“Convicted felons have families,” she pointed out. “Most of them are as normal as people can be. They go to church, give to charity, help their neighbors, raise good children. They have a child do something stupid and land in jail. They’re not monsters. Although I must confess I’ve seen a few parents who should be sitting in jail.” She shook her head. “People are fascinating to me, after all these years.” She smiled. “You’ll find that’s true for you, as well.”

Michelle leaned back. “Well, I’ve learned something. I’ve always been afraid of people in jail, especially when they work on the roadways picking up trash.”

“They’re just scared kids, mostly,” Minette replied. “There are some bad ones. But you won’t see them out on the highways. Only the trusted ones get to do that sort of work.”

“The world is a strange place.”

“It’s stranger than you know.” Minette chuckled. She pulled up in front of the newspaper office. “Now, let’s get those photos uploaded and cropped and into the galleys.”

“You bet, boss,” Michelle said with a grin. “Thanks for the ride, too.”

“You need to learn to drive,” Minette said.

“For that, you need a car.”

“Roberta had one. I’ll talk to Blake Kemp. He’s our district attorney, but he’s also a practicing attorney. We’ll get him going on probate for you.”

“Thanks.”

“Meanwhile, ask Gabriel about teaching you. He’s very experienced with cars.”

“Okay,” she replied. “I’ll ask him.” It didn’t occur to her to wonder how Minette knew he was experienced with cars.

Chapter 7

“No, no, no!” Gabriel said through gritted teeth. “Michelle, if you want to look at the landscape, for God’s sake, stop and get out of the car first!”

She bit her lower lip. “Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

The truck, his truck, was an inch away from going into a deep ditch.

“Put it in Reverse, and back up slowly,” he instructed, forcing his voice to seem calm.

“Okay.” She did as instructed, then put it in gear, and went forward very slowly. “How’s this?”

“Better,” he said. He drew in a breath. “I don’t understand why your father never taught you.”

Mention of her father made her sad. “He was too busy at first and then too sick,” she said, her voice strained. “I wanted to learn, but I didn’t pester him.”

“I’m sorry,” he said deeply. “I brought back sad memories for you.”

She managed a faint smile. “It’s still not that long since he, well, since he was gone,” she replied. She couldn’t bring herself to say “died.” It was too harsh a word. She concentrated on the road. “This is a lot harder than it looks,” she said. She glanced up in the rearview mirror. “Oh, darn.”