"Let me drive you home."

"No. I'll take an Uber. It's still early."

"Are you sure?"

"Very. You are the one who is still weak. Drive carefully, and have a good night."

Keziah took her seatbelt off and got out of the car. She grabbed her purse and bag from the back seat. Mikal climbed into the driver's seat. She was worried about him driving by himself. He still moved stiffly and was weak from both his cold and the drugs. She wasn't sure if he should be driving late in the evening, but their estate wasn't far. She was hopeful he could make it on his own.

"Don't forget to take your drugs and see a doctor."

"I won't." She smiled. "Can I ask you one last thing?"

"Sure."

"When we got to Kadeem's office, why did you introduce me as an investigator?"

"Because I didn't want him to hear your last name. I thought if he knew your parents, he might be inclined to lie."

"You hoped they had something to do with it?"

"No. But I wasn't going to risk it." She stepped closer to the car, resting her hand on the window sill. "I know I am desperate, but understand that I want justice, not someone to blame."

"I can respect that."

"I am glad."

"And thank you."

"For?"

"Being my nurse all night. You are exhausted even when you try to hide it. I am sorry."

"It was alright. I am glad it wasn't too serious."

"It hurts to look at you sometimes."

She looked away, grateful he couldn't see her face turn red, as she felt heat creep up her neck at the memory.

She patted his hand and thanked him sincerely for the drive, but the man was more headstrong than she gave him credit for. Instead of driving off as she had asked, he decided to wait for Uber to pick her up first. No matter what she said, he didn't relent, so they waited together.

"That's me." She pointed at the approaching car, and he watched it from his side mirror.

She found her family enjoying their evening on the patio. Before they could ask questions, she excused herself to bathe and change out of her clothes. She was exhausted. After a horrid night of half-sleeps and driving for more than twelve hours combined, her body reflected the built-up exhaustion.

So much so that it was only after her shower, when she was with her family, that she began to think of Mikal. She thought of what would have happened if his mother hadn't chosen that time to call. Maybe they would have done something stupid. Like kiss. They didn't touch the subject after he ended the call. They were perfectly happy pretending it didn't happen. But he wasn't there now, and it was all she seemed to have on her mind.

It was unfair since her family needed more from her.

"The man I spoke to was Dad's cellmate, Kadeem. I discovered last week that he tried to clear our father's name."

"Kadeem. The man who testified against him?"

"Yes. He was paid to." She went straight to the point.

"Paid?"

"Through an officer that worked in the prison. Bo Nedman."

Kingsleigh and Kamari shared a look between them, and Keziah averted her attention to Aizen, the youngest of their three rottweilers. She offered her hand for its searching tongue and scratched behind its ears.

"How did you come across this? We looked over that man's file, and there was nothing like that."

"We didn't look that closely." Keziah corrected Kamari. "We knew he testified against Dad, and it came to nothing, so we moved on. We have been going in circles all this time trying to find something new, which has been under our nose the entire time."

"Who found this information? Was it the detective?"

"No."

Kamari's brows furrowed, but Kingseleigh spoke ahead of her, "Then who?"

"I can't say."

"Why?"

"I promised to keep their names out of it, just as I promised Kadeem I'd protect his identity."

"But you are sharing Kadeem with us now. Why can't you trust us with the identity of the other person?"

"That's because it's Mikal Volva."

Kingsleigh looked at her as she spoke, as if daring her to lie or deny it, and Keziah only stared back.

"Is that true?" Kamari broke the silence. "Was it Mikal?"

"Yes."

"Oh my God." Kamari moved one of the dogs from her side as she stood.

"There's nothing to get worked up about."

"How can you let anyone one of them near this?" Kingsleigh accused.

"I am not letting him near anything. He brought me information, and I went to check on its validity. It was valid."

"We shouldn't accept anything that comes from that family!"

"Kamari is right. We don't know if they have ulterior motives. We can't be letting our guard down. Don't forget they are still trying to get our shares."

"I am aware." She sighed. Her head was pounding. "But where have we gotten to since we arrived? Nowhere. You think I would turn my back on a lead?"

"Anyone but them."

"I've seen how he is with you. He flirts, he smiles. He is trying to break your walls." Kamari said.

"I also flirt and smile with him. It's a powerplay, nothing more."

"You can't be serious."

"Mikal gains nothing from this."

"Of course he does." Kingsleigh jumped in.

