“Love gets your father and me nowhere. While you two are off serving time, your father and I will have to face the judgment and disapproval of people who were our friends. They’ll decide we were surely bad parents and that we’re the cause of your criminal behavior. That’s what your so-called love has done to us…not to mention the fact that you broke my heart. I don’t know what I feel right now, other than I don’t like either one of you or what you’ve become.”

Then she turned around and walked out on her own, leaving Arnold behind.

Arnold’s eyes welled with unshed tears. “Your mother is right. Chances are we’ll be leaving Blessings. I don’t reckon I want to spend the rest of my days having people remind me that both my sons are in jail. You did a bad, bad thing, and I am ashamed of the both of you.”

Brian shrieked. “But Dad…if you move…how will we find you when we get out?”

“Why would you care where we were?” Arnold asked. “You both were already leaving us.”

He walked out, knowing no matter what kind of sentence his sons got, they’d be worse by the time they got out. They weren’t dead, but they were already lost.

* * *

Dan hadn’t talked to Alice about what Charlie told him because he didn’t know if what he’d reported to the chief had actually happened. But when they had heard sirens during their meal, it made him wonder, and when Charlie looked at Dan, all he could do was shrug.

Alice caught the interaction between them and was starting to ask when Dan looked at her, then at Patty, and shook his head.

She nodded, and the moment passed until they were cleaning up the kitchen and Dan’s phone rang.

“It’s Chief Pittman,” Dan said. “I need to take this.”

That’s when Alice frowned. “Okay, Dan…I need to know what’s going on.”

“Just a second, honey. This call will probably have answers for both of us,” he said, and then answered. “Hello, this is Dan.”

“Hi, Dan. This is Lon. I wanted to let you know your tip paid off.”

“Really? Are you serious? They really did it?” Dan asked.

“Well, they tried. Your boy saved Mr. Phillips. They were waiting for him with a baseball bat, but we pulled a switch on them. They got me instead of Phillips.”

“Oh my God,” Dan said. “I can’t imagine. They were going to beat him up?”

“Probably planned on knocking him out, but getting hit in the head with a ball bat can be lethal. At any rate, thank Charlie. And make sure he understands that no one will ever know who tipped us off.”

“What’s going to happen to them?” Dan asked.