Page 14 of Line of Sight
It warmed his heart to see how much his parents liked Dan. Again, not surprising—Dan was a wonderful person, even if Gary was biased as hell. A more cynical man would have said they’d warmed to him because he was helping to find Brad’s killer, but Gary knew that was bullshit. Watching his mom sneak an extra piece of pie onto Dan’s plate, then glow when he discovered it and thanked her, filled Gary’s heart with joy.
He’s part of the family.
And speaking of Dan, at the moment he was nowhere to be seen.
Gary knew where to start his search. He climbed the stairs to Brad’s old bedroom and pushed the door open.
Dan sat on the bed, holding an aged teddy bear and staring at the boxes sitting under the window.
Gary smiled. “And what does that tell you?”
Dan turned his head. “Stuffies have so much love poured into them just holding them makes you feel good. I was trying to get a handle on Brad.”
Gary joined Dan on the bed. “I’m sorry they couldn’t give you anything new. Maybe it’s been too long.” He glanced at their surroundings. “Is that why you’re in here?”
Dan nodded. “I’ve been going through his things again. Your mom said I could. So far I haven’t picked up on anything, except….”
Gary waited for him to finish his sentence. When nothing else was forthcoming, he nudged Dan in the ribs. “Did you fall asleep?”
Dan pointed to the bookshelf where they’d found the copy ofThe Executioners,the book that had brought them closer to Brad’s killer at the charity ball. Gary had an inkling Dan was still kicking himself for not being able to point them out.
Dan drew in a deep breath. “I keep getting drawn back to Brad’s books. Are these all the ones he had?”
“I think so. Why?”
Dan stood and walked over to the shelf. He stroked a finger along the row of paperbacks. “A feeling, that’s all.”
“What kind of a feeling? Can you narrow it down?”
He chuckled. “There’s a line from a movie rolling around inside my head, and it won’t leave me alone.”
“What’s the line? And which movie is it from?”
Dan picked up the copy ofThe Executioners. “It’s fromClose Encounters of the Third Kind. Richard Dreyfuss keeps seeing this shape in mashed potato, pillows, shaving foam…. And he says, ‘This means something. This is important.’”
“Doesn’t the shape turn out to be the Devil’s Tower?” Gary echoed Dan’s chuckle. “You’re not expecting aliens to figure in this somehow?”
Dan laughed. “No.” Then he shivered.
“You okay?” Gary put his arm around him.
“How does the saying go? Someone walking over my grave?” He put the book down and leaned against Gary’s shoulder. “We know the killer was at that ball. It—”
“Hey, wait one minute there.” Gary stared at him. “Thekiller? Are we talking about Brad’s killer—or all of them? Because this isn’t what you were saying the day Kathy visited us.”
“Yeah, I might have revised my opinion a little. But it’s occurred to me that maybe the DVD I found was some kind of test.”
Gary frowned. “Testing for what?”
“I was trying to find them.” He craned his neck and looked Gary in the eye. “Maybetheywere waiting to see if I could.”
“HAPPY THANKSGIVING.”From the sound of it, Dan’s brother-in-law, Ben, was playing games with the kids in the background, which meant Mom had retreated to the sanctuary of the kitchen.
“The same to you, son. Sorry we didn’t get to see you, but it’ll be the holidays soon enough. We’re really looking forward to meeting Gary. Of course, you not being here meant I was one pair of hands down.”
He knew what that meant. Dan chuckled. “You’ve already tested all the inflatables and the lights, haven’t you?” His dad was a Christmas nut.
“Good thing I did, too. A mouse had gotten into one of the boxes and nibbled Santa.” He snorted. “Gave him an asshole.”
