I thought I'd be able to post this yesterday. Luckily, I have a little time today between the morning activities at the International Balloon Fiesta and the twinkle glows this evening.

I'll continue writing this over the next couple of weeks while I'm traveling to avoid the dust and workers remodeling our kitchen, but I don't know when I'll have the time or access to post the next chapter.

We may actually be coming to the end of this story – perhaps another eight or ten chapters. Thanks for sticking with it.

Chapter 133.

Wilson smiled at my patient. "There are treatments for all of the possible causes of your voice problem. Some might require surgery, but others would involve training your vocal cords so they don't become over-strained."

"Really?" That beacon of hope had Marisa beaming.

"But we can't guarantee anything until we complete all of our tests." Wilson probably felt he had to prepare her. I wouldn't have bothered.

She nodded. "OK. Thanks for explaining it all to me Dr. Wilson." She flashed him one of her come hither looks.

Too charming by far. Then again, she was a performer. It had to be second nature to her.

As Wilson and I left, he confirmed that she'd impressed him. "Now that's one gorgeous woman."

"You already have one of those." I sneered at him. "I thought you gave up cheating on your partner."

"Who said I was going to cheat? You must admit she's a looker."

I waved the thought away. "Chase, Thirteen, and probably Taub think so too."

"There's nothing wrong with looking. You've told me that yourself more than once."

I shook my head. "Not recently."

"Well, I'm sure she has someone. A woman like that always does. She was only grateful that I gave her some hope for the future."

But I knew this wasn't over. I was going to have to watch everyone around her, find out if she had a boyfriend, and if she didn't make sure she had one pronto, someone who wouldn't be the worst possible person for her.

"Would you look at the time." I made a show of checking my watch. "Is it already quitting time?"

It was only four, but I'd put in a good two or three hours at the hospital, almost my max.

"House, you have a patient and it's not five yet." Wilson frowned.

"But you have my patient well in hand. There's nothing more for me to do."

Unfortunately, when I reached my office to pick up my things, my phone was ringing. It took a minute for the caller ID to register: Mark Locarno. It had to be Marcello. Now what did he want?

"Hi, I was just thinking of you." That should throw him.

"You, uh, were?"

"How'd ya like to meet a hot chick?" Maybe it was serendipity that he called.

"Dr. House, this is Marcello." There was doubt in his voice, as if I couldn't possibly be talking about him.

"I know who it is."

"Oh. But what's this about a hot chick?"

"I wanted to give you first dibs. If you're not interested, I bet your nephew would be. She's really a winner."

"And she's not taken?"

"Not that I know of. No one's been to see her since she's been at the hospital." I bit my tongue, but didn't think that would be a stopping point for him.

"That's what I called to talk to you about. The hospital. My father said he wants a seat on the board. Did you know about that?"

"Yes, I do."

"Really? He wants to me to sit in on a meeting he has tomorrow to discuss it."

"That's his meeting with me, I suspect, and he wants you to take the seat instead of him?"

"That's the impression I'm getting."

I remembered that when I'd first talked to Tony about it, he mentioned the possibility. I wasn't sure how that would sit with Cuddy, to have Marcello on the board instead of his father, but it would be interesting on many levels.

"Well, if you're not interested in my patient, the head of our hospital is also available." I had no idea what Marcello's taste in women was. "And I think you'd find her very attractive."

"House we can talk about that at another time, okay? Right now I wanted to know how you think I should play this with my father. And whether you still wanted me to talk with him about Molino."

"Oh, and speaking of that, there was something I forgot to ask about when we talked earlier. Have you ever heard the name Mike Morgan?"

"Huh? Doctor, you have me very confused."

Even I was getting confused trying to keep track of all the things I was bringing up with him at once. I'd have to remember this game. It was fun. "Okay, I'll simplify. Number one, I have a patient, a singer, who's very hot, and I thought you might be interested. If not, there's always your nephew." I ticked them off on my fingers.

He nodded. "I got that one."

