Adam listened. “Yeah... Yeah... Sure... Okay.” He turned his back to Kelly and lowered his voice. “No, I haven’t decided yet. I told you that I’ll tell you on Monday. I have a question. Have you heard of any anti-war protests going on this weekend?” He turned back to Kelly. “Or civil rights demonstrations?” He raised his eyebrows.

Kelly nodded. Vera protested any and all injustices.

Adam was quiet as he listened. “I see... Yes... By Monday at three. I promise. I do understand what an honor this is. And, Coach, thank you.” He hung up.

“So?” Kelly asked.

“There’s an anti-war demonstration in Lawrence tomorrow. Word is that people will start gathering at noon.” He took a breath. “It’s being said that the police are on alert. One brick thrown and some trigger-happy kid cop could fire. Then...” He didn’t finish.

“What are we going to do?”

“You will stay here. I’ll deal with this.”

“How will you do it?” She batted her lashes, trying to look as young and helpless as possible. Let him think she would stay home and calmly wait while her sister left town to face bullets. Sure she would.

“Vera will probably leave midmorning and I plan to be at her hideout when she does. I want to catch her with her pants down, so to speak. I want her to have a placard in her hands so she can’t make up some lie about what she’s really doing.”

Kelly’s eyes widened. She’d always assumed Vera and Adam told each other the truth, confided in one another. But it looked like Adam knew Vera really well. When she didn’t want someone to know what she was doing, she didn’t tell. If they insisted, she lied. “A different version of reality” is what Vera called it.

“Okay,” she said. “I guess I better go home.”

“Stay and I’ll grill some steaks. We can watch TV and—”

“No!” she said. “I mean, I should leave.”

“Of course. You probably have a date. Robbie says you and Miguel are going strong.”

“We’re not—” she began, then stopped. “He’s a great guy. We went to Pauly’s orchard and Miguel loves the place. I think he’s going to get his uncle to plant some fruit trees. When Pauly gets back, maybe he and Miguel can be friends.”

“You can have dinner parties.” Adam’s tone was very unpleasant.

“I have to go.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t drive after that drink. I’ll take you.” He put his hand on her forearm.

She jerked away from him. “I can assure you that I’m fine.” She just wanted to get out of his house, away from being alone with him.

He stepped back. “I’ll call you tomorrow and tell you what happened.”