“That’s right. This Flanagan is straight out of a movie. Who knows, it may be our next documentary—right, Ira?”

Her husband shrugged.

“Anyway, Nebraska is unusual since the governor doesn’t hold the power to pardon on his own. Brawn’s part of a pardon board. And he may be waiting to see who else the governor’s henchman snitches on before he starts associating himself with the former governor’s people on the board. That administration was dir-ty.”

Politics. It didn’t matter how big or small, it usually was dirty.

“Okay, we’ve shown you ours,” Judy said. “How about you show us yours?”

“I told you, I’ll call as soon as I get the CODIS and DNA analysis.”

“You’ve gotta have more than that,” Judy said. “Just talk to us, deep background. No one will ever know. The family—they were murdered, right? And what Matthew said, were they really in Mexico chasing a lead? That sounds like Evan. He just couldn’t let go.”

“I’m sorry,” Keller said. “I can’t comment.”

Judy Adler’s mouth was a tight seam.

“But I’ll tell you what,” Keller added, “I’ll talk to Matt, encourage him to speak with you.” It was a lie, but no reason to piss off the Adlers. Keep your enemies closer and all that. If they found a lead, she wouldn’t want them holding a grudge.

“That would be terrific,” Ira Adler said. He’d probably spent their entire marriage playing Good Cop.

Judy added, “We really do want to help his brother.”

Keep telling yourself that, Keller thought.

CHAPTER 44

MAGGIE PINE

BEFORE

Maggie looked across the aisle of the cramped flight. Mom and Dad were talking about something, smiling. It had been a while since she’d seen that. And it took a little of the sting out of the past few days. She glanced at Tommy, next to her with all the essentials spread out on the tray table: coloring books, Goldfish crackers, juice box, and his favorite stuffed animal, Sweet Bear. He was watching a movie—one with those creepy blue creatures, the Smurfs—on the tiny screen of Mom’s phone.

Maggie wanted to get her mother alone. They hadn’t had a moment since they’d whisked Mom away from one airport gate to another. Mom and Tommy stepped off the plane from Omaha, and three hours later were boarding the flight to Mexico. Maggie had expected her mother to be annoyed that it was all so unplanned. She hadn’t even gotten to pack her own bag for the beach. But Mom was either putting on a face or she was excited to go. Energized by the spontaneity. Or maybe it was seeing Dad so upbeat.