“That’s not what’s bothering me.”
Before Bill could ask what was bothering his sister she’d already ended the call.
Sean said, “So good news he’s been cleared, but bad news because your dad knows the killer’s out there and he may take matters into his own hands.”
“My brother’s are great cops but clueless sons. They could never even contemplate my dad doing something like that. Or my mom cheating on him.”
“But you can?”
 
; She glanced at him and then looked away. “Yeah, I can.”
Michelle drove with her usual total disregard of all speed limits and, after stopping only twice for bathroom breaks, they arrived at her father’s house at a little after five o’clock a.m., beating the arrival time of the nonstop morning flight by a good four hours.
Michelle glanced in the garage and shook her head. The Camry wasn’t parked there. She used her key to get into the house. A quick search showed it was empty.
“Does your dad have a gun safe somewhere?”
“Just a pistol box, I think. Probably in the bedroom closet.”
Sean checked. He found the box but there was no gun in it.
They sat on the unmade bed and looked at each other.
“Should we call Bobby?” Sean asked.
“Take too long to explain it to him. Maybe we should go see Doug Reagan. Ask him why he forgot to mention he was banging my mom.”
“You have an address for the man?”
“Easy enough to find. Like everybody keeps saying, this town just isn’t that big. Or we can always check with his hot steady , Donna.”
“Well, first how about we shower and change our clothes? I haven’t pulled an all-nighter in a car in a long time. In fact, the last time was with you.”
“Expanding your horizons. It seems to be my lot in life.”
Michelle showered first in the guest room bathroom. When she was done she opened the bedroom door and called down the hall.
“You’re up, King.”
He walked in as she was finishing wrapping herself in a towel. He held up a fresh cup of coffee. “Interested?”
“Always.”
She sat on the bed drinking the coffee while he went into the bathroom.
She raised her voice. “What about the party next door? Maybe we should get a guest list and start hitting that too.”
“Or we can get it from your brother,” he called back. “I have to believe that was one of the first things the police did.”
She moved closer to the door as the shower came on. “I’d rather we did it ourselves.”
“What?”
“Do it ourselves,” she said in a loud voice.
“Okay, your wish is my command.”