“His late wife’s mother,” he replied. “Lois Ivey saw the whole thing.”

Twenty-Three

Aiyana was so angry that she could barely keep her foot from pressing the gas pedal to the floor. That Seth would assault Ray Kouretas made no sense. He had a temper but would never get violent, not unless he was provoked. If Kouretas had swung first or threatened Tia, she could see how a fight might break out, but even then, Seth would never use a length of board or any other weapon on an unarmed man. Not only that, but she’d been with him for several hours this afternoon. He’d acted as though nothing had happened—because, she had no doubt, nothing had happened. The only witness was Lois Ivey, and after what Seth had told her when he called from the police station a few minutes ago, Aiyana knew Lois wasn’t reliable.

Had Graham been at the bar, too? If so, what was his story?

Aiyana was planning to find out. She couldn’t believe Lois would be there alone.

She parked in front of the Ivey home and marched to the front door.

At first, no one would answer. She guessed Lois or Graham had spotted her car from one of the windows and knew it was her. But she wasn’t going to give up that easily. If she had to, she’d bang and bang and keep banging until they had to deal with her.

It took fifteen long minutes, during which Aiyana used her purse to save her hands so she could keep pounding. Even then, it was only after she started yelling, “I know you’re in there. Open up!” that Graham finally answered.

“If someone doesn’t come to the door, it’s usually because they don’t want visitors,” he barked.

“And why wouldn’t you want to see me, Graham?” she snapped. “We’ve always been on good terms.”

“We’re—” he struggled to finish his sentence “—busy.”

Again, she came right back at him. “I don’t care whether you’re busy. I want to know what the heck is going on.”

“Your boy assaulted a man at The Blue Suede Shoe last night. That’s what’s going on.”

“You saw it, too?” she challenged.

He paused for only a millisecond, but that was enough to tell Aiyana he was lying. “Of course,” he said. “What would Lois be doing at a bar at midnight if I wasn’t with her?”

“That’s what I was thinking. Glad to hear you were there, too. Why don’t you tell me exactly what you saw?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” he said. “Lois has already gone over it with the police.”

“And they’ve arrested Seth. Did you know that? Is that what you wanted? To lie about your son-in-law and have him arrested for something he didn’t do—at Christmas, for crying out loud?”