As I drove, I called Michael. Normally, I would never have phoned someone at such an ungodly hour on the weekend. However, Michael was always up with the sun, so I guessed I wouldn’t be even close to waking him up. And I had to have someone watch the store while I was gone, since Kara wasn’t supposed to be back in until Tuesday. If I was lucky, Michael wouldn’t ask too many questions.
He answered on the second ring, and I said, my tone falsely bright, “Hey, Michael. Something’s come up, and I need to go out of town for a few days. Do you mind watching the store today and tomorrow?”
Being Michael, he saw right through me, even on the phone. “What’s happened?”
“I can’t talk about it right now. Just please, Michael — can you do this for me?”
A long pause, and then I could almost see him n
