CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Howell went to the driver’s side of their unmarked wagon. ‘Keys.’
Franklin dug them out of his pocket, bunched them ready to throw to his partner, and stared in shock at his shaking fist. He wheeled his arm and tossed the keys across the bonnet. He slid into the passenger seat, buckled up and shoved his hands under his thighs, hiding the shakes.
‘What now?’ Howell cranked the engine.
‘Too late to go to the kindergarten, I suppose?’
‘Didn’t someone say Bel was on maternity leave?’
‘Yep.’
Franklin gazed out his side window at a tree. Its leafless branches spread high and wide, their darkness popping against the striking luminosity of the horizon. Could be a good omen – tomorrow promising better weather and the worst being behind them.
He murmured, ‘Even so, she wor
