"Where have you been?" was the first thing I heard when I returned home near dinner time. I'd been sitting in my spot all morning, rode around the park to warm up, and then went back. It was far later than I normally came home during the week without a reason. Lilly being worried wasn't surprising at all.

I sighed as I propped my board against the wall and began taking off my layers. "Out. I went to my spot."

She glanced at me as she stirred something on the stove. "You've been there all day?" Alarm was beginning to make its way into her voice. 

"Not all day," I said. "I also rode around for a while." I picked up my board and tried to head to my room, but Lilly stopped me.

"Come taste this," she called. I went into the kitchen and tasted the sauce she was holding out to me on a wooden spoon. It was delicious. I smiled and nodded my approval. "Glad you like it. Now, set that thing down and set the table for four."

I took one step towards my room and stopped. "Four?"

She nodded. "For some reason, your brother chose to be absent. He's off somewhere on his board and said to eat without him."

"Why four? Who's coming over?"

She frowned at me. "I told you a long time ago - my parents are coming over. Go clean up and then set the table. Hurry! They're going to be here any minute."

---

Dinner was mostly silent with looks cast at the only empty chair at the table. Ben wasn't in the house, and I had no idea where he could be. Neither did Lilly. Though that was one of the first things her mother asked when she walked inside and glanced around. It seemed like it was an offense to them that he didn't show up for dinner. 

Lilly's dad simply stared at his plate. He didn't seem like he wanted to eat the food, even though I knew it was quite delicious. I'd already cleaned my plate. Twice. 

To be honest, I'd only ever met her parents once besides the wedding, but that was years ago. I wasn't familiar with anything about them besides the fact they were very conventional and they believed in a stiff upper lip at all times. They weren't exactly cheap, but they definitely spent as little as possible even though they were quite well-off. I knew they didn't exactly approve of her marrying Ben, but they didn't object too strongly, either. I also knew her mother was addicted to cleaning. 

Which would account for why I could barely smell the food over the scent of furniture polish. I would never understand why Lilly went nuts cleaning before her parents visited.

Dinner was over by seven, and I had lost all the peace I'd gained from sitting alone in my spot all day. I was pretty tense even as I watched her parents walk out the door. The door through which Ben was yet to appear. I kind of wanted to turn on the TV to see if he'd been arrested, but I quickly dismissed the thought, wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt more than make my worry for him go away.

I went to my room, mumbling an excuse for wanting to care for my board. It wasn't a lie, but I mostly wanted to just be alone. I wasn't a loner, but sometimes being alone helped me feel just a little more sane, which I needed after the stress of the day.

When there was a timid knock on my door fifteen minutes later, I was just finishing drying my board. "Come in."

The door eased open and Lilly stepped into my room. "I'm sorry about how tense tonight was."

I nodded. "That's okay. Why are they so upset?"

She sighed and sank onto the edge of my bed next to me. "They feel like it's a disgrace to their good name for Ben to have been arrested and all this, and tonight was supposed to be them trying to make amends with him, extend a little forgiveness."

I furrowed my brow as I stood. "Then why wasn't he here?" I leaned my board against the wall and went back to where I had been sitting.

She shrugged. "He's..." She sighed heavily. "I don't know. Lately he's been acting weird. It's like he's so shaken up about being arrested that I got a different man back from that place. Ben's a wonderful guy, and I love him to bits, but he's driving me crazy right now - and not in a good way. He never talks to me, never speaks a word about where he goes or what he does. Not even when I ask how his day went or what he's been doing."

I ran my fingers through my hair. "Weird," I muttered. There was one time he did that when we were kids, but that's the only time I could remember. At the time, we had a kiddie pool in the yard we both played in during the summer. Once, he'd found our mother's wedding ring in the master bedroom - unoccupied since Mom died - and buried it under the pool because we were going to play pirates. That was our buried treasure and I was supposed to find it, except I wasn't able to. Our dad noticed a couple of hours after Ben took it that it was missing, and began to tear the house apart. He felt so bad about it that he couldn't bring himself to tell Dad what he'd done for two days, during which time he acted just like Lilly was describing. 

That was actually how he found my spot. 

So Ben was guilty of something. But what? Did he actually do it? Did he know who did? 

---

The house was dark. Lilly had gone to bed, but I sat silently on the sofa. Waiting. I passed the time by reading on my phone. Eventually I heard the sound of someone riding a skateboard in the front drive. A minute later I heard footsteps just outside the door. I put away my phone as he unlocked it. 

