"Nancy, you're a jewel."

"No, I'm just a mother who's seen it all."

Michelle clicked off and gazed over at Sean. "No wonder I'm so screwed up, right?"

"I think you're remarkably sane, actually."

"Why didn't you want her to talk to the police?"

"I don't know. Just call it a hunch."

"So what do we do now?"

"Until we hear back from my two-star, we don't have a lot to do. How about a quick trip to Nashville to run this down?"

They quickly found that the next direct flight to Nashville wouldn't leave until the next day, unless they wanted to connect through Chicago and then Denver and take most of a day, much of it sitting in airport lounges or else on tarmacs.

"Gotta love air travel," said Sean, clicking off his phone after listening to the flight options. "Fly north or west to head south."

"Screw 'em. Feel like a drive?" Michelle said.

"With you, anytime."

They bought some sandwiches and two giant cups of coffee and set out at eight that night. On the way down Michelle had phoned her brother Bill and learned that all her male siblings had returned to their respective towns except for Bobby, of course, who lived there.

"Got some good news," Bill had told his sister.

"What's that?"

"Dad isn't a suspect anymore. At least not a serious one."

"Why?"

"ME said the blow came from a lefty and Dad hits from the other side."

"They didn't know that before?"

"The wheels of justice move slow, sis, but it's still good news."

"How come you all left Dad?"

"We didn't, actually. He left us."

"Meaning what exactly?"

"Meaning he told us to get the hell out of town because he was sick of us being around. I wish he would've been more direct, you know." Michelle could almost feel her oldest brother smiling through the phone.

"You really think you should leave him alone?"

"Bobby's there. And Dad's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

"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."

"That'll be the day." But the comment still drew from her a smile.

She went into her father's bedroom and looked around. The photo of her mother was gone. She checked the trash can. It wasn't in there either. She looked under the bed for some reason. There it was. She pulled it out. The glass was cracked. She stared down at it. A bit of sharp glass had ripped across her parents' faces.

Is this what a nearly fifty-year marriage came down to? The next thought was equally devastating.

And where exactly is my life going?

She carried the picture back into the guest bedroom, slumped on the bed, and started trembling.

"Damn it!"

She cursed again, stood and walked to the bathroom. She started shivering again and hesitated. She swallowed hard, opened the door, and passed through. She was still trembling, sobs bumping up and down her throat.

Sean saw her through the shower door. "Michelle?" He looked at her questioningly, keeping his gaze on her eyes that looked ready to dissolve into tears. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know. I don't know what the hell I'm doing, Sean!"

He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself before stepping out of the shower. He led her out of the bathroom and over to the bed. They sat on the edge, her head cradled against his chest.

"I really think I'm losing it," she said.

"You've been through a lot. It's only natural to feel overwhelmed."

"My parents have been together forever. Had five kids. Four brothers and me the mutt. The bring-up-the-rear mutt."

"I don't think anyone feels that way about you. I certainly don't."

She turned to face him. "How exactly do you feel about me?"

"Michelle, I-"

She picked up the cracked photo. "Nearly fifty years of marriage and five kids and this is what you get? This?"

"Michelle, we don't know what's really going on here yet."

"I feel like I've wasted so much of my life."

"An Olympian, Secret Service agent, and now my partner?" He attempted a smile. "I think a lot of people would like to switch places with you. Especially about being my partner."

She didn't smile. She didn't cry. She leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips.

She breathed into his ear. "I don't want to waste any more time, Sean. Not another second."

She kissed him again and he kissed her back. She leaned into him.

And then Sean pulled back.

Their gazes locked. "You don't want me?" she said.

"Not like this. Not this way, no. And neither do-"

She slapped him and turned away.

"Michelle-"

"Leave me alone!"

She started to run, but then it was like a hard wall of something both hot and cold slammed into her, inflaming her organs, icing her skin. Her knees buckled and she was on the floor, sobbing, curled into a ball so tight that she seemed to have shrunken down to a child. Her fingers clawed the floor, found the fractured picture where it had fallen. She held it against her chest.

A moment later Michelle was lifted off the floor and her head fell against Sean's chest. He spoke to her, urgently, but she didn't answer.

Sean laid Michelle on the bed, took the photo from her, and covered her with the sheet and sat next to her. He put his hand out and she instinctively gripped it. As the minutes went by and the sun came up, her sobs started to subside. Finally, her grip around his hand loosened and fell away as she slept. He tucked her hand up under the sheet.