"Yes. Technically, I work for her, although I won't take her money. I hit the Lotto back in '96 and have a couple million in the bank."
I blinked. If I had a couple million dollars, I could not see myself working all day in a diner kitchen. On the other hand, different strokes…
"So what happened to Earl's car? The Mustang?"
Beau sighed. "I drove it over to Orlando later that night and left it in a bad part of town with the keys in it. Stripped the license plates and took out all the stuff in the glove box on the way there. Shredded the paper and dropped the whole mess in a dumpster. Hitchhiked back."
"You were like a master criminal," I said, kind of impressed. Not sure I would have thought of all that.
"Yeah, except for the part where I left my best friend worrying for all these years."
Jack shook his head, but then stepped over and put a hand on Beau's shoulder. "At least you're stepping up now. We'll figure it out."
Beau stared at Jack. "But since I didn't kill him, and you say Lorraine didn't kill him—"
"And neither did Uncle Mike, Aunt Ruby, or Eleanor," I put in.
"Then who did?"
Jack threw his hands in the air. "That's the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, isn't it?"
On our way out of the diner, Jack touched my arm and nodded at a table to our left. I looked, and it was our friendly neighborhood shoplifters, looking sad and hungry and a little scared. They had their heads together and were counting out a tiny pile of crumpled dollar bills.
I sighed and reached in my purse, but Jack beat me to it. He strode over to their table and they looked up, at first wary and then defiant.
"Hey, Mister—"
Jack shook his head. "Not here to get on your case. Just wondering if you're looking for work."
The boy's eyes widened, and he sat up straighter. "Yes, actually. We're camping, but our last gig was a while ago. I'm really handy, and Tina helps. Do you know of anything?"
"I was thinking about painting my house and the trim. Not hard work, but needs a steady hand. Any interest?"
The boy—Jimmy—nodded slowly. "I'm not sure why you'd take a chance on us after our terrible impression, but I sure appreciate it."
Jack's voice grew quieter, and he said something I couldn't hear, and then he handed Tina some cash, put his hand briefly on Jimmy's shoulder, like he had with Beau, and headed back toward me.
Tina gave me a shy, apologetic smile, and I nodded. Apparently Jack was picking up strays.
On our way out the door, I put my arm around his waist and squeezed. "You are a wonderful man, do you know that? What did you say to them?"
He glanced back over my shoulder to where the two of them were already talking excitedly to the server. "I told them I knew what it was like to be hungry."
We got back in the truck, and the warm glow in my chest lasted almost three whole minutes, right up to where a little boy chasing a balloon ran out in front of Jack's truck.
And our brakes failed.
14
"Jack," I screamed.
The second his foot took the brake pedal all the way to the floor with no response, Jack yanked the steering wheel to the side and pointed the truck at a light post. Luckily, we were just getting started, so we only hit it going maybe fifteen miles per hour, but that speed would have been enough…
It would have…
I started shaking and couldn't quite catch my breath.
"Tess! Are you okay?" Jack's hands clamped on my shoulders like iron, and he turned me to face him.