Ben stumbled inside, shivering. He dusted the snow off his jacket and propped up his board. I waited silently for him to the jacket off and to take off his snow boots and put them in the closet. It only took a few minutes for him to start heading further into the house. 

I flicked on the light and he froze. "Where have you been?" I asked in an icy tone. 

He slowly turned to me. "What are you still doing up?"

"Waiting for you." He started to open his mouth but I shut it with a glare. "The last time I had to wait for someone to come home because they were late I ended up going to a funeral for the person they killed. Do you not think I would wait up?" My tone was still cold, but anger began to bleed over into my words. 

"I'm sorry."

I waited, but that's all he said. "Sorry? You're sorry?" I stood and narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm not the person you need to apologize to. I'm not the person that's worrying the most about you right now." I pointed down the hallway. "She's sleeping in your bed, right down there." I put my arm down. "No, I'm not worried." I stepped closer. "I want an explanation."

His eyes widened slightly, enough to tell me he was scared. At least that much I was sure of. I just needed to know what he was scared of now. "E-explanation?" 

"Yes. Lilly told me you've been acting strange. You don't tell her anything before you disappear. What have you been up to?"

"Nothing!"

I gave him a level look. "Ben, I've known you my whole life. I know when you're lying and when you're hiding something. So tell me the truth. What's going on with you?"

He looked angry. "Nothing! Nothing is going on! Why can't you leave me alone?" He nearly ran down the hallway to his bedroom.

It was one of the rare times he actually yelled without speeding down the side of a mountain. I was surprised, but, at the same time, I expected it. His reaction was basically an admission of his guilt, but now I just needed to find out what he was guilty of. I had an idea, but I didn't want to think about it.

---

Our ski trip was going to be in four days. I didn't have much hope of clearing my brother's name or of figuring out what was going on with him before then. I was still going to do as much as I could. That began with a trip to see Officer Jarvis. He seemed to be waiting for me when I stood in front of the main desk. 

"Brenda," he said, nodding. He glanced around. "I was hoping you'd stop by." He checked his watch. "I'm heading out to lunch right about now. Care to join me?"

"Sure," I replied with a smile. 

Five minutes later we were sitting in a local diner, perusing the menu. "Was anything useful to you?" Kev asked.

"The insurance policy is a good motive for Rob to set Ben up. He's going to get all his money back as well as the money he already has. If he did it, that is," I tacked on as an afterthought. 

"Money is a common motive, but why Ben?" Kev sat the menu down. "Would he have a reason to dislike your brother?"

"Not that I know of," I replied slowly, contemplating his words. Would he? Ben's been a model employee. He's the type of person that this shocked everyone who knows him. Back in school he had been a little bit of a rebel - but only by forgetting to turn in his homework the day it was due and turning it in early whenever possible. 

A waitress came over to us and took our orders then. Once she was gone, we returned to our conversation. 

"It might be only money, then," Kev said, taking a sip of his drink.

I shrugged, nervously gnawing on my lip. I didn't want to tell him about this, but I knew it had some relevance to the investigation. "Ben's been acting weird lately."

Kev raised an eyebrow. "Do you think he had a hand in it?"

I shrugged. "I don't know if it's related to that specifically or if it's something else. It was about that time it started, though. I mean, I know he's hiding something. What he's doing now is the same as what he did when we were kids and he did something he knew he shouldn't have. It's bothering me." I couldn't lose Ben too.

He must have seen something in my face, because Kev reached over and rested his hand on top of mine. "Brenda, your brother is a wonderful person. I doubt he's got anything to do with this. I don't know what's bothering him, but I'm sure it's not this, okay?"

Looking into his eyes, I could tell that neither of us truly believed it. Still, I said "thank you". The notion Ben might be involved was enough for me to want to just leave now, forget about the fact I don't have any money, and never come back. If I lose him too, I'd lose my mind. Forget his wife, forget any future children, forget Jimmy - there wouldn't be anything powerful enough to convince me to do more than say hi as I'm passing through.

"Do you know anything about Rob?" I asked Kev.

He shook his head. "Not much, really. I met him once when I was in high school. He was one of the freshmen that didn't fill out until some time in sophomore year. He was into drama and all those extracurricular things I found stupid." He swirled his drink, thinking. "I remember him and Louis hanging around each other a lot."

"Louis?" I asked timidly, afraid of the answer.

Kev finally met my eyes, sorrow there. "The guy your father killed."