Nothing could compare to a glass of Highland Park scotch after a long day at work. In fact, the only thing that could’ve made it better would have been if Olive hadn’t been visiting her sister in Greece. I knew she missed Diana, but dammit, I missed my wife.

I clipped the end of my cigar and stuck it in my mouth. At least I didn’t have to hear her lecturing me about smoking in the house, I thought as I lit it. I rarely indulged, but now seemed like as good a time as any. I’d closed my deal with McOmber Shipping at half the original asking price. If my crew did as good a job with this company as they had with the last, they’d be getting an even bigger beginning-of-the-year bonus than usual.

I was just getting settled in front of the fireplace, ready to crack open the latest Grisham novel, when the doorbell sounded. I hated the damn thing, but the house was too big to hear anyone knock unless we were right there. Olive insisted the chimes made her smile, but I didn’t want to smile when I opened my front door. I wanted to know who the hell was showing up without calling first. Not that I would’ve ever told Olive that. I’d do whatever was necessary to keep her happy, so if the damn chimes made her happy, then I wouldn’t complain about them.

The doorbell went off again, and I pushed myself out of my chair. If it was some Girl Scout selling cookies, then I’d buy a box of thin mints and send her on her way, but anyone else was going to get an earful.

Except when I opened the door, it wasn’t a person standing on the other side. It was two people. Two police officers. Uniformed ones. With matching grim expressions on their faces. But these weren’t the sort of grim expressions that came with men who’d been sent to ask for money for a policemen’s fund. These made my entire body go cold.

“Mr. Hunter,” one of them spoke, shifting from one foot to the other like whatever it was he had to say made it impossible for him to stand still. “Mr. Hunter, there’s been an accident.”

“Olive?” I could barely breathe. “My wife? Is she…?”

“Not your wife, Mr. Hunter.” The other officer took over. He met my eyes for a moment before looking away. “I’m afraid it’s your son.”

Chester.

Blood rushed in my ears.

“Your son, your daughter-in-law, and their children were in a car accident tonight. We’re here to take you to the hospital.” I took a step forward, but the cop who had been speaking held up his hand. “Sir, you’ll want a coat. It’s cold out.”

I nodded and turned back inside. I barely registered anything I was doing. All I could think about was my boy and his family. It had to be bad for cops to come here to get me, but if they were all dead, it wouldn’t have been two uniforms. I was friends with the commissioner and the mayor. I knew the governor. If my family was dead, surely one of them would’ve come instead.

“When did…how long…” I couldn’t quite form a full question even though I had a thousand of them running through my head.

“We were sent out almost immediately after the first responders arrived at the scene.” The officer who’d been doing most of the talking opened the back door of their car, so I could get in. “One of them recognized your son’s name and called into the station. We were the closest to your place.”

“Does that mean you don’t know much about what happened?” I wasn’t sure if I was hoping that they didn’t know any details, so I could imagine things weren’t actually bad enough for me to need a police escort to the hospital, or if it’d be better to know so I couldn’t imagine worse things.

“It was bad,” the first man said. “That’s all we know right now. They’ll know more at the hospital.”

Something about the way he said it told me he was lying, and I decided that knowing wasn’t as bad as imagining. “Tell me.”

A moment of silence passed as the two men looked at each other, and my insides knotted.

“Your daughter-in-law and granddaughter were DOA.”

While I appreciated him not sugarcoating things, it didn’t make the blow hurt any less. Abigail, gone. She and Chester had been in love from the moment they first met. And now she was gone. And Aimee.

I couldn’t bear it. My only granddaughter. Four years old.

All that life, all that potential. Gone.

My chest was so tight I could barely breathe.

“Your son is on his way to the hospital,” the officer continued. “And so’s your grandson, but I don’t know details about them.”

Relief rushed through me, followed by guilt, and then both nearly choked me. I was struggling to process it when what he said registered.

“Grandson?” I leaned forward, clenching my hands. “What about the other boys?”

“What other boys, Mr. Hunter?” the quieter cop asked.

“I have four grandsons.” Even as I said the words, I prayed they were still true.

“There were only two kids in the car,” the other guy picked it up again.

“Where are the other kids?” My lips felt numb. Everything felt numb.

“We’ll find them,” he promised. “I’ll radio it in right now.”

I nodded. Chester would need to know that his kids…his boys were safe. When I got to the hospital, that’s what I would tell him first. That the boys were safe. I wouldn’t tell him about his daughter until I knew he’d make it.

He had to make it.

I closed my eyes. How was I going to tell Olive that Abigail and Aimee were dead? I couldn’t even think about it.

“What happened?” The question slipped out before I could stop it.

“Black ice.”

If I still had my eyes closed, I wouldn’t have seen the way the officer in the passenger’s seat looked over at the driver. Like there was something about that answer he wasn’t comfortable with. Right now, I would’ve jumped at anything that meant I didn’t have to think about the overseas call I needed to make tonight.

“You don’t agree?”

He looked back at me, then to his partner, then back to me. “I don’t know, Mr. Hunter. It’s possible that the car hit a patch of ice.” He paused before adding, “But something about it doesn’t sit right with me. I think there’s something else going on.”

Something else? What did he mean by that?

I didn’t get a chance to ask since we were pulling into the hospital’s parking lot, but somehow, I knew this conversation would come back to me many times in the weeks and months that followed.