“Yes. Your mama and I taught you to think for yourself. We taught you to care for others. And you let your dad and Uncle Dale convince you to join that damned department.”

  “She’s right, you know. Cops are fascists,” I said.

  Melody stopped chopping herbs and pointed at me with her knife. “I like her. She can stay for lunch.”

  And that was the moment I caught sight of Laurel stealthily coming down the hallway behind Henry. She pressed a gun to the back of his head.

  “Don’t move,” she said.

  Henry stiffened but didn’t shift his weight. He looked at me with pure hatred. “You fucking cunt.”

  “Oh, Laurel. Were you following me? I had no idea.” I tried to feign innocence, but it mostly just came out deadpan. Laurel tried not to smile. It didn’t work out for her.

  “I’m going to kill you bitches. You do know that, right?” Henry said. It would have been chilling, but things weren’t looking great for him.

  “Put your hands on the back of your head,” Laurel said.

  “What the hell is going on out here?” Melody stuck her head out of the kitchen and swore. “Detective Kallen, I don’t remember granting you permission to come on my property.”

  “Hello, Mrs. Brewer. Sit on the couch for me.”

  “You have no right to be here.”

  “Didn’t your darling grandson tell you?” Laurel patted Henry down with one hand. “I quit the force. I’m a private citizen.”

  “Then you’re trespassing.”

  “Okay. Sue me.” Laurel removed a gun from Henry’s waistband. She tucked it into her own at the small of her back.

  “Get out of my house,” Melody shouted.

  “Sit on the damn couch and be quiet or I’ll shoot Henry.” Laurel took a knife out of Henry’s pocket and slid it into her own.

  “You did this.” Melody pointed at me. Her knuckles were knobby with age, but her hand was steady. At least she didn’t bring the knife out of the kitchen. She sat on the couch and glared.

  We all heard the cars pull up the drive. From the sound of spitting gravel, it was quite a few.

  Henry was holding completely still, but his eyes darted around the room. I couldn’t see his jaw because of the beard, but the skin around his ears pulled like he was clenching his teeth.

  I was so focused on the sound of cruisers and SUVs parking outside, the sound of a shotgun ratcheting was a terrifying surprise. I jerked my gaze away from Laurel and Henry and found Melody pointing a twelve gauge directly at me.

  “Fuck,” I said. Henry laughed.

  “Detective, put your gun down and give Henry his back,” Melody said. We could hear boots crunching across the gravel. Melody stepped closer so the double barrels were just touching my chest. “Now, Detective.”

  Laurel lowered her gun. She reached behind her back and carefully extended Henry’s to him. He took it and shoved Laurel aside to run down the hall. Laurel caught herself against the wall. Melody started to turn the shotgun in Laurel’s direction. I grabbed the barrel and shoved it toward the ceiling. I was aware of heat on my hands and noise as it went off. I held tight to the barrel as Melody and I hit the ground. The door burst open and shouts of “Sheriff’s Department” rang out.

  “Cash, are you hit?” Laurel crouched over me, her eyes wide in fear.

  I shook my head. “I’m good.”

  “Good.” She sprinted down the hallway before I could ask if she was okay.

  I was hauled to my feet and hustled outside. A young woman in a khaki uniform with a very serious ponytail sat me on the edge of the porch.

  “Are you okay, Ms. Braddock?” She didn’t make eye contact when she asked. Just looked at either side of my head, my arms, my legs.

  I nodded. “I’m fine. Laurel wasn’t hit, was she?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “How can you not know? Shotgun went boom. Was there blood everywhere or plaster everywhere? It’s one of the two.” I tried to stand, but she clamped her hand on my thigh and made me sit back down.

  “Plaster, ma’am. There’s no obvious sign that Ms. Kallen was hit. Our deputies are following her right now.”

  “Following her?” Either I was dense or this chick was speaking in riddles.

  “She ran after Brewer.”

  Of course she did. I groaned. “That dumbass.”

