She looked him in the eye as if trying to assess whether to trust him.

“Marie,” Sean said, “I know you’re worried and maybe you should be, but not about me. I’m trying to help you. Max is at the courthouse waiting to talk to your brother before he goes into court.”

“Why? I mean, why would she help him? No one wants to help us.”

“She wants the truth. She’s been following this case since the beginning, and when he recanted his plea she was on the next flight out. I’ve been on the ground doing research because I’m local. You left your boys at your mother-in-law’s house, but you returned. Why?”

“I’m going to be here for my brother. He didn’t want me to be in the courtroom, but I need to be. I know he’s innocent. I don’t know why he pled guilty, he refused to tell me what was going on, I just know he didn’t do it. I know. I took yesterday off, drove my boys to Lake Charles, was there a couple hours for a late lunch, and came back. Got in at three this morning. I’d have noticed if someone was following me.” Her voice was stronger, but she still looked spooked.

“They may have put a tracker on your car, or already knew where your mother-in-law lived and made an educated guess that’s where you would go. I found out pretty quickly that Stan is your only living relative, outside of your ex-husband and his family. Someone knows where your boys are. What I want to know is who are they?”

“I don’t know!”

Sean said, “You should call the police. I don’t know if they’ll take this photo as a threat, but I believe it’s a threat. This is my job, Marie. They want you to know they can get to your kids.”

Marie rubbed her forehead. “The police treated Stan like crap. I have tried to talk to them and they treat me like garbage, too. They’re not going to listen to anything I have to say.”

“What did Stan tell you on Sunday that had you take your boys out of town?”