“I told you not to come to the house if I am not there. You know why.”
“That shit was in the past. We’re family; she should have gotten over it by now.”
“Bullshit and you know it. I don’t want you arguing with my wife. I don’t want you around her if I am not around. And I don’t want you around my kids any longer.” The older three had made it very clear that they did not want John around, that they did not feel comfortable with him in their home. And that was enough for Bryan. He was tired of trying to fix life for John now. Eight years separated them in age. John was never going to change.
“I’m not going to hurt them.”
“I know you won’t. But I also know you like upsetting Cass. That upsets them. She’s their mom. They feel protective. And I won’t have it.”
“Fine. I’ll stick to where I belong. Cleaning up your own fucking trash.”
“I can always pay someone else to do it.” Bryan was so tired of this. Why did it always fall on him to take care of the screwup that John had become? “So are you going to be here Saturday or not? I need to get this done.”
“Shit. You know I need the money. Which house and what time and what are we doing?”
“The Gibson place. I’m…cleaning out the garage. I’m going to tear it down, put up a carport instead. The damned roof is caving in. I just need to get all their stuff out first.”
John was silent for a moment. “Whose shit is it? Can’t they come and get it.”
“It’s the Gibsons’ things, John. Who is going to come get it now?”
“You kept all their things. I thought you got rid of it years ago. That’s bullshit, man. Just bullshit. What are we supposed to do with it? That’s insane you kept it. Weird, man. Totally weird.”
“Just…are you coming or not? Or should I just pay B.J. your share again?”
Of course, John would be there. If Bryan didn’t pay him for these odd jobs, he’d be reduced to living in that old RV he’d set up on their great aunt’s place decades ago. John had…nothing. He hadn’t in more than a decade. Bryan was getting so tired of fixing all of John’s problems for him. When would it ever end?
Chapter 30
Six o'clock. The lab had emptied out over the last hour of the day-shifters, as the night shifters were currently in a meeting in the conference room upstairs. It was quieter than normal tonight.
Dani wasn't going anywhere. Not yet.
The requests she'd sent that afternoon were still pending. Kentucky had promised the Owensboro file by end of business, but that deadline had come and gone an hour ago. Brandenburg was stuck in records limbo—the detective she'd spoken to that morning couldn't even confirm which storage facility held the case files, and he'd passed her off to a clerk who hadn't called back. Illinois hadn't responded at all.
She'd give them until noon tomorrow. Then she'd start calling supervisors. Dani was going to get mean, if she had to. Time for people to do their jobs. The sooner this guy was caught, maybe they’d keep him from hurting someone else.
For now, she was ‘family-treeing’ the Gibsons. People crossed paths with others in so many ways, especially in smaller towns. Now, she was looking for those seven-degrees-of-separation.
Hailey’s name was on her board. Her best friend that had died had the same last name as the landlord Hailey’s father had rented from. Cruz’s teacher the year before had also been a Stenson. That was an easy place to start.
The pastor of the Hope Life Church they all attended was a Graves. The associate pastor was, ironically enough, a Brandon Talley. Dani just placed a name on her board every time her computer program shot one out to her. She was still working on that when someone cleared their throat behind her.
She spun around—her chair was awesome at quick turns—and looked at the person standing there. Thankfully, it was not Ian Ward. That guy was just everywhere lately.
It was one of the biologicals supervisors, instead. Kelly Compton held a folder in her hand. She was tall and thin, with green eyes and strawberry blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. The purple streaks she'd worn for years were gone now, grown out and cut away, but Dani still half-expected to see them every time Kelly came through the door.
"This came through for you," Kelly said. "Case out of Owensboro. I printed everything myself—I had a case coming through behind it."
"Thanks." Dani took the folder. "I've been waiting on this one all day."
"You staying late?"
"Probably another hour or so. I’m following connections of our victims’ family."
"Illinois called while you were on your video conference earlier. They're processing your request but it has to go through their legal department before they can release anything. Lawrenceville was a major case for them—media coverage, the whole thing. They're being careful."
"Did they give you a timeline?"
