while he was moving, and it was only a few more miles to the house. Besides, she’d been ignoring his texts all week, and she might as well learn what that felt like. He kept driving.
A few of the guys from the new office had generously said they’d help him unload, and he was grateful for the help. He’d had plenty in Dodge. Friends, co-workers at the park and even Alex’s dad had come to help. He hadn’t had time to make friends in the new neighborhood yet, since the week went quickly in wrapping up his old job and preparing everything for the move.
Now he pulled up to the house in his rental truck and gladly turned the boys loose in the fenced back yard. The yard wasn’t in great shape. Looked like the previous renters had kept a dog back there. He’d look into whether his lease would allow that. A dog would be great for Juan and Davi.
He greeted the new co-workers that he was meeting in person for the first time. Chagrined he hadn’t thought of it himself, he accepted a beer from a cooler one of the guys brought. He’d order pizza about the time the truck was half-empty, and hope they didn’t make such short work of the rest that the pizza came too late.
Before long, he was directing traffic rather than unloading himself. There were so many of them he couldn’t keep up. As they sat on the porch eating the pizza, one of them asked him why he’d rented a three-bedroom house if he wasn’t giving each of the boys their own room. They’d all wondered why nothing was going in the third bedroom.
Dylan found himself explaining with a red face that his girlfriend would be moving in, and he was saving that room for her. This garnered a few good-natured jokes about why there’d be separate bedrooms for them, but since no one knew him well enough to really dig, it stayed relatively clean. When they’d finished their pizza and beer, his new co-workers gave him a cheerful goodbye and promised they’d show him the ropes Monday. It looked like he’d be able to enjoy this posting. Now if he only knew Alex’s intentions.
That made him remember she’d sent him a text that he hadn’t had a chance to look at. It was cryptic. Needed time to clear her head. And ‘Whatever happens, don’t hate me.” What the hell? What did she mean by that? He immediately called, but there was no answer.
“Call me,” he said. After a pause, he added. “I love you.”
All night he chewed on the possible meaning of that sentence. What could she be doing that could cause him to hate her? He’d managed to put the boys’ bunk bed together and get them a simple dinner of canned tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches before putting them to bed. Now he sat amongst the jumble of the living room and pondered.
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. Could she be messing around with investigating the Patriots after he’d told her to stay away from them? If that turned out to be the case, he’d have some harsh words for her. Or maybe he’d just hug her tightly and thank his lucky stars she was okay.
If she was okay.
Oh, God, let her be okay.
TWENTY-TWO
As soon as she was home and had checked in with her housemates, Alex went to the computer. Who was this Harvey her informant had mentioned? She wanted to see if there was anything on Jim Atkins, also.
Harvey Lloyd turned out to be the previous leader of the Patriots, as she’d surmised. Five years ago, he had been a suspect in the murder of his girlfriend, whose gruesome death under a speeding freight train had also taken the life of her unborn child. Harvey had mounted a defense based on his claim that her death wasn’t murder but a suicide.
Because of his involvement with the Patriots and suspected previous murders, the jury had convicted him on circumstantial evidence. A posthumous paternity test indicated he was the father of the dead woman’s child, although she was married to someone else. The woman’s name did not appear in the article.
That was odd. She’d never seen or known of an adult’s name being withheld. No newspaper would leave out that information, unless a lot of political pull or money was involved. Even if they had, someone had to know. The judge, jurors and