Chapter 39

Dean’s POV

I was actually there when Alvarez came to the house that day. I remember that part very clearly.

Diane had finally gone to sleep that day, her first real sleep in almost a full week. Relatives just standing around the kitchen, not really knowing what to say to each other. Somebody had made a full pot of coffee that nobody was actually drinking. It just sat there going cold on the counter, mugs stacked next to it that nobody had the energy to use. Marie was upstairs, hadn't really talked to anyone in days. I was in the living room with Dad when Alvarez showed up at the door.

He recognized Dad right away, on sight. Asked to talk to him alone, and I just quietly followed. Nobody ever told me not to.

"Suicide," Alvarez said, quiet enough that nobody in the kitchen even heard it. Toxicology, the exact dosage, but nothing that read like an accident either.

I remember Dad just going very still. I remember my own stomach just dr