“I don’t know, but it has to mean something. Meetings in the middle of the night have the ring of clandestine to them. You know, CIA, FBI. Spook stuff. No peering eyes, no chance encounters, secrecy, that kind of thing. We’re not going to do anything, if that’s what is worrying you, kid. We’re just going to observe, try to figure out what’s going on, and document it all. As well as run the Kansas plate to see if it’s legit. We’ll check in with the team in the morning when we get back and run it all up the flagpole.”

Dennis relaxed and let his mind go blank. Whatever was going to be was going to be, and there was nothing he could do about any of it. At least for the moment. “This is a weird case, in my opinion. I know I’ve been on board only a few years, but it seems to me we always had some clues, something to point us in the right direction. We really don’t have anything. We could be wasting our time right now, for all we know. I refuse to believe some bunch of gang-bangers are smarter than we are. What did we miss, Jack?” he asked as he typed in the Kansas license plate to see what he could find out.

“I don’t think we missed anything, kid, for the simple reason there was nothing to miss. We’re a little further ahead than we were when we got here. We all feel Gentry Lomax is not what he seems and might possibly be racist in the bargain. Then we have Zack Meadows, who is Cosmo Cricket’s partner at Happy Village, who might or might not be involved somehow in Cricket’s shooting. We just have to sit down and figure out the why of it all.”

“We’re coming up to the turnoff for Happy Village. Lionel told me to turn off my lights, cut my speed to ten miles an hour, and park. He said the elderly don’t do a lot of sleeping at night and instead spend a lot of time looking out their windows. I assume he knows what he’s talking about, so we’re going to do what he said. Watch for the street and building signs.”

Dennis laughed when he heard Cyrus unbuckle his seat belt. “He knows where we are, so make a right turn and go one block. There it is, Lilac Lane! Coast around the back. I hope your guy wasn’t yanking your chain and is here to meet us.”

Lionel Lewis stepped out of the shadows the moment Jack turned off the engine. Jack opened the door and stepped out into the velvety, humid darkness. Cyrus inched closer to Jack’s leg but allowed Lionel to stroke his head.

“Anything happen since you called me?” Jack asked.