  “Don’t worry, ma’am. We’ll catch him. We’re setting up roadblocks as we speak.”

  “He’s not the dumbass I’m worried about.”

  There was a commotion behind us. I turned in time to see Melody Brewer being bodily carried from the house. Her arms were restrained behind her and she was cursing a fucking storm. The deputies set her down as if she was going to walk. They made it two steps before she yanked out of their grip and launched herself at me. She got a solid kick to my jaw before they tackled her again.

  “Dammit, Frank,” Deputy Ponytail yelled. She helped me to my feet and walked me to the open back of an SUV. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

  I moved my jaw around. It was working just fine. “Yeah.” I touched the side of my face. It was tender. “Don’t take it out on Frank. Melody Brewer is a real pistol.”

  “Deputy Frank outweighs that pistol by about a hundred and fifty pounds.”

  I laughed. “Fair enough. Is there ice in any of these cars?”

  “I’m sure there is. Hang tight.”

  A minute later, a different very serious looking sheriff’s deputy came up. He was manipulating an ice pack to get it cold. “Hi there. I’m Deputy Ness. Deputy Harris asked me to take a look at you.”

  “Harris?”

  “Brunette. Her hair is very slicked.” Ness motioned like he was smoothing the sides of his head.

  “Serious ponytail.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, serious ponytail.” He held up the ice pack. “Do you mind if I check out your jaw?”

  “Have at it.” I tipped my chin up.

  Ness walked his fingers over my cheek and across my jaw. It was unpleasant, but he was very precise, delicate. “Well, it looks like you’re going to have an excellent bruise. I’d recommend a doctor visit so we can add details to the arrest report.”

  “I’ll get right on that.”

  “I think you’re being a bit sarcastic with me.”

  “Don’t take it personally. I don’t know how to express genuine emotion so I default to sarcasm,” I said.

  “Right.”

  “My former business partner tried to kill me and my ex-girlfriend a whole bunch of times. His grandma just took up the mantle. It’s best for all of us if I don’t process that immediately.”

  He nodded all wide-eyed. “So here’s your ice pack.”

  “Thank you, Deputy Ness.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Cash Braddock, I’d hoped we were done,” Michelson said.

  I dropped the ice pack. “Agent Michelson, same.”

  He grinned. “You want to fill me in on this little scheme?”

  “I would, but I don’t want to.” I did my best to look cool and unaffected with my bruised jaw, sitting in the open back of an El Dorado County Sheriff SUV.

  “Okay. Why don’t I tell you what I know and you can fill in details if you like?” he asked.

  “As soon as you update me on Laurel’s whereabouts.”

  “That I can do.” He pointed at the empty space next to me. I nodded. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat. “She chased Brewer about two miles into the forest. He had a quad stashed that he took off on. She pursued on foot, but quickly lost him. As soon as the sheriff deputies caught up to her, they took over tracking the vehicle.”

  “So where is she now? Is she okay?”

  “She should be back here any minute. One of my agents is waiting to interview her and then you can see each other.”

  So they were planning on interviewing us separately. That was probably a good sign. No way this was going to go sideways.

  “Are you sure she’s okay? Brewer’s grandmother got off a shot with her shotgun.”

  “I know she wasn’t hit or otherwise seriously injured. The deputies escorting her back would have asked for medical assistance if she was. I assure you she’s walking under her own power.”

  “Good. Okay. Proceed with your little interview.”

  “How did you, Kallen, and Henry Brewer come to be at Melody Brewer’s house?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know how you got here?” he asked.

  “I drove, silly.”

  “And Kallen and Brewer?”

  “Yeah, they probably drove too. I guess they could have walked. Who’s to say?”

  “You are a very frustrating person.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled.

  He scowled. “Would you mind giving me some actual information?”

  “I came here to lie,” I said. Michelson closed his notebook and sighed. “No, not to you. To Brewer. I came to tell Grandma a story that would make Henry come out of hiding. It worked a lot better and faster than I expected.”

  “And Kallen?”

