The dashboard clock read 12:10.

He was fifty minutes from home without traffic. No way he’d get there on time. He dialed his home number.

“Please tell me you’re almost here,” Susan said after the first ring.

“I’m near the expressway.” His long fingers combed his dark curly hair. “But nobody’s moving. There’s an accident.”

“What time did you leave?”

“Eleven-forty.” Jack crossed fingers. “But even if I’d left—”

“You still wouldn’t have made it.” There was real pain in her voice. “How could you do this to me?”

He looked out the passenger window. The kid in the Honda next to him was playing his dashboard like a piano.

Susan let out a breath. “I’m going by myself.”

“You can’t.”

“Gunn has surgery this afternoon. He’s leaving at two.” He thought he’d lost the connection until she said, “You’ve left me no choice.”

Click.