Before he even reached the stoop, he could hear voices coming from inside the house. Uriah was getting on in years and losing his hearing, so he spoke loudly. Tobias spent a lot of time with him eating dinner, playing chess, restoring an old Buick in the detached garage or helping out with chores around the property, so he was used to the volume of his voice. But it was surprising to him that both voices were male.

Apparently, whoever was driving the Impala wasn’t one of the women Uriah was dating.

Tobias turned to take a closer look at the car blocking his way. The license plate was so dirty and the weather so bad that he hadn’t noticed when he first drove up, but it had Maryland plates.

Who did Uriah know from Maryland?

And then it hit him. This wasn’t Carl, was it?

Tobias had never met Uriah’s only child, but he’d heard enough about him to be leery. The two had been estranged for years. Uriah rarely mentioned him, but from what Tobias had heard from Aiyana Turner, who owned the school where Tobias worked and knew just about everyone in Silver Springs, Carl hadn’t even come to his mother’s funeral fifteen months ago.

What was he doing here now?

Tobias took the porch steps in one leap and banged on the door. He expected Uriah to answer. But the door opened almost immediately and the face looking out at him was much younger—around forty.

The resemblance between father and son was striking, eradicating any doubt Tobias had left as to the identity of Uriah’s guest. While Uriah was tall and thin and wore his salt-and-pepper hair in a military-style flattop, Carl wore his long, and it didn’t look as though he’d washed it recently. He didn’t resemble his father in stature or bearing, but the narrow bridge of his nose, the long shape of his face and the flat slash of a mouth were very similar to Uriah’s, although those features were somehow more attractive in the older man.

“Who are you?” Carl asked.

Before Tobias could answer, Uriah managed to get out of the recliner, which gave him a bit more trouble than usual since he was trying to do it in a hurry, and came to the door himself. “Carl! Is that any way to greet a person?”

“What?” Carl said, instantly defensive. “Did I say something wrong? Do I owe this guy something?”

Uriah scowled. “That’s enough.”