Jake walked quietly down the stairs of his modest south Minneapolis house, leaving Laura to her grief. Fred Arias, already equipped with a beer, waited for him in the small living room. Jake stopped in the kitchen, took a Dr. Pepper from the refrigerator, and went in to join him.
“How did it go?” Arias asked.
“About as you’d expect.”
“Miserable, in other words.”
Jake nodded and popped open the can of soda.
Arias sipped from his beer. “When do you think it will be safe to bring her back?”
“I wouldn’t even hazard a guess.”
“If we just had some idea what happened to Susie . . .”
Jake didn’t speak.
“When are you going to tell me?” Arias asked.
“I don’t know who killed Susie, and that’s the truth.”
“I believe that. But I also believe you must have some ideas.”
“If I did, I wouldn’t spread them around. I’ll just point out the obvious: The threat hasn’t been dealt with.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I’m confident justice will be done someday. It may take a while. I’ve done what I can with the police for now. In the meantime, I’ll do what I can to protect Laura.”
“And?”
“And I’m leaving.”
Arias sat up straighter, putting his beer on an end table. “Say again?”
“I’m taking some time off.”
“How much time?”
“I don’t know. But more than a vacation. Months, at least.”
His brother-in-law leaned forward. “Jake, what the hell’s going on? Have you lost interest in life?”
“Not at all. I guess I probably have lost a little interest in business.”
“Where does that leave the rest of us?”
“You and Ernie can run the place.”
Arias gave him an astonished look. “Jake, you’re the engine. How the hell are we supposed to keep growing so fast without you?”
Jake took a long drink from his Dr. Pepper. “Don’t grow so fast. Consolidate. Improve the balance sheet. Line up credit with the banks and investors.”
“Stop growing?”
“For now, yes. I think we have some rough times coming up.”
Arias reached absently for his drink. “Are you going to be available during this . . . sabbatical?”
“Nope. You guys are on your own. I’ll give you complete written authority.”
Arias sank back into his chair. “Have you talked to Ernie?”
“Yes. I told him just what I’ve told you.”
“You’ve left us with a good thing. I guess we’ll have to try not to screw it up.”
“You won’t.”
After a moment of silence, Arias said, “Chloe was at the funeral.”
“Yes.”
“Were you surprised to see her?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t have been surprised either way.”
“With your father gone, do you suppose she’s interested in burying the hatchet?”
“I doubt it.”
“She still resents you?”
“She’s never resented me. She has always had what she’s wanted: Darryl to herself. Darryl did resent me, and it got him into a lot of trouble.”
Arias nodded. In an effort to avoid being shown up by his wildly successful son, Darryl had gone into an ambitious expansion mode, leaving AMREE seriously overextended.
“I know you have complicated feelings about him,” Arias ventured.
“Nothing complicated. He was a bad man. I stayed away from him and kept my family away from him. I’m relieved that he’s gone.” Darryl Conover had died of a heart attack while swimming at his villa in Jamaica.
“So,” Arias said, “what are you going to do during this sabbatical?”
“I’ve got some ideas. Nothing firm yet.” He smiled. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll finish high school.”