“Like stealing a bike.” Danny tucked her behind him as he walked into the house.

“You can’t do this.” Panic pulsed through Mandy’s veins. Clammy sweat gathered between her breasts as she stepped into Nathan’s foyer. This felt creepy and wrong in a hundred different ways.

“Why not? You just searched Ray’s office.”

“This is illegal, big-time.” Though it wasn’t the law that Mandy feared. What would her blackmailer think of them snooping through the house? She was supposed to be getting rid of Danny, not aiding and abetting him in illegal entry, and certainly not helping him find Nathan.

Danny closed the door behind them and faced her. His glare was a mix of challenge and disbelief. “Are you going to call a cop?”

She should. Doug could arrest him and then boot him out of town. Mandy’s problems would be solved.

“Well, are you?” Danny tried to read Mandy’s expression, but she dropped her eyes to the stone floor. Guilt gave him a quick jab in the ribs. Here we go again, corrupting an otherwise good girl. His sister had a juvie record because he’d talked her into stealing a car with him. Slippery as usual, he hadn’t even been caught, but someone had ID’d Jaynie by her bright-red hair.

“No.”

“Then let’s see what’s here.” He told his conscience to suck it and checked out the house. Despite the warm spring day outside, the chill in the house seeped through the soles of his shoes. No heat. No surprise. As Danny and his siblings knew firsthand, it didn’t take long for utility companies to act on unpaid bills.

“The police have already taken everything connected with the case.” Mandy’s eyes skittered around the room as if she was afraid of what she might see.

“I’m looking for more general information.” Danny wanted to know what made Nathan tick. In the few days he’d been here, all he’d learned was that the family was close-knit, something he didn’t particularly want to dwell on. Danny understood how tightly tragedy and suffering could cement a family bond.

He’d do anything for his sister.

The interior was bachelor spiffy, heavy on overstuffed leather furniture, light on knickknacks. They did a slow tour of the formal living and dining rooms. Under the dust, the furniture had an unused look to it. He followed the hall to the back of the house. A kitchen opened into a family room. Danny paused at the mantle. Empty frames lined up like soldiers. The police must have taken the photos. Oddly empty shelves indicated they’d taken other things as well. “What happened to Nathan’s wife?”

“She died a week after Evan was born. Pulmonary embolism.”

“So he was a widower for over twenty years?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Did he ever date anyone in town?” A girlfriend, past or present, might know personal details about Nathan.