Rowdy stepped behind the bar to fill a glass with ice and cola. He handed it to Reese. “Morbid streak?”

“That’s not funny.” He downed half the drink. “Alice wanted to tell her that she’d take care of Marcus. I guess...just in case the mom had some latent maternal streak, you know?”

“At least dead people don’t argue.”

“Yeah.” Reese finished off the cola, then held the cool glass to his forehead. “She’s something else, you know?”

Yeah, he did know. “Alice is too caring for her own good.”

“Marcus might argue that point with you.” Reese lowered his arm and pinned Rowdy with his steady gaze. “Alice says the same about you, too.”

Rowdy didn’t want to talk about Alice’s warped perception of his character. “What’s happening with the dad?”

“Basically, he’s screwed. The weapons we found in the truck were stolen and used in other felonies. He had enough drugs for intent to distribute. And given his history, well, let’s just say he won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.”

“They were arraigned?”

“Yeah.” Reese handed over his empty glass. “Thanks.”

“More?” Rowdy offered. “