Chapter 44

The way he looks at Alan is unsettling. “What?”

“I hate to say this…” Jim starts.

Alan’s heart lurches. “What?”

“Have you considered maybe…” Jim shrugs as he pockets his notepad, then makes an obvious effort to meet Alan’s gaze. “I don’t know, maybe Brooks left on his own.”

Alan lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. “Jesus, Jim,” he sighs, relieved. “I thought you were thinking he might be…you know…gone.”

Jim frowns, confused. “But he isgone.”

“I mean like gonegone,” Alan explains. “Like—”

“Dead?”

Alan gives a quick little nod, unwilling to say the word himself.

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean…” Jim’s hand finds Alan’s knee again, and this time he gives it a reassuring squeeze. “I’m talking walked out of here by himself.”

“Without his shoes or his phone,” Alan adds. “And his bike left out on the porch. The back door broken, his room a mess—”

“I’m just saying, it wouldn’t be the first time.”