Neil stacked plates as quickly as he could without breaking anything. Kevin had a free hand for the door, so he went in first, and Neil almost stepped on his heels in his hurry to follow. He looked for his racquet first and was relieved to find it right where he left it. On the heels of relief was confusion and alarm, because Andrew was nowhere in the kitchen.

"Neil," Nicky called as Aaron was letting the door swing closed behind him. Neil set his armload of dishes on the inside table and opened the back door. "Is Andrew, uh—" He rethought what he was going to say and switched to German. "Make sure Andrew isn't breaking anything valuable, would you?"

"That's rude, Nicholas," Maria said. "Please use a language everyone can understand."

"I'll find Andrew," Neil promised in English.

"There is no need to worry," Maria said before Neil could duck inside again. "In fact, I think it's promising he has been gone this long. He'll come back when he's finished speaking with Drake."

Neil's heart skipped a beat. "What?"

"This dinner was not originally our idea," Luther said. "One of Andrew's former foster brothers came to us for help. They parted on unfriendly terms years ago, and it's been so long since they last spoke he's afraid their relationship is irreparably damaged. It made us think of our own familial problems and we were inspired to reach out again."

Luther's voice was a buzz in Neil's head, overlaid with Higgins' insistent pleas for Andrew's help. The investigation into Richard Spear was a dead end, Higgins said. Richard wasn't the man Higgins wanted to charge. He wasn't the one the Spears' foster children were too afraid to implicate. Higgins had a new suspect in mind, but Andrew threw him out of South Carolina as soon as he heard Drake's name.

"Drake," Neil said. "Was his last name Spear? Was he Richard and Cass' son?"

Luther looked hesitant. "Andrew has spoken to you about him?"

Neil let the door slam closed behind him and bolted across the kitchen. Andrew had been gone a while. Either Drake was dead or Andrew was in serious trouble. Neil didn't know which one it was but he wasn't going to this showdown empty-handed. He was good at picking fights, but he rarely won them. That didn't mean he couldn't stack the odds in his favor. He grabbed Aaron for backup because Aaron was closer than Kevin was and snatched his racquet on the way into the hall.

"What the hell?" Aaron asked, but Neil quieted him with a violent hiss.