“I’ve been sitting in on these meetings, I’ve heard Officer Chase talk. I’ve heard the other police and the investigator too. Grandma, you’ve been hating the wrong person all these years, but you can make it right now and listen to what Caroline is saying.”

“She can’t be here. Caroline, please leave our home now.”

Caroline’s grandfather shook his head, placing a hand on Abigail’s forearm. “No. That’s enough. Come in, let’s all sit down. Garrett, you should be going.”

“What? No. James, I’m here to back you up in this.”

“Have you been going around town stirring enmity toward my granddaughter?”

“Not the way they say!”

James picked up the receiver of the phone in the hallway and dialed. “Hello, Polly, it’s James Lassiter. I have a question. Did Garrett Moseby tell you the attacks on Caroline were faked to make Enrique Mendoza look innocent?”

He was quiet as Polly spoke. Most likely lecturing him, or so Caroline hoped. Garrett paled but James had him nailed with a stare so he stood there.

“I see. Yes, yes, you’re right. I understand. Thank you, Polly.”

James turned to Garrett. “Get out of this house, and do not return to it.”

Mindy’s hands went to her mouth and she rounded on Caroline. “Why do you have to ruin everything? We were just fine before you came here.”

Caroline ignored her sister and the pain in her belly at her words. Instead she addressed her grandfather. “A man named Vernon Hicks has been identified as a possible suspect in my mother’s murder. He lived over on Teller Avenue, next door to Joyce Marie Petitbone.”

Her grandfather paused. “Vernon Hicks.” He tapped his chin. “That name sounds familiar.”

“It was sixteen years ago.” But her grandmother also paused. “I’ll be right back. Shep, I need you to pull something down from the attic.”

Shep looked Caroline’s way and she felt awful for him. But he hadn’t wavered in his support or in his belief of their father’s innocence so there was that.

Royal put an arm around her shoulder, holding her close. Reassuring her.

“Garrett, I told you to leave.”

“Sir, don’t you see how she’s ruining your family? Just like her father did. Blood will tell. You know that.”

“Blood will tell? Are you kidding me?” Royal’s gaze went sharp and venomous. “So are you one of the pure who will save us all?”

“Purer than her.” Garrett jerked his chin at Caroline.

“I think you’re looking for inbred, not pure,” Royal said.

Caroline couldn’t stop her surprised cough of laughter.

“You shut your mouth, whore.”

One moment Royal was next to her, and the next he’d sprung from the couch to his feet, using his momentum to carry him to Garrett, who let out a surprised shriek and ran for the front door.

Mindy flipped out, but their grandfather held her as Caroline leapt up to follow.

“I told you what was going to happen and that was before you called my woman a whore, you piece of shit.” Royal stalked Garrett in the front yard. Garrett’s nose was bleeding.

“You punched me!”

“I winged you as you ran past me shrieking. But I will punch you so don’t worry about missing anything,” Royal snarled.

“Someone is going to call the cops,” Caroline called out.

“Don’t care. He called you a whore.”

She smiled. “You’re so sweet, Royal. I appreciate the punch but we talked about this and the whole jail thing.”

Royal made a face and shrugged. Then he took two fast steps Garrett hadn’t expected, cocked back his fist and plowed it straight into Garrett’s face. Hard enough to knock the other man back a few feet before his eyes rolled up and he hit the grass.

“And once again I find myself cleaning your knuckles.” Caroline pulled him back inside to the hall bath where she left him for a moment to go out to the living room. “Let her go, Grandpa. Mindy needs to pick him up off the grass once he’s awake.” Caroline turned and went back to Royal.

“I should apologize, but I can’t. He’s lucky I didn’t beat him to death. That piece of trash calling you a whore? After his racist purity bullshit and everything else he’s done, he deserved a two broken ribs beat down.”

She looked his hand over. Once she’d cleaned it up, she realized all the blood had been Garrett’s.

Royal opened and closed his fist, and then she bent to kiss his hand. “Thank you. I hope you don’t get arrested, and if you do, I’ll bail you out and defend you.”

He grinned and kissed her. “Let’s get your info and go. This place is not for you anymore, if it ever was to start with.”

They headed back out to the living room when her grandmother came in. “Vernon Hicks used to do odd jobs for all the businesses on that stretch of road where the diner was.”

Caroline had to sit down because hope had broken free and was running riot. “Jesus. After all these years.” She looked up at her grandmother. “How did you know?”

“I keep all my date books. They’re stored in the attic in case we ever need them. I pulled the one from the year your mother was killed down and the year before it too and flipped through. I made a note. He worked on the diner a few months prior. I’d asked her his name when a friend of ours needed some work done on his property. I probably wouldn’t have found it, but it was written on one of the tabbed pages. I’d been flipping through them from tab to tab just looking.” Caroline flinched as her grandmother looked up at her. Always waiting for whatever venom would come her way.