"Helping find out that someone paid so Dad would go to jail? How does that help him?"

"It gives him your trust!" Kingsleigh argued.

She couldn't defend Mikal as she boiled inside to do. She wanted to shout that he was not his mother, and he had proved it to her time and time again. But she knew how it would sound. It would sound as how it was. It would sound like he had gotten to her. Because, sitting in the cool evening breeze, facing her sister's judging glare, she finally saw how far under her skin he was.

She was itching to come to his defence.

With her sisters.

It was unheard of.

Aizen whined when her fingers ceased their loving ministrations behind his ears, but it climbed up beside her and planted its face on her lap.

"I am past looking a gift horse in the mouth."

"And when they start planting evidence to lead us away from the truth? What would happen then?" Kamari asked.

"I am not stopping our investigation to chase what he gave me. Am I? I take everything with a grain of salt. If, at any point, it conflicts with what we already know, we will look into it. This is our biggest break. The first time we see a hand that tried to turn our father's case. I could care less who brought the information to me."

Kamari shook her head but calmed down. "Alright. So, how do we find Bo? I hope you won't be relying on Mr Volva for that, too."

"No." She lied.

It was a partial lie. She wasn't relying on him to find the officer, but she knew Mikal wasn't waiting for her permission. Mikal wanted to bring things to a close as quickly as possible. She wouldn't put it past him to start looking for the next clue.

"I will inform Miss Barrister tomorrow. But no more looking past anything."

"What do you mean?" Kingsleigh asked.

"I overlooked Kadeem because his testimony didn't affect our father's case. I won't do that again. From now on we will investigate even a speck. There's something out there that proves our father's innocence, something I know we'll find, but we can't ignore even the most minuscule information."

"That's fair," Kamari murmured.

"Let's talk more tomorrow. My head is pounding."

The dogs looked eagerly at her when she stood, and Kingsleigh got on her feet as well. She touched Keziah's arm, her eyes no longer hard, but soft and concerned.

"I didn't mean to be harsh."

Keziah smiled. "You weren't. It's your opinion, and it's a valid concern. I am just tired. Long night with little sleep."

"Then you should rest." Kamari encouraged. "There's tomorrow."

Keziah roughhoused with the dogs for a bit before saying goodnight again and retreating to her bedroom. Instead of her bed, she walked towards the balcony and pushed the doors open. She could still hear her sisters talking downstairs. Kamari liked to wait for her husband to come home, and Kingsleigh must have decided to keep her company.

Keziah wondered if her sisters were talking about her. It could have been easy to lie and shift the truth when they asked her about Mikal. But something about Kingsleigh's tone made her change her mind. It was accusatory. Like it had been sitting on her chest for a while. A suspicion that she wanted confirmation on.

A lie wouldn't suffice.

If they were mad she got her information from Mikal, they would completely question her psyche to learn she allowed him follow her there. She allowed him to sit in the room and listen to all Kadeem had to say. Her sisters would be worried to learn that Mikal also knew about Bo.

She faced his house, and her fingers crept up her neck. Tentatively, she touched them to her lips, her eyes unmoving from the house down the hill.

Despite what her sisters said, she trusted Mikal. What he had done to earn that, she couldn't say, but she trusted him.

"Mikal Agnus. He saved my life, and I watched him die."

She frowned as his words came to mind. She held her tongue in telling him that his uncle was one of the people he looked for that night when he would wake up in a feverish delirium.

She wanted so badly to take his hand. He had rested it on the console at some point, and it would have been so easy to reach out and hold him. But he turned from her.

She wanted to hold his hand because it was what was done for her. Her mother held her until she poured out all the fears she kept inside. Those same fears and uncertainty rolled off him in waves in the car. He lost someone important to him, and he wanted answers just as she did. As he said, she would find her answers at some point. But him?

She stepped closer to the balcony and rested her hand on the metal rail. "What am I going to do about you Mikal Volva."

The last thing she needed was to fuel worry between her sisters. They already suspect she was allowing him to overstep his bounds. They already suspect that she might have someone she fancied. She didn't need them adding it up in their minds or turning it into something it wasn't.

Because, yes, her eyes shifted to her fingers, she liked him.

But it would never be the reason she did the things she did. Emotions were the last thing to blind her. She wanted her father's innocence proven. And despite who his parents were, he was a good man.

Yes. She trusted him.