Free Window of Guilt by Jennie Spallone

that be sweet?”
    The younger girl’s face clouded. “What if Todd dies first?”
    Susie spun around at her little sister’s words. “Where’d that come from?”
    Her sister stared back at her, a serious expression on her face. “I heard Mom and Dad fighting about how they’re going to pay for Todd’s heart transplant.”
    “He’s going to have the surgery, don’t you worry.”
    “How do you know for sure?”
    “Promised not to tell.” Susie logged on to the computer and pulled up her e-mail. “That’s weird. Nothing from Todd.”
    “I tried calling him after Mom and Dad left,” said Carly. “Maybe his cell phone’s broken.”
    “Yeah, right,” said Susie. She grabbed her iPod from the computer desk. “Wanna see my new POM’s routine?”
    “Yes!” laughed her little sister.

“What he says he doesn’t mean,
    And what he means
    He doesn’t say.”
    Jewish Saying

12
    How long has your brother gone missing?” Officer Gomez asked, holding the phone receiver between her shoulder and ear as she dove into her top desk drawer for a legal pad.
    “A couple of weeks,” a tearful voice responded.
    “Why aren’t your parents making this phone call?”
    Suzie Gray sniffled into the phone. “They’ve been down in New Orleans, operating the Pit Bull Rescue and delivering dog and cat food to residents. My brother should have been down there with them, but he was doing something even more important.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Talking to the health insurance adjuster who turned him down last year.”
    “Medical problem?” asked Gomez.
    “Todd had a heart defect ever since he was a kid. Tired fast. Couldn’t play sports in school. Always in and out of the hospital.”
    “Can’t be good for him to be traipsing all over the universe.”
    Susie laughed. “My parents don’t overprotect him. He comes and goes as he pleases.”
    “The victim’s face has been plastered all over the Internet and TV.”
    “When my parents get involved in their work, they tune out the rest of the world.”
    “Your brother make contact with any friends, family, or neighbors?”
    “I contacted everybody on his Instant Messenger Service but came up empty-handed. Nobody’s heard from him since the third week of August.”
    “Why’d you wait so long to contact the police?”
    “’Cause it’s normal for him to disappear for a couple of days at a time.”
    “It’s very possible the young man in question is not your brother.”
    A storm of tears clouded the phone connection. “TG’s going to work in our family’s veterinarian clinic when he finishes grad school.”
    “Perhaps your brother joined your parents in New Orleans, after all.”
    “Todd e-mails me twice a week. He would have mentioned he was going and asked me to come along.”
    “You’re welcome to come up here to view the body, but from what you say, odds are your brother voluntarily tripped out of sight for awhile,” said Carmen.
    The young woman’s words came fast and hard. “Todd went to see the health insurance adjuster to convince him to reconsider a heart transplant. The insurance company refused to cover it.”
    “Why would the insurance company deny coverage for a heart transplant?”
    “The first surgery, including the hospital bill, cost like a million dollars. Todd developed complications and needed to stay in the hospital for several days. The insurance company told my parents there’s a million-dollar cap on Todd’s policy.”
    Carmen spoke in a reassuring voice. “First thing you need to do is hop a Greyhound bus up to Milwaukee. Let me know when you arrive and I’ll meet you at the station.”
    “Thanks for your help, officer.”
    “By the way, your brother ever take the Greyhound?”
    “Nope. Todd’s got a red pickup truck. He treats that thing like a baby. Doesn’t even let me drive it.”
    “Where’s the truck now?”
    “Like I said, he was supposed to be in Chicago. Can you run his license plate number?”
    “If you