EST Takoma Park, Maryland Gray Pierce pulled into the driveway with a coughing growl of the 1960 Thunderbird’s V-8 engine. He felt like growling himself. “I thought the plan was to sell this place?” Kenny asked. Gray’s younger brother sat in the passenger seat, his head half out the window, staring up at the craftsman bungalow with the wraparound wooden porch and overhanging gable. It was their family home. “Not any longer,” Gray answered. “And don’t mention any of that to Dad. His dementia makes him paranoid enough.” “How is that different from any other day . . . ?” Kenny mumbled sourly under his breath. Gray glowered at his brother. He’d picked Kenny up at Dulles after a cross-country flight from Northern California. His brother’s eyes were red-rimmed from jet lag—or maybe from too many small bottles of gin in first class.
