Page 383 of A Matter of Time

“Dane.”

“What?”

“I have to sleep. I can barely form words, but I want you to know that I appreciate everything you’ve done.”

“I know you do, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be on Sam’s side going forward for the rest of your life.”

“I deserve that.”

“Yes, you do, and I⁠—”

“I love you,” I blurted out. “I gotta sleep now, okay?”

He groaned and I grunted before I hung up, turned off the phone, and rolled over. I didn’t even turn off the light.

SIXTEEN

Caleb arrived early the following morning and immediately upon entering the room, after I hugged him, I explained that I needed a shower, complained about having a headache, and whined about needing food. He was a very good sport about everything, and once I was out of the shower, he squinted at me.

“What?”

“I thought the shower would help, but really, you look like shit.”

“Yeah, well, I feel like shit.”

“C’mon, let’s check outta here before somebody figures out where you are and go eat.”

“I used cash,” I told him. “No one’s finding me. And what about you? I wonder if anyone tracked you when you landed?”

He shook his head. “It’s doubtful.”

“Okay, good. Let’s eat and I’ll catch you up.”

We had a huge breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and hash browns before driving to a motel and paying for a new room in cash. As I drove us back toward the house in Oak Lawn, I told him that I thought we should try to find out if Greg Fain had any relatives living in the city.

“Why?”

“Maybe they’d know who he hung out with.”

“Won’t the police be doing that?”

“I have no idea what they’re doing or not,” I told him, “but certainly if we see anyone in law enforcement, we’ll stay out of their way.”

“Okay, fine. So how do we go about finding any friends or relations of Fain?”

“I think we should start with his neighbors,” I said, driving past now-familiar sights on my way toward Oak Lawn. “They might know who his parents were or just who came around the house.”

“That makes sense.” He yawned, stretching his arms.

“You know, I really appreciate you coming all this way just to help me.”

“Of course. I wanna figure this out too. I hate looking over my shoulder all the time.”

“Me too.”

After a few miles in silence, he asked me how Sam was.

“Better. I called the nurses’ station this morning and got an update from Glynnis. She said he’s healing well and turning into a real grouch, so that’s great news.”