. She planned to drive out to Ann Arbor to see Christopher. He was technically her patient after all.

The drive to Ann Arbor took less time than finding a parking spot near University Hospital. Katie bemoaned her lack of a staff parking pass since she didn’t see patients there anymore. She looped through the visitor parking garage and finally began stalking the door that exited from the hospital. She followed a stout balding man to his car and waited with her blinker on while he adjusted his seat belt, fiddled with his radio, and checked his mirrors three times.

She was certain that steam was coming out of her ears by the time she finally pulled into the spot and switched off the ignition. She sat for a moment taking deep breaths.

Katie exited her car, locked it, and went in through the visitor door.

Katie knew certain areas of the hospital like they were her own home, while others were a complete mystery. The hospital complex was vast, and she had only spent time in patient care areas. The ICU was one place she knew very well. She hit the metal plate outside the doors and walked inside as they whooshed open.

There was a different sort of air in an ICU. Katie could never put her finger on it, but the softly beeping machines, the quiet squeak of shoes on linoleum, and the sleeping patients who were fighting epic battles while unconscious always felt like an alien world to Katie.

She identified herself to the nurse behind the central desk, who pointed to a cubicle at the far end of the room. This was a good sign for Christopher. The nurses tried to position the sickest patients near the nurse’s station.

“We just gave him his pain meds; you’d better hurry if you want to talk to him.”

Katie walked toward the bed and was surprised to see that Christopher was awake. His right eye was swollen, with bruising on his cheek. His leg was in a cast, and he had gauze wrapped around his arm. She could tell by the way he breathed that he probably also had a fractured rib or two.

“Dr. LeClair, hello,” he said in a raspy voice.

He tried to sit up, and Katie stepped forward to help him, finding the remote that worked the bed and pushing the button that would raise his head.

“Hello, Christopher,” she said. “How are you doing?”

He closed his eyes. “I’ve been better.”

Katie pulled up a visitor chair. She didn’t know how long he would be able to talk, so she had to get right to the point. “Christopher, I came to check on you but also to ask you some questions.”

He opened his eyes and gestured at the cup of water sitting on the tray by the bed.

Katie picked it up and held the straw out to him.

He nodded his thanks.

“Beth and I have been . . . looking into Ellen’s death,” Katie began. “We never thought it was suicide, and Beth knew her mother had been doing some research.”

Christopher nodded. “It’s true.”

“What’s true?”

“Marilyn Talbot is my half-sister. I’ve known forever, but my mother convinced me that the business would fail if I shared ownership with her,” he said. He stopped talking, and Katie thought that was all he was going to say.

“My mother hated her. I realize that now. She was furious with my father for the affair and did everything she could to make Marilyn’s life unpleasant. My father made me promise to watch out for her, and I did. But I should have told her the truth—especially after my mother died.”

“Were you fighting with Ellen about it?”

Christopher closed his eyes. Katie waited.

“Christopher?”

“She wanted me to tell Marilyn. She wanted Todd to have more of a stake in the restaurant, and I wanted to wait. I needed to talk to the lawyers and figure out how to take care of everything.”

“How did Ellen find out?”

Christopher sighed. “Some comment Beth made about Todd being color-blind triggered a memory. Ellen remembered a story my mother had told about my father’s color-blind troubles. She knew it was rare and started poking around.” Christopher stopped and breathed shallowly.

Katie sensed there was more and waited.

Christopher closed his eyes, and Katie worried he had fallen asleep. She pressed the button to put the head of the bed back down, and his eyes snapped open.

“She finally confronted me about it, and I told her everything. She promised to let me tell Marilyn and Todd after I had talked to the lawyers.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Katie said.

“I wish I’d never kept it a secret.” Christopher sighed. He closed his eyes again, and this time Katie knew the medicine had taken effect. He’d be asleep for several hours.

Katie walked back out to the parking garage thinking about what Christopher had told her. She was starting to understand what Marilyn might have meant about digging up old secrets.