Darby glanced over at Zod. He’d finished his breakfast and now lay on his back, stubby legs in the air, wide tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.

Smiling, she lifted the charm she wore around her neck. “That makes two of us.”

“And we’ll look out for each other.” He closed his hand over hers. “All three of us.”

As if jabbed with a needle, Zod leaped up and, barking madly, raced toward the front of the house.

“Cops coming back,” Zane said. “One thing’s for certain, nobody’s going to be able to sneak in here with the General on duty.”

He rose, took his plate and hers to the sink. “I’ll get the dishes,” he told her. “You call off our little and fierce.”

She got up, breathed out. “I love you, Walker.” When he turned, smiled, she lifted her shoulders. “It seemed like one of those just-right times to say so.”

“Anytime’s the right time. I love you right back.”

Knowing it for pure truth, she went to call off the wildly barking dog, and let in the police.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

It took her back, having cops everywhere, the way they moved, the way they spoke. It pulled Darby back to the Bigelow attack, but oddly that violent encounter blurred in her mind. Everything about it so fast, so hard.

But the cop speak, the routine of the work, yanked her back to the morning she’d lost her mother. And with crystal clarity, the impossible shock and disbelief when the police came to the door with grim faces, terrible words rolled over and through her. Now, just like then, she had nothing to do, no action to take.

Just waiting, waiting, waiting.

She’d already given her statement, had nothing to add. For now at least, Lee remained firm. She needed to stay put.

She’d watched and read enough police procedurals to have a layman’s idea of what was going on around her.

They’d take official photos of the place Zane found at the edge of the woods, take samples of the blood, take the rock. Others would take photos of the bedroom, dig bullets out of the wall.

Bullets, she thought again as she wandered from kitchen to great room. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

It all seemed unreal.

She felt a twinge of embarrassment—ridiculous—when Emily came in. Then Emily walked straight to her, wrapped around her, and just held her.

That twinge turned into a flood of relief.

“They don’t want me to go outside,” she began. “The dog can’t, so I’m supposed to stay in with him. Zane’s out there, but it’s his house, so—”

“That’s not altogether why.” With a final squeeze, Emily stepped back. “He was a prosecutor. He knows these ropes. Come on, sweetie. I’ll fix you some tea.”

Now she sighed. Enough with the self-pity, because wallowing in it was worse than doing nothing. “A Coke’ll do it. Do you want anything?”

“Not right now, thanks.”

“I want to go to my place, see the damage.”

“You will,” Emily assured her. “And when Lee clears it, we’ll help you put it all to rights. Are you sure you couldn’t get a little more sleep? The sun’s barely up.”

“I’m totally awake. I had to call Roy, tell him what happened, because I’m not going to be able to work this morning. He’ll get everything going.”

“Working for you’s steadied that boy. What are y’all working on now?”

“You’re trying to distract me.”

“If you see it that easy, it’s not working.”

Darby walked to the kitchen doors—closed tight—looked out at the grounds she’d designed, the waterfall she’d built. “I love it here. This house, what I see when I look outside. I love Zane, even though that part still gives me some nerves.”

“And now twice in this house you’ve had to deal with violence.”

“Yeah. Do you think some people are just fated—I know, I know, I know it sounds stupid. But are some just fated to have violence in their lives? Again and again.”

“I don’t believe that for a single New York minute.”

“I don’t want to believe it, but I’ve been pacing around here, waiting, and I started thinking how my life did a one-eighty when I met my ex. Up until then, even considering my father took off, I had a good, solid childhood, a calm sort of life. My mother and I, school, the neighborhood, friends, the work, boys. Pretty much smooth.”

On a long expelled breath, she sat.

“Then Trent. I married him too young, too fast, but screw it, Emily, others do. It either works or it doesn’t. But it not only didn’t work, it put me in the hospital.”

Emily caught Darby’s face in her hands, tipped it side to side. “He put you there. It didn’t.”

“He’d have put me in again if he could’ve managed it. I’d never had anyone want to hurt me before that. Not that way. Then my mom, losing her the way I did. Coming here, fresh start, right? Then Bigelow, then finding Traci, now this. It just keeps rolling.”

As if sensing the need, Zod laid his head in Darby’s lap, looked at her with adoring eyes. And Emily sat beside them.

“You’re a smart, sensible woman, Darby. And most times you’ve got a positive way about you. I can’t blame you for having a hard time finding that positive this morning. But all that you’re saying is just foolishness.

“I don’t know Trent,” Emily continued, “but I know who he is because I dealt with Graham and my sister for years. They’re mean, violent, ugly people who wear a mask so well, so easily. I grew up with Eliza, I interacted with Graham all that time, but I didn’t see through the masks, not all the way. That wasn’t fate. It was their horrible skill.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Darby agreed. “It is a horrible skill.”

“What happened to your mother happened because someone was selfish, careless, callous. And I hope to Christ they suffer terrible guilt every day for the rest of their life.”

She put an arm around Darby’s shoulders, tucked her close. “In a terrible way, you were able to fight off Graham because of what happened with Trent. I find that so admirable—which is why I’m going to nag you, at another time—about giving that self-defense course. As for Traci, it’s your compassion and caring that helped save her, so you don’t think otherwise, not for a second. And this?”

She sighed. “This morning is a stupid, violent, ugly man’s attempt to show he has big balls, when in fact, he’s a small, dickless asshole. My Lee will see he’s behind bars before sundown. You can count on it.”

“Thanks. I mean it. I needed that.”

“I think what you need is to get out of here and go to work. To take this sweet dog and go do something productive. So. I’m going to go talk to Lee about letting you go on and do that. Where would you be working today?”

“I had a little something to finish on Highpoint Road—that’s how I came across Traci—but I’ll do that later. I sent the crew to the Marsh place, by the lake.”

“All right then.” She gave Darby’s knee a pat, then rose. But before Emily could head outside, they heard feet running down the front steps. And the sound of the door slamming shut.

“That’s just it.” Darby jumped up, got the leash. “I’m not going to sit here another minute.”

With the dog thrilled with new activity, and Emily beside her, Darby marched outside in time to see two of the police cars speed off.

“They must have found him.” Darby aimed toward Zane as he strode toward them. “Or he’s done something else. But … Did they find him?” she called out.

Zane kept coming. “Yeah, they found him. Clint Draper.”

Something’s wrong, Darby thought, and by the way Emily took her hand, she knew Emily saw it, too. “What is it? What happened?”

“They found him … floating in the lake. He’s dead. Christ.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Gabe called it in.”

“Gabe. Oh my God. I need to—”

“No.” Zane shifted to stop Emily’s forward leap. “You need to stay right here. Lee’s got this. He’s already talked to Gabe. They were working. Your crew, Darby. And from what I got, Hallie spotted the body. Roy jumped in to try to help. Too late for that, and he shouted out for somebody to call nine-one-one. Gabe called his dad.”

He took Zod’s leash. “Let’s go sit down. We need to keep Zod clear of the crime scene. They’re finished, or were, but we should keep him clear for now.”

“I need to talk to my boy,” Emily insisted.

“You go on and call him. Darby, how about if we put our heads together and make some sweet tea.”

“I’ll do it.” Emily waved them back. “I’ll get it started, call Gabe. I need to call Brody, too, make sure he stays away from that part of the lake for now.”

With a nod, Zane nudged Darby to a chair on the patio, put the loop of the leash around his wrist when Zod plopped under the table to snooze.

“Someone killed him,” Darby began.

“Or he fell in, or he committed suicide. That’s for the cops and the ME to determine.”