Page 138 of Homecoming

They were halfwaythrough an enjoyable lunch with her parents when Dan received a text that had him excusing himself to make a call.

“What do you suppose that’s about?” Chuck asked anxiously as he watched Dan walk away, phone pressed to his ear.

“He was waiting for some updates from the investigators he has working on the case,” Kara said. “Hopefully, that’s what it is.”

“The tension is going to kill me,” Judith said bluntly.

“Don’t be dramatic,” Chuck said.

“I’m not. We come here all the time.” Judith gave a tentative look at the crowded restaurant beyond their table. “And yet, I feel the judgment of everyone in here. They’re wondering if my sons are capable of killing a woman.”

“I know it’s awful, Mom,” Kara said. “But Dan is working the case hard, even when it doesn’t appear that anything is happening. He’s doing everything he can.”

“And we appreciate him—and you—so much,” Chuck said. “I don’t know what we would’ve done without him.”

Kara and her parents picked at their food while they waited for Dan to return. Her stomach was in knots. She couldn’t begin to know how her parents must feel.

More than fifteen minutes later, Dan returned, smiling as he came toward them. “Good news. We’re able to put the victim’s ex-boyfriend in the Barnacle at the same time she was there with Keith and her friends.”

Judith exhaled an audible sigh of relief. “Will that exonerate Keith and Kirby?”

“I can’t say for sure, but it gives us the opportunity to introduce another suspect, one who’d have true motive. Often, that’s enough to get the charges tossed or at least get them released on bail while the police investigate further.”

“God, I hope so,” Judith said, giving voice to what they were all thinking.

After they parted company with her parents, they went back to Bertha’s so Dan could do some work and Kara could rest up before their next outing. She stretched out on the sofa and listened to him on the phone, talking to the people he employed locally and in California, who were working on her brothers’ case.

On the drive back to Bertha’s, Dan had told her repeatedly how blown away he’d been by the company and how he hadn’t expected it to be such a massive complex. “Even seeing the photos online couldn’t have prepared me.”

Now it was her turn to be impressed as she listened to him at work, asking questions, probing for details and beginning toform the argument he’d use at the hearing on Thursday when so much would be decided.

Kara felt for her parents as well as her brothers and hoped the situation would be resolved sooner rather than later. She couldn’t fathom it dragging on indefinitely. What if it did, though? Would Dan stay involved for the long haul? The thought of that, with a baby due in eight weeks, exhausted her.

Hopefully, they’d be long gone back to Gansett by the time the baby arrived.

The next thing she knew, Dan was kissing her awake. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty. What time is the soccer game?”

“Four thirty.”

“How far is it from here?”

“About twenty minutes.”

“We should get going, then.”

Kara stretched her arms over her head. “That was the best nap ever.”

“You were out cold.”

“For how long?”

“About ninety minutes.”

“Holy crap.”

He placed his hand on her baby belly. “You and the tiny human need your rest.” The baby responded with a dropkick to Dan’s palm that made him laugh. “He’s going to be a handful.”

“Like his daddy.”

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