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face is telegraphing?”
    I took a deep breath and offered a small smile. “It’s not all bad news. See, I was so worried when I couldn’t reach you that I went to your house.”
    “Uh-oh. Is Dashiell all right?” he said.
    “Good news there. See, Dashiell did have a little blood sugar trouble, but he’s with Doc Jensen now and he’ll be fine.” I rested a hand on his forearm. “There’s something else, though.”
    “My mother? Did Nolan come back here and—”
    “No. It doesn’t concern Karen—well, not directly. When I went to your house, I met your brother. Seems he’s made himself at home.”
    “ Which brother?”

Five
     
    Which brother? Yet another surprise. “Bob,” I said.
    Tom’s jaw muscles flexed. “Figures. I’m not sure I want to hear anything about Bob right now. Let me call Doc about Dashiell and then maybe you can give me a lift home. I’ll deal with my brother face-to-face.”
    “Of course,” I said. “There isn’t much to tell except he seems to have made himself comfortable over at your place.”
    “Sounds like the same old Bob. Can I use your phone?” Tom called Doc Jensen at home—it was after six now—and learned Dashiell was doing well and could be released tomorrow.
    I set out treats for the cats before Tom and I left, feeling guilty about dragging them around in the van all last week. We still had one more trip coming up in a few days and I was already considering leaving them at home. Maybe Kara would care for them.
    Though I asked Tom about any other brothers as we headed toward his house, he said he just couldn’t talk about his family right now. I respected this. Though I had no ex-husbands in my past, I’d never mentioned my parents’ divorce or me moving in with my grandparents when I was a child. But I vowed to do so once the current problems were solved—and I was sure Tom would find Finn. He wouldn’t quit until he did. We’d only gotten halfway to his house when Candace and Morris’s patrol car flew by us heading in the opposite direction, lights flashing and siren squealing.
    “I wonder what’s happening,” I said.
    “If I’m lucky, they’re taking Bob to jail for breaking into my house,” Tom said. “Though I doubt they’d fire up all their lights for something so mundane. Nope, whatever it is, it’s more important than Bob Cochran—which will probably be a shock to him.”
    “You’re confirming what I’d already decided about him,” I said. Okay, but I was still curious about the family members he’d never mentioned.
    “My brother Bob is— What the hey? ” Tom said. He pointed up ahead. “Look. On the side of the road.”
    My headlights revealed a figure walking on the shoulder. He wore a dark hoodie and seemed to be burdened by a heavy backpack. Trotting beside this person was a dog.
    “I sure hope that’s who I think it is,” Tom said. “Pull onto the shoulder ahead of him, okay?”
    “You recognize this person?” I asked.
    “Nolan mentioned Finn’s dog was missing, too. He even looked for dog poop in my backyard when he was sure Finn and the dog were at my house. Finn once texted me a picture and the dog was white with spots—just like this one.”
    We closed in and indeed it was a small, spotted dog. I slowed and carefully steered off the road in front of them.
    Once I’d come to a halt, Tom said, “Let me check on these two. Can you stay in the van?”
    “No problem.” I watched in the mirror as he approached the small-framed young man. Within seconds, he wrapped the boy in an embrace. The little dog rose on its hind legs and jumped like a jack-in-the-box beside them. The sight melted my heart.
    Soon Finn and his dog climbed into my backseat. He pulled down the hood of his sweatshirt and I saw he had big brown eyes and sandy hair, which was longish and messed up from being trapped under a hood. I greeted them with a smile and a Carolina, “Hey there.” I wanted to reach out to the dog so he could smell me, but