  “You’ll have to ask her that.”

  “Great,” Michelson said. He looked like he was having a rough day. But in the karmic balance of who was having a worse day, I was going to nominate me so Michelson could suck it. “What was your plan if Henry showed up?”

  “Well, he did. So,” I waved my hand to indicate the house, the yard crawling with two different law enforcement agencies.

  “What if he had tried to hurt you? There’s a rapidly growing body of evidence that suggests he would like to.”

  “Not really. He had plenty of time and a gun. He didn’t even try. Your growing body is bunk, pal.”

  “But what if he did?” He sounded exasperated.

  I dug the stun gun out of my pocket. “Buzz buzz, motherfucker.”

  “You’re going to be the death of me.” He stood and shook his head before walking away muttering what sounded like “buzz buzz, motherfucker.”

  “Does this mean the interview is over?” I called.

  He kept walking. But he was laughing. I could feel it.

  A few minutes later, Laurel emerged from the trees. She was flanked by two deputies. Michelson was right. She was walking just fine. I watched the feds close in on her to direct her to the other side of a waiting FBI vehicle. She let them as she scanned the yard, but as soon as our eyes met, she stopped. A couple of burly dudes tried to block her, but she dodged them. We collided in the middle of the driveway. I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her close. Her arms were hard and soft and familiar around my shoulders. I could feel the breath rushing in and out of her chest. She smelled like sweat and crisp wood and it made everything okay for a brief moment.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “I am. I’m fine. You?”

  “Of course. You sure you’re okay?”

  “Swear. Grandma Brewer kicked my face, but that’s it.”

  Laurel pulled back to study my face. “How the hell did you let a seventy-year-old lady kick you in the face?”

  “Hey, I’m donating my time to the local senior community and I don’t appreciate you undermining the seriousness of my work.”

  She started laughing and couldn’t stop. The FBI and sheriff’s department slowly gathered around us. Michelson tried to get Laurel’s attention. He tried to order her away from me. She just dropped her forehead to my shoulder and laughed more. When he tried to get me to step back, I started laughing too. The tension around us grew, which just made it funnier. The cops were standing there in their uniforms of the patriarchy and they were powerless to stop us from giggling.

  Michelson lost his patience. He waved off the officers and agents. When they dispersed, he gripped Laurel’s elbow and pulled her away from me.

  “Jesus Christ, Daniel. Calm down.” She jerked her arm out of his grasp. She was still grinning like a dumbass.

  “It’s a miracle you didn’t get yourself killed today. And you nearly got a civilian killed too.” He tried to grab her again, but she spun out of his range. He visibly restrained himself and put his hands in his pockets. “Not to mention how many goddamn laws you broke.” He clenched his fists, which pulled his trousers tight.

  “I didn’t break any laws. I just did some dumb shit. I’m a civilian now too, Agent Michelson. If I want to be an idiot, that is my constitutional right.”

  “Goddammit, Kallen.” He turned and walked two steps away. After a count to ten, he turned back. “I am doing everything in my power to keep you safe. In part, that is because it is my job. But I’m also doing it because I respect you as a former colleague and as a friend. You don’t need to participate in your own protection, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t actively work against it.”

  Laurel stopped grinning. “I get why it looks that way, but I promise I don’t have a death wish. We thought this would get us closer to him. We had no idea he would show up.”

  Michelson looked at me. “Can we have this discussion in private?”

  Laurel laughed. “Why? You already know I was sleeping with her for months.”

  “Well, yeah.” He seemed uncomfortable. “But that doesn’t mean she should be privy to private discussions.”

  “She’s going to tell me whatever you say anyway, but I can go over there if you’ll be more comfortable.” I nodded at my perch in the SUV. “Hell, I can take off.” I glanced at my vehicle. It was surrounded by sheriff’s cruisers. Maybe not.

  “You can’t leave until we’ve squared away accommodations for sequestering you.”

  “Fuck that,” I said.

  “We already told Reyes we’re not hiding,” Laurel said.

