Page 48 of Homecoming

“I’ll drive Buster’s stinky truck home,” Kara said with a smile for Dan. “You can have the smell-free Jeep.”

“Oh thank you, Jesus.”

“Poor Dan can’t stand the smell of dead fish,” Kara told her sister and brother-in-law.

“Whereas it barely registers with us,” Kendra said.

“That’s what I said, too! Smell blind.”

Kendra served up the stew, and they migrated to the dining room table that the girls had set. When the girls finished their meal, Kendra sent them to finish their homework and take showers. As soon as they’d left the room, Kendra zeroed in on Dan. “What happened in court today?”

Dan gave her a thorough analysis, including Matt’s fumbling attempt to represent Keith.

“I can’t believe Keith was stupid enough to turn you away,” Kendra said.

“You can’t?” Kara asked. “It’s just like him to think he knows better than everyone about everything.”

“Yeah, that’s true. His own arrogance is going to be the end of him. I just hope he doesn’t take the rest of us down with him.”

“What do you mean?” Dan asked.

“We had two big orders cancel since they were arrested, worth about two-point-two million in revenue.”

“Oh my God,” Kara said. “Dad must be having a meltdown.”

“He’s very upset about all of it.”

“Kirby said the victim was standing on the sidewalk when they drove off, after offering her a ride home,” Dan said.

“Then how can they charge them?” Kendra asked.

“They have an eyewitness that puts them with her close to the time of death. Tomorrow, I’m going to work on finding a good local private investigator who can help me figure out what really happened. Do you guys know anyone?”

“A guy I went to high school with does that,” Hugo said. “Mostly for divorce cases, but he’s got a reputation for being fair and thorough.”

“I’d love to have his help if he’s up for it.”

“I’ll text him.”

“I’m so scared for Kirby,” Kendra said. “Whatever happened sure as hell had nothing to do with him.”

“I know,” Kara said. “I’ve been saying the same thing. I can’t bear to think about him sitting in jail when all he did was come when Keith called him.”

“Which is way more than Keith deserved after the way he’s treated Kirby all his life.”

“No kidding.”

“How has he treated Kirby?” Dan asked.

“He’s never missed a chance to take a shot at him,” Kendra said, “to poke at him, to belittle him. Keith is a fucking bully. He always has been, but he took perverse pleasure in picking on Kirby for some unknown reason.”

“It was because Kirby didn’t fight back,” Kara said. “He couldn’t be bothered with Keith or his bullshit, so he just ignored him, which made Keith more determined to get to Kirby. It was sick.”

“What did your parents say about it?” Dan asked.

The sisters laughed.

“They acted like it wasn’t happening right in front of them,” Kendra said. “I got in Keith’s face about it more than they did. Not that it did any good.”

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