Murder Deja Vu

are you? Okay, but I’ll have to tell her later. Sit, you two. Tell me what happened. I heard something on the news. I waited to get the story from you. Lana, sweetheart, how about some coffee, or maybe a drink?”
    “Coffee’s fine,” Reece said.
    Lana rose from the arm of Frank’s chair. “How do you take it?”
    “Black,” Reece and Dana said in unison.
    Frank adjusted his position. “So tell me.”
    Reece filled him in on everything that had happened—the first murder and the second—and the vendetta Robert Minette waged against Reece’s head. “I’ve got to find Karen Sitton’s killer, because I know it’s not me.”
    “You gonna connect with your father?”
    Another thing Reece had fought not to think about. “No. He’s dying, and I won’t go see him, but I need to see Carl. Maybe he knows something he doesn’t know he knows.”
    “You might find out stuff you don’t want to know, like maybe your brother kept his mouth shut out of self-interest.”
    “Maybe. But he wouldn’t have held back anything that would have vindicated me. I’m sure of that.”
    Frank snorted, and a wave of doubt shot through Reece. “If he held back anything, it was that he screwed Karen.”
    Frank nodded. “My guess.”
    “Clarence thinks the killer feared he was getting too close and committed the murder in North Carolina to deflect suspicion.”
    “Which makes him someone who’ll stop at nothing,” Frank said. “He kills you, a wanted man, he’ll be a hero.”
    Reece closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve thought of that.”
    Dana fidgeted in her chair. “I haven’t. Reece?”
    “I don’t have a choice, Dana. If I give myself up, you’ll go down with me. Damn, I should never have brought you along.”
    “Well you did,” Frank said. “Nothing you can do about it now.” He took a deep inhalation of oxygen, coughed.
    Reece moved toward him. “You need to rest. It’s late.”
    Frank waved him away. “I’m fine, fine. You’re welcome here as long as it’s safe, and unless they tear this place apart, it is. If they keep watch, I’ll get you out to friends who’ll put you up. No questions.”
    “I wouldn’t have involved you, but I didn’t know where else to turn.”
    “That’s what friends are for. Besides, what can they do to me? I’m a walking dead man. Ain’t walking too good now either.” Frank took a ragged breath, paused to get his wind. “I’ll call someone to come get whatever you’re driving and stash it. The cops’ll be looking for it.”
    “I never thought of that. It’s a light blue Ford pickup. Old one. Ninety-five or so, isn’t it, Dana?”
    “Ninety-six.”
    “You never thought of that because you don’t think like a crook. Or a murderer. The cops’ll be here. Won’t take them long to figure out the few possibilities where you could go. I’ll be at the top of the list. I’m surprised they haven’t shown up already.”
    “What if they come here?”
    “Don’t worry. They won’t find you.”
    Reece was going to ask what that meant when Lana brought the coffees on a tray. She put it down on the table and handed each of them a cup. The others had cream. “I heard,” she said. “You want the phone?”
    Frank smiled. “See? What would I do without her? Anticipates my every move.” She brought him a cell phone. He took a minute to rest, then called someone with instructions.
    Reece swallowed hard. Seeing Frank this way turned his insides tight, and he rallied all his powers not to break down.
    “Now, Lana made a good dinner. Then you two need some sleep. You had a long drive. She fixed up the second bedroom nice. Leave the keys and go eat. You’ll have a new car in the morning.”
    “I don’t know how to thank you,” Dana said.
    “No thanks. Go.”
    “I don’t want Dana to go north with me,” Reece said.
    Frank nodded almost imperceptibly. “Then she’ll keep us company. You play Scrabble, Dana?”
    Dana stopped, her focus shifting from Reece to Frank and back to Reece. “Wait. I want to go. You need me to go.”
    “I don’t need you to put your face out there. If I’m picked up, I don’t want you with me. If they don’t get me, they’ll be watching Carl. You can bet on it.”
    “He’s right,” Frank said. “Listen to him.”
    Dana groaned. “If both of you think it’s the right thing to do, I’ll do it.”
    Lana said, “If Frank says it is, it is. Now come eat.”
    The aroma in the kitchen made