LUKE PULLED BACK INTO his hidden parking spot in the woods, climbed the ladder, and did a quick visual sweep of the backyard. With none of his family in sight, he quickly traversed the manicured sod and entered the house through the rear door. When the children heard Luke in the kitchen, they ran to see him, and he bent down and hugged them tight. Looking up, he saw Deborah standing in the doorway watching. “They’ve been asking for you all morning.” He smiled and stood up with Abel and Alessa in his arms. She continued, “Your father has been asking for you also. He wants to talk to you about something.”

Still holding the children, Luke walked into the family room, where he knew his parents would be watching television. He sat the children on a small love seat and walked over to greet his parents. While kissing his mom on the cheek, he extended his hand toward his dad. He could tell that his mother was upset. As Luke stood, his father said to the children, “I think your mother needs you in the kitchen.” They quickly ran to find her. His dad pointed for Luke to sit down. Luke moved an ornate chair from the other side of the room so it was in front of the couch, directly facing them.

Glancing at his mom, Luke’s dad spoke. “We’ve decided that after Thanksgiving, we’re going to move back home. We want to be in our own house.” He quickly added, “But we want you to stay with Deborah and the children. We won’t leave unless you promise to stay.” Surprised at this turn of events, Luke looked down and noticed the newspaper on the coffee table. It was open to the gossip page. There was a half-page picture that must have been taken outside police headquarters a few days ago. It showed Luke extending his hand to help Deborah over a pothole in the street. Of course, there was no sign of the pothole in the picture, leading the reader to believe that they were holding hands. They looked like a Hollywood couple, complete with designer clothes and sunglasses. The sleek black Mercedes was in the background. But what really caught his eye was the headline, “Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Brother’s Wife!” He couldn’t believe that this headline had planted a seed of doubt in his parents’ minds. “Dad, you can’t possibly think that there’s something going on between me and Deborah?”

“Of course not, we know that,” his father answered nervously. “But think of how nice it would be if you stayed here with Deb and the children. Your brother would be so happy.”

Ready to angrily argue back, Luke bit his lip, knowing that his parents were just thinking of what would be best for the children. Instead, he said, “Listen, we have a few days before Thanksgiving. Let’s just take it slow and see what happens.” Content that he didn’t reject the idea, they nodded at him and smiled at each other.

Luke excused himself from his family and, after another undetected getaway, he made his way to the cemetery for his meeting with Romo. Before leaving the car, he pulled on a hooded sweatshirt, then he stepped out and began walking quickly in the brisk fall air. He hoped that the cold weather would be keeping crowds of visitors and tourists to a minimum.

The Granary Burying Ground was a Boston landmark, established in the mid-sixteen hundreds. It was the final resting place of some of America’s most prominent historical figures, including three signers of the Declaration of Independence: Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Robert Treat Paine. Paul Revere and five Boston Massacre victims were also buried here.

Walking down the old sidewalk that ran alongside the wrought iron fence surrounding the cemetery, Luke was relieved to see that the grounds were practically empty. He stepped through the massive stone entryway and scanned the graveyard for Detective Romo. Not finding him, he waited next to the twenty-five-foot-tall obelisk that marked the tomb of Benjamin Franklin’s parents.

A few minutes later, he was relieved to see a tall figure approaching wearing a wool stocking cap and sunglasses. He sat down next to Luke without looking directly at him.

“Nice to see you, Father.”

Luke mischievously responded, “Is that you, Detective?”

He smiled back. “So Father, tell me, how’s your investigation going?”

Luke laughed. “I wouldn’t really call it an investigation.”

The detective glanced around to see if anyone was watching. “Luke, I was a freshman in high school when you were a senior. I watched just about every baseball game you played. I even went to Boston College a few times to watch your brother play. My mother is a longtime parishioner at Saint Leonard’s, so I feel like I’ve known you for a long time despite the fact that we met just days ago. What I’m trying to say is that you need to be very careful. I’ve been given strict orders to stay out of this investigation. If I try to help you in any way, I’ll be fired immediately and will have to forfeit my pension. If anyone followed me here today, there’s a good chance I’ll lose my job. I borrowed my sister’s car to try to conceal my identity because I felt obligated to meet you, but I can’t assist in any official way.”

Shocked, Luke quickly replied, “I completely understand your predicament. Please forgive me, I never meant to compromise your career. I won’t bother you again. Please accept my sincerest apology.”

With that, the detective stood and whispered, “Talk to you soon,” before walking away. Confused, Luke now wondered why the detective agreed to meet him to begin with. Dejected, he tried to figure out what to do next. He heard something buzzing and looked around, noticing a brown paper bag on the bench. He picked it up and opened it, finding a vibrating cell phone inside. Unsure of what to expect, Luke opened it and listened. “Luke, I’ll help you any way that I can. Just remember that we have to be careful. The phone I left for you is a prepaid cell phone that can’t be traced to me. You can use it to call or text me at the number saved in the contact list, but don’t call from inside Aaron’s house, since it might be bugged. If I can’t answer, I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”

Relieved that the detective hadn’t abandoned him after all, Luke responded, “Thank you so much and God bless you, Detective.” Thinking quickly, he asked, “Hey, one more thing, where do you buy prepaid cell phones?”