"Next, your father is angling for a seat on the hospital board, right? Only he's not sure whether he wants it for himself or for you. I'm afraid I put that idea into his head a couple of days ago." I didn't think he accepted my apologetic tone. "If you take the seat, you'll get to meet my boss. Older than my patient, and maybe not as hot, but you might like her." If she doesn't eat you up alive first. "Now the catch is that Jess' father is also interested in joining the board."

"Peter Giordano?"

"That's the one. She only has one father."

He finally chuckled.

"You and I talked about approaching your father to find out what he might know about Molino, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

That encouraged me to go on. "So the discussion tomorrow will give us an opportunity to talk about that, too."

"Right. But you mentioned another name? Mike someone?"

"Yes, Mike Morgan. The name doesn't mean anything to you?"

"No." His tone confirmed he was telling the truth

"What do you know about the accident that killed your sister-in-law?"

"Lucille? Tina and Ricky's mom?"

"Yes."

He shrugged. "They never found the guy who hit her."

"Did they find out anything about it?"

"Only that it was a late model heavy duty pickup. The few witnesses couldn't decide whether it was a Ford or a Dodge, black or gray. There were no paint chips on the ground or on Lucy's car. No one got the license plate number."

"So it just sped off without stopping? Without damage to the truck?"

"There was no way of telling." He paused. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Mike Morgan drove a pickup truck into Francesca Molino's car and killed her. Years earlier, he did the same to a car Jess, her sister and brother and their mother were riding in, killing Mrs. Giordano. That could be the connection between Molino and your family."

"My goodness. Whatever happened to Morgan?"

"He served time for killing Jess' mother, but charges were dropped against him in the Molino case." The more I told him, the more reason he'd have to cooperate.

"But what was his motive in any of these cases?"

I shrugged. "He had the hots for Petey Giordano's girlfriend, and we think for Francesca too. How that translated into the deaths of Mrs. G. and Francesca. I have no clue what his relationship with Ricky and Tina's mother might be."

"And your interest in all of this is because of Jess, right?"

"Mainly. But I guess if you don't know anything more about Lucille's accidental death, your father won't either."

"Not necessarily. He has a tendency to keep things from us. 'For our own good'." Marcello laughed harshly. "It's part of his need to control."

"So, I guess I'll have to ask him a few questions tomorrow."

"I must warn you, Doctor. If you want answers from him, you'll have to tread carefully."

I smiled. "You've seen me in action."

He laughed. "Yeah, and you may be a match for him after all. Tell me, Dr.. House, would you rather have me on your board or my father?"

"That's blunt." I paused before I answered. "I think you'd be a more reasonable board member than your father, but that's because I don't care a fig whether the prestige associated with your father rubs off on PPTH. Let's wait and see how your father wants to play it."

"I'm glad I called. And I wouldn't mind meeting either of the women you mentioned."

I chuckled. "I'll see what I can do to arrange it."

His call gave me a few more things to think about, including the approach I should take with Tony. I'd done a little research on him way back when his family name came up, and I knew there had to be lots out there since he was such a prominent guy. But I decided I could wait to do more until later. I was more interested in my patient's personal status. If I was going to introduce her to Marcello or Ricky, I had to know what I was getting them into. Her health issues were well in hand, thanks to Wilson. But who knew what her history was.

Unlike Anthony Locarno, there was little online about Marisa under either her stage name or the one she was given at birth. A couple of reviews indicated she was a more than decent warbler, with a warm, soothing voice. She wasn't involved in any suits or litigation of any kind that I could find. There was nothing about her family, either. She didn't own property, a three-year-old car was registered in her name, and she was a member of the Professional Women Singers Association. That was the sum and total of the information available on her. I'd have to ask some discrete questions if I wanted to learn more.

Time to return to Anthony Locarno. As I suspected there was a wealth of information. It went back fifty years to when he first came to this country, and chronicled all that he'd done for the state and for his family. There was nothing, however, that gave me a handle on what made the man tick. Sure, he was loyal to his family, proud and domineering, and very accomplished, but I didn't have to read the reports online to know that.

I'd be meeting him in person the next day. I thought I was ready, and that I could depend on Marcello to make the meeting go well. I'd handled men like Locarno in the past. Why should this be any different?