  Michelson did another count to ten. “This guy has tried to kill you three times. He stalked you for a year. And you just showed up at his grandmother’s house to see if you could force him out of the woodwork. And, shocker, he did show up. You just poured gasoline on this entire situation. He is not going to stop coming after the two of you.” He said it all slow as if that would help us understand.

  “He only tried to kill me twice. This time, he just announced his intention to kill me.”

  “That’s the same thing,” Michelson shouted.

  “It’s really not. You want to listen to the recording? Braddock is wearing a mic.” Laurel was so accommodating.

  “You wired her?” He nodded to himself. “You wired her. Great. Very helpful. This whole thing was worth it for a recording that won’t even be admissible.”

  “Chill out. Today doesn’t change anything,” Laurel said.

  “Actually, it changes things a little,” I said. Laurel shot me a glare. “Well, it does. Before he wasn’t sure where I stood. Now he knows we’re in cahoots.”

  “Cahoots?” Michelson asked.

  “Cahoots.”

  “She does this,” Laurel said.

  “I do what?”

  “Say shit like ‘in cahoots’ in normal conversation.”

  Michelson took a moment then said, “She did say my theory was ‘bunk’ earlier.”

  We all turned at the sound of another vehicle crossing the rickety bridge. It was another unmarked police car. They parked and Reyes and Duarte climbed out. They hustled toward us. Reyes hugged Laurel. Duarte shook my hand. Then they switched.

  “You guys okay?” Reyes asked. “Did they catch him?”

  We all shook our heads. “The locals and my agents are tracking him through the woods,” Michelson said.

  Duarte nodded in the direction of the freeway. “They got the roadblock set up quick.”

  “They better.” Michelson glared at Laurel. “Maybe you two can talk some sense into her. She still won’t go to a safe house.”

  “Sure she will. We had an agreement.” Reyes spoke like Laurel wasn’t present. “Any escalation and they both promised we could sequester them.”

  “Well, actually—” Laurel said.

  “Technically—” I said.

  “Go ahead,” she said to me.

  “No, you.”

  “I’m sorry, did you both simultaneously white man ‘well, actually’ me and then apologize to each other for interrupting?” Reyes asked.

  “The patriarchy is wild, man,” I said.

  Duarte pressed his lips together and clenched his jaw to keep from laughing.

  “We said we would go into a safe house if Brewer escalated. He didn’t escalate, we did,” Laurel said.

  “This looks a lot like he escalated.” Reyes looked around the yard. “And I’m told he shot at you with a shotgun.”

  “That’s incorrect,” Laurel said.

  “Yeah, it was his grandmother who popped the shotgun,” I said.

  “His grandmother?” Reyes looked at Michelson. “His grandmother?” Michelson nodded. “What?” When no one immediately answered, he shouted, “What?”

  “There’s not much more to explain. Brewer ran, I chased him, Grandma shot at me, Cash tackled Grandma so she only shot the ceiling. It sounds like a big deal, but it really wasn’t,” Laurel said.

  “Yeah. You guys are blowing this way out of proportion,” I said. We were both lying. Without meaning to, we had shifted into our old dynamic. It was us against the world. Even though there was no us. It was rote, compulsory.

  Reyes stomped back to his car and got in. Duarte started to follow, then hesitated and turned back. He hovered halfway between us and the car, waiting for direction.

  “So can we go?” I asked.

  Michelson blew out a dramatic breath. “Fine. But I’m going to step up patrols. I’m going to ask Sac PD to have the uniform watching your house do a walkthrough every hour. Kallen, you going back to Reyes’s place?”

  “I guess so. He’s going to be real fussy.”

  I tried not to laugh. “So fussy.”

  “You mind taking me back to my rental?” Laurel asked me.

  “Sure.”

  “One of my agents can take you,” Michelson said. “It’s the silver Ford compact on the service road to the east, right?”

  “It’s fine. Finish your scene here.”

  “He is still out there.” Michelson pointed at the woods.