Page 7 of Line of Sight (Second Sight #4)

Springfield, MA

GARY’S DAD was asleep in his armchair, and Mom was dozing too. Not all that surprising, given that she’d been up since the crack of dawn, cooking enough to feed three times their number, the same as she did every year.

Except this Thanksgiving took Gary back to his teenage years. That was probably the last time he’d heard laughter around the dining table.

And that’s down to Dan.

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 of The 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 of The Executioners . “It’s from Close 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. “ The killer? 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. “Maybe they were 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.”

“Is everyone okay?”

There was a pause. “Yeah. We’re all playing the waiting game here.”

Dan knew what that meant too. “In that case I’ll let you get back to your grandkids, and I’ll call Matt. Don’t let them wear you out.”

Dad laughed. “Why do you think I’m in my den? I’m too old to play horsey. I’ll leave that to Ben and Leo.” He said goodbye and hung up.

Dan dialed Matt’s number. “Hey. You got time to talk?”

Matt sighed. “You’ve been speaking to Dad, haven’t you?”

He got comfortable on the bed and let Matt talk. They’d been like this since Dan was a teenager. Matt might have been the older of the two, but it was usually Dan dishing out advice or simply providing a sounding board.

“Call me when you have news, okay?”

Matt let out another sigh. “Maybe we’ll get an early Christmas present. And speaking of which, we’re all dying to meet your man.”

“Oh Lord. He’s usually the one doing the interrogating.” The door opened, and Gary stuck his head around it. Dan beckoned for him to come in. “Okay, I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you at Christmas. Give my love to Nicole.”

“Right back atcha. Take care, little brother. Don’t rile any killers, okay?”

Dan assured him he would do his utmost to stay out of any killers’ radar. But once he’d hung up, he couldn’t help thinking about Matt’s instruction.

I can try and stay out of danger, but what if danger is already on my trail?

Gary sat on the edge of the bed. “Everything okay with your folks?”

“They’re fine. It’s Matt and Nicole who are dealing with a lot right now.”

“What’s going on?”

Dan leaned against the pillows. “They’ve been trying to have a baby for the last five years. So far Nicole has had four miscarriages. She keeps saying it’s her fault for leaving it too late, but that’s bullshit. Lots of women have kids in their early forties.”

“Have the doctors pinpointed what could be the cause? Is it anything they can help with?”

Dan nodded. “Nicole has what they call a weak cervix.” He peered at Gary. “How much do you know about childbirth?”

Gary snorted. “Zilch, but it sounds as though you’ve become an expert.”

“We all have.” Dan’s chest tightened. “It’s been heartbreaking watching them go through all this.

Anyhow, with a full-term pregnancy, the cervix starts to shorten, then it dilates from contractions during labor.

But in Nicole’s case, it’s done that during the second trimester, sometimes even early on in the third.

When it happens, there are no labor symptoms. The result is a miscarriage or premature labor. ”

“What can be done about it?”

“Matt said as soon as they know Nicole is pregnant, the doctors will stitch the cervix closed, and in the final month, they’ll remove the stitches.” Dan sighed. “And right now they’re trying again.”

Gary picked up the book lying on the bed. He peered at the cover. “ The Executioners again? What are you doing with it?”

“I’m waiting too.”

“For what?”

Dan shrugged. “Inspiration? A feeling? Anything that will point me in the direction of this guy.”

“It could be a woman,” Gary suggested.

“I used the term guy in the same way dude can refer to anyone of any gender.” As to the killer’s gender, he didn’t have any strong feelings either way.

What he couldn’t shake was the feeling that despite what he’d said to his brother, he was already on the killer’s radar, and he didn’t like that—not one bit.