Page 15 of Line of Sight (Second Sight #4)

GARY FINISHED his coffee. “I’ve been thinking about what Sean told us. If he noticed a change in Brad, maybe Mom or Dad did too.” And maybe asking specifically about that time might jog a memory.

“Call them,” Dan suggested.

He smiled. “Gee, why didn’t I think of that?” He picked up his phone and speed-dialed.

Mom answered. “What’s wrong? You never call me during a workday.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” he hastened to assure her. “It’s just that I have what might sound like an odd question. The last times you saw Brad, especially starting in the February before he died, did you notice anything about him? Was anything different?”

Mom was silent for a moment, and then he caught her sigh. “Yes. He was quiet, and that wasn’t like him. I felt sure there was something on his mind, but when I asked him, he wouldn’t say. Why do you ask? Did Dan pick up on something when he was here?”

He didn’t miss the hopeful note in her voice.

“No, Mom. Okay, thanks. I’ll let you get back to whatever you’re in the middle of.”

She chuckled. “Thank you for a break from ironing. We’ll see you before Christmas, right?”

He confirmed they’d visit, then hung up.

“Well? Anything?”

Gary relayed what Mom had said.

Dan frowned. “There’s no way we’ll ever know what was worrying him. Not unless we find something else that reveals it.”

Gary’s phone buzzed, and he glanced at the screen. “It’s Sean.” He clicked on Answer, then put the call on speaker. “Hey, what can I do for you?”

“It occurred to me after you left that I still have some of Brad’s stuff. Things I kept, things I felt sure wouldn’t mean anything to anyone else. Books, mostly.”

Dan jerked his head up. “Can we take a look?” he called out.

“Sure. I’ll take them into work, then call you. They’re not my kinda thing. I was more into horror—Stephen King, Dean Koontz…. Brad loved a good mystery or a thriller.” There was a pause. “Well, at least he did until 1995.”

Gary glanced at Dan. “What happened?”

“He went off them,” Sean replied. “In fact, he stopped reading altogether.”

“When, Sean?” There was an edge of excitement in Dan’s voice. “When exactly did he stop reading? Was it February?”

Whatever Dan was sensing, it was infectious. Gary had goose bumps.

Sean didn’t speak for a moment. “You know what? I think it was.”

Dan’s eyes gleamed. “We need to see those books, Sean.”

“I’m on it. I’ll call you.” He hung up.

Gary stared at Dan. “Well, you wanted something else of Brad’s.” He frowned. “The timing of Sean’s call was uncanny. That bit about Brad stopping reading… I have to admit, that shook me. It had to be something pretty major to cause that to happen.”

“I’d call a murder pretty major, wouldn’t you?”

Gary cocked his head. “You think the two events are related.”

“And so do you.”

He couldn’t deny it was starting to look that way.