I pulled my phone from my pocket and handed it to her. She pulled up the video feed, and for the first time since she’d come out of that farmhouse, I saw her smile.

She said, “I don’t see Chablis. It looks like there’s catnip scattered all over the living room floor. Syrah and Merlot are totally doped and acting stupid.” She laughed.

I silently blessed my cats for their wonderful power to heal.

Mercy didn’t have a real hospital, just an emergency clinic, and after a call to Billy Cranor, I learned that Tom had been taken to the county hospital about thirty minutes north-and very close to Lydia Monk’s office.

If the Mercy grapevine was active, I feared Lydia already knew about Tom’s accident. By the time we got to the hospital, sure enough, she was waiting in the emergency room. I thought I didn’t need protection anymore, but maybe I was wrong.

She wore bright pink skinny jeans and a matching scoop-neck T-shirt. Her bleached hair was held back with rhinestone clips, and she had on the biggest hoop earrings I’d ever seen. I introduced her to Kara, but I was surprised and happy when Kara put an arm around my shoulder and said, “Jillian’s my stepmother.”

All at once my fear that Lydia knew about Tom and me was forgotten.

“Wicked stepmother?” Lydia said, eyeing me with loathing.

Oh, she knew about the kiss, all right. Otherwise she would have pretended to be the reasonable Lydia, not the crazy one.

Kara said, “Not in the least. What’s your problem, Ms. Monk?”

“She’s my problem.” Lydia pointed at me, and I saw little rhinestones embedded in the polish on her nails. “Tom Stewart loves me and only me. But she thinks she can come between us. Showing up here is just another excuse to get close to him.”

Kara turned to look at me, staving off a smile. “Why didn’t I know about this love affair?”

Lydia said, “Because-”

But Candace’s arrival interrupted Lydia. “How’s our guy doing?” she said.

“Our guy is waiting for the surgeon,” Lydia said. “Or so I’ve been told.”

“He hasn’t been asking for you, Ms. Monk?” Kara said sarcastically.

“I’m sure he has,” she said.

“I need to talk to him before he goes under,” Candace said. “Hope he’s not too messed up on painkillers to tell me what he found out about Lieber. I want to verify Hoffman’s story.” She took me by the wrist. “Come on. Let’s go, Jillian.”

Lydia started to follow, but Candace turned and said, “Stay away.”

Lydia started to protest, but Kara came up to her and somehow managed to distract her.

Candace flashed her badge at the registration desk, told the receptionist why she was here, and then the magic double doors opened, allowing us in to see Tom.

We were directed to the last cubicle on the left. Tom looked sleepy, but thank goodness the pain so evident on his face earlier was gone.

“I did a good job on this ankle, huh?” Tom said. “They can’t fix it without surgery.”

“I am so sorry,” I said, taking his hand. “This is all my fault.”

“No,” he said, squeezing my hand. “I wasn’t careful in that ditch.”

“Tell me about what you found on the microchip,” Candace said. “I’ve heard some of it from Hoffman. Did Lieber have a big enough reason to murder two people over cat food?”

“Lieber poured several hundred thousand dollars into the research, maybe even his life savings,” Tom said. “There were notes-rambling, copious notes-on VanKleet’s site, and some of them indicated that they’d run out of money and that Lieber was ‘losing confidence.’ ”

“No wonder VanKleet was robbing food, milk and meat. Even the farm could be in foreclosure, for all we know,” I said.

“Nope,” Tom said. “VanKleet called it his ‘research facility’ and paid cash. I’m not sure Lieber was aware that’s how most of the money disappeared.” Tom sounded hoarse, like his mouth was drying up.

“Do you need water?” I asked.

“No water until after the surgery. Man, I cannot believe I did this to myself,” he said.

I wanted to apologize again, but instead I squeezed his hand.

Two young men in blue scrubs arrived, and one of them said, “We’re taking you to surgery. The doctor will speak with you upstairs about what he plans to do to repair the ankle. Your friends and family can wait in the surgical waiting area. It’s a lot nicer than down here.”

I bent and kissed Tom briefly, then said, “See you on the other side.”

“You better be there,” he said. “And do me a favor? Don’t call my mother until I’m out of the operating room?”

“She won’t like that,” I said.

“Believe me, it’s better that way.”

Candace and I left them to their hospital business and went back to the waiting area.

Lydia was gone when we went to pick up Kara for the trip upstairs.

“Where is she?” I said.

“She had to leave,” Kara said.

“Are you a magician?” I said.

“Let’s just say that public officials don’t like journalists all that much,” Kara answered. “I told her she might not appreciate what I’d write about her if she didn’t leave.”

“Way to go,” Candace said, offering her knuckles for a fist bump.

The surgical waiting room was indeed much nicer than the ER. Free coffee, vending machines and comfortable chairs made waiting and worrying a little easier.

I bought a bag of Fritos and a Coke; Candace went for chocolate, but Kara stuck with coffee. Once we’d all had enough to eat and drink for a while, I settled against the sofa cushions and said, “I need answers, and I know you guys have them.”

“What do you want to know?” Candace said.

“This alliance between Hoffman and Evan. Did Lieber arrange that?” I asked.

Kara raised her hand halfway. “I know this one. Yes. Lieber somehow figured out-probably through the professor-that Evan blew the whistle on the college lab. He was furious and afraid that Evan might have even more to say about his father if Evan stayed on campus. Patrick said that right after the professor was fired, Lieber approached him to make sure Evan made friends with Rosemary and her crowd. I guess Lieber had that group of kids eating out of his hand.”

“He took advantage of Evan’s drinking problem?” I said.

“Took advantage?” Kara said. “Lieber got Evan drunk the night he passed out in front of the dorm. It was all a total setup.”

Candace said, “I made a call to Rosemary to confirm that Lieber was behind the protest that sent Evan to jail. She said she was sorry she didn’t tell us, but that Professor Lieber was too awesome to rat out. He cared about the earth.” Candace rolled her eyes. “A murderer can’t really care about anyone or anything but himself.”

“No wonder Lieber bailed Evan out of jail,” Kara said. “Lieber didn’t want Evan to talk to his mother before he filled his head with who knows what. And Patrick? That dude was such a puppet.”

“Sounds like you almost like Patrick,” I said.

“I had to make friends with him when he caught us outside the house,” Kara said. “That’s what you’re supposed to do with a kidnapper. Make them like you. So he became my friend Patrick. And Patrick wasn’t about to take the fall for Lieber.”

I smiled. “Bet you turned on the charm.”

“I had to. Evan was so angry at how Patrick had betrayed him, I had to play it cool, keep him from getting all agitated and escalating the situation. Evan’s smart enough to figure out the game I was playing.”

I sipped on my Coke and wished for a big steak dinner. The Frito meal wasn’t very satisfying. “And exactly how did Patrick get you into that house, anyway?”

“A very large gun,” Candace replied. “Loaded, too, unlike Kara’s.”

Kara flushed. “How did you know it wasn’t loaded?”

“We can save that for another day,” I said. “Hoffman didn’t waste a minute once he got hold of you and Evan. Sarah said Lieber got a call, and that’s how he ended up on the property. Pretty stupid move for such a smart guy like Lieber to show up on the property.”