Tom looked at Finn. “It’s all good, man. We’ll work this out.”

Candace returned with the brown paper sack and Finn, with Yoshi by his side, led the way to the guest room to show Candace where his clothes were. They returned less than a minute later. First she marked the bag containing Finn’s shirt and hoodie as evidence. Then she swabbed his mouth for DNA. Everyone stared at this procedure in silence.

The air seemed to have been sucked from my home. My chest tightened and I felt the need to wrap Finn in my arms when she was done. Though both Tom and I couldn’t hide our concern, Finn’s attitude and posture spoke volumes about his character. He believed he had nothing to hide.

“Finished and ready to go,” Candace said, after what seemed an eternity. “Let’s get over to your place, Tom, and open your safe.”

“I’ll go with you,” Finn said eagerly.

“Not sure it’s a good idea for you to come along,” Candace said. “I got a concussion last summer and the doctors told me to take it easy for a couple days afterward.”

Something you did not do, as I recall, I thought. “He won’t be gone long,” I said to Finn, and then turned to Candace. “Tom can come back after he gives you the—the… gun, right?” I didn’t want to call it evidence.

Candace looked at Liam. From the glance passing between them I thought I understood why Liam was here. This wasn’t about Morris’s day off. She was probably worried about legalities. When you have to deal with a crime connected to close friends, the boundaries might get blurred. Candace would never want to do anything to compromise an investigation. Gosh, I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes.

She said, “Tom still needs to tell us more about—” But she stopped when she saw Tom glance at Finn. “Sorry, I forgot. We can discuss all this later,” she finished.

Finn said, “Tell you more about what?” He turned to Tom. “What did Nolan do to you, Tom?”

I said, “I can explain a few things while they’re gone—if it’s okay, Tom?”

He smiled sadly and my heart ached for all the trouble both Tom and Finn had been through in the last few days. He said, “I’d appreciate it.”

Liam, Tom and Candace left.

“Okay, tell me about Tom. Tell me why he never called last night,” Finn said, once the back door closed. He sat back down on the couch and picked up a piece of cold toast, but just stared at it.

Yoshi pressed close to his side.

I explained how Tom had to stay at the police station last night, mostly because processing a crime scene doesn’t take an hour like you see on TV. Tom’s car had been involved, not to mention a man he disliked intensely was dead, so naturally they needed his statement. I decided going into the details of what Nolan Roth did to Tom could wait—for now. Between the concussion and being considered a suspect in a murder, Finn had enough to deal with.

When I was finished explaining, Finn said, “But Tom didn’t do anything wrong. Why keep him at a police station practically all night? That’s not right.”

Oh, to be eighteen again and think the world should be fair. I said, “This is a small town with very few officers. It just took a long time to find out exactly what happened to Mr. Roth. Deputy Carson wasn’t being intentionally mean to Tom.”

“I guess that makes sense.” He finally looked at me. “Are you for real?”

“For real?” I gathered coffee mugs and set them on the breakfast bar.

“I mean, you act like you believe me when I say I can’t remember how I got hurt, but are you just being nice?”

“I’ve learned to trust my instincts now that I’m an old lady,” I said with a laugh. “Those instincts tell me you, my friend, wouldn’t shoot anyone.”

“You’re not an old lady,” he said. “Okay, not that old.”

I smiled. “I’m old enough to ask for help. Help me with the clean up?”

Finn gathered mugs and dishes while Yoshi passed out on the throw rug near the utility room. Poor dog had been on high alert for a good long while.

I noticed Chablis slink into the living room. The kitchen and living room area was the sunniest place in late morning and she wasn’t about to miss a sunbath. She joined Merlot and Syrah on the window seat. So funny to see them banded together. They never hung out so close to one another for nap time. It must be the dog’s presence.

Finn poured the last of the milk into his glass. Then he sat on the window seat next to the cats and petted each one while he drank. Merlot turned his big body over for a belly rub, a move that practically shoved poor Chablis right off the cushions.

Meanwhile, I sat at the mosaic-tiled table in the kitchen nook and started a shopping list that included clothes for Finn as well as groceries. I hadn’t planned on restocking the fridge since I was committed to one more craft show this coming Friday. It would only be an overnight trip, but I’d wanted to delay the dreaded grocery shopping until I returned. Not now. I might be able to live on yogurt and toast and frozen meals, but not this kid.

I’d just finished writing “dog food” when I heard a quick knock at the back door. Before I could even get halfway across the kitchen, my stepdaughter, Kara, walked in and stopped in her tracks when she saw the dog.

Yoshi came to attention and barked repeatedly. Already playing watch dog, I thought. His barks sent my three cats running for cover.

“Who’s this?” Kara knelt to greet the dog. Her dark, shoulder-length hair hung loose and she wore jeans, an oatmeal-colored sweater and brown knee-high boots. Yoshi sniffed her boots and then put a paw on her knee in greeting.

“This is my house guest, Yoshi.” I made a sweeping gesture toward Finn. “He belongs to Finn.”

Finn offered a “Hey,” but didn’t make eye contact.

Once I’d introduced Kara to Finn, he said, “Mind if I lie down?”

“Is the headache back?” Maybe Finn needed a follow-up visit to a doctor sooner rather than later.

“Nah. I’m just tired,” he said.

“You’ve been through a lot. Good idea to get some rest,” I said. He had to be overwhelmed by one new person after another coming through my door.

Finn tapped his chest with his palm and said, “Yoshi, come.”

The dog raced to him and Finn opened his arms. Yoshi jumped up into them and they left for the guest room.

“He’s Tom’s stepson, huh? He looks like he could use some serious z’s.” Kara walked to the fridge and opened it, then looked puzzled. “What? No tea?”

“Haven’t had a chance to make any more. But who told you about Finn?” I said.

“I do own the newspaper, Jillian,” she said with a smile. “Anyway, I was a little on edge after your call yesterday and I tried to reach Tom myself. He never answered his cell, but some guy at his house picked up on the landline.”

I closed my eyes. “You talked to Bob.”

“Yup. If there’s no tea, how about coffee?” She peered toward the pot and seeing there were still a few inches of coffee, got herself a mug. As she poured, she said, “Tom never mentioned any brother. I wasn’t sure I believed the guy I talked to. But he told me there’d been an accident and Tom left to go help or something. He mentioned Finn being with you two. I started to ask him more questions, but I had to hang up because Shondra was on the other line. She told me she’d heard about a wreck on her police scanner, just like Bob said.”

“He’s a half brother, by the way,” I said. “He was a secret; Finn was a secret. Tom apparently can compartmentalize his past. Kind of a guy thing, I’ve decided. But who’s Shondra?”

“Thought I told you about her. I’ve gotten so tired of listening to the police scanner spew information about fender benders or cows in the road or Jet Ski thefts, I hired her as an assistant at the paper. One of her jobs? Listen to the scanner. She’s young and just started out at the community college in communications. You’ll like her.”

“Maybe we can all have lunch one day.” What a dumb thing to say, I thought. “Will you listen to me? All sorts of bad things are happening and I’m talking about having lunch.”

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