“No, I didn’t go! It wasn’t my place, and I certainly wasn’t in the mood to wax pastoral.” Bram’s face hardened. “You should have called her. You. Not me. You should go home and be with her right now.”

“You be with her. After all, she was your girlfriend.”

Bram closed his eyes, dropped his head in his hands. Then he looked up. “That was almost two decades ago. Things change in twenty years. For instance, I wasn’t a priest in high school—”

“Just calm her down for me, bro.”

“I’m tired of calming her down, Luke. Truth be told, I’ve had it up to here with Dana.” Bram brushed his forehead with his hand. “I’m sick to death of being your go-between. You married her. Not me. Deal with it.”

“All right, all right, I’ll go home.” Luke squirmed in his seat, but gave no indication of rising. He sipped tea, eyed his brother through swollen eyes. “Who the hell would murder Dad?”

Bram shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“I mean I’m so dumbfounded, I don’t even know how to ask the right questions.”

“Don’t ask questions,” Bram said. “As a matter of fact, don’t think. It’ll drive you crazy. Let the police think. Let the police ask the questions.”

“I just wished the lieutenant would have talked more. Told us more. Not the gory details. But some details. Some theories. And I sat there like a turnip or worse, being a wiseass.” His eyes became wet. “He should have told us more.”

“He came to my office a little while ago.”

“What did he want?”

“He asked about Dad and his weekend warriors.”

“How’d he find out about that?”

“Dad had cards printed up. A Harley logo with the name ACE SPARKS printed on it, can you believe that?”

“You’re kidding.” Luke settled back in his chair. “Old Azor had a fantasy life?”

“Looks that way.”

“That’s wild.” Luke smiled. “Maybe he had some busty biker mama on the side.”

“You’re obscene.”

“Don’t they say that the biggest sinners always pray the loudest?”

Bram started to rebuke his brother, but instead laughed softly. Then he grew serious. “What a crazy world we live in…where some animal could wipe out such a great man.”

“You think it was a random act of violence, then.”

“Yes, of course.” Bram paused. “Don’t you?”

“I don’t know what to think.”

The room went quiet.

Luke said, “Paul got hold of William Waterson, by the way. He stopped by to express his deepest sympathies.”

“That was nice of him.”

“Waterson said he’d take care of the funeral…pay the expenses out of Dad’s estate…which of course all goes to Mom.”

“That makes sense.”