But still something bit at my neck. My little sister. The sister Reid and I had envied because she had our father’s attention.

He never beat on her. Only on us boys.

Did Rock feel the same way? Did he get angry because our father favored his only girl? Time for him to fess up.

“Is there any truth to it, Rock?” I asked. “Was Riley the reason you got sent away?”

A throat cleared, presumably Rock’s.

“There’s a story to tell,” he said, “about what happened back then. I always felt it was Riley’s and not mine.”

“Things are getting real, here,” Reid said. “We need to know all that you know.”

A pause. Then, “You’re right. We meet when Roy and Charlie return.”

“Good enough,” Reid agreed. “We should all be together. But what about Riley?”

“I’d like her there. Any word?”

“No,” Reid said. “The best PIs in the business can’t find her. I don’t know who can.”

“We’ll fly home first thing tomorrow,” I said.

“Good. Come straight to the office when you get here,” Reid said. “We’ll be waiting.”

“All right. We done here?”

“Not quite,” Reid said. “Terrence has set up Father Jim to do a memorial service.”

Father Jim. The man who’d done my first communion. The man who…

Not going there. Can’t. Not yet. The blurred images knocked on the door of my mind. Knocked loudly this time.

I didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer.

“Okay,” Rock said. “When? Let’s get this bullshit over with as soon as possible. We have real problems to deal with.”

“Agreed,” Reid said. “Terrence is getting the word out. It’ll be next week. Wednesday at two p.m. at St. Andrew’s.”

“Because Dad was such a good churchgoer,” Rock scoffed.

“Dad donated a shit ton of money to that parish,” Reid said. “Father Jim owes us. Plus, having it at a church will make it look better to the public.”

“And a wake afterward, I suppose?” I said.

“Of course. Derek Wolfe style.”

“A fuck ton of cash,” Rock complained.

“We have it. We won’t even notice it’s gone,” Reid said.

“Still…”

I agreed with my older brother. Money wasted as far as I was concerned. As far as we all were concerned. I was ready for this conversation to end.

“Is that it?” I asked.

“I think so,” Rock said, an edge to his voice I hadn’t heard before.

“Okay. Bye then.” I ended the call.

I turned to Charlie.

She was sex on a stick in that robe, her hair freshly washed and wet. Normally I’d be all over her.

But something niggled at me.

Rock had been keeping a secret.

Something about Riley.

He wasn’t the only one with a secret.

Those undefined images whirled in my mind. I hadn’t let myself see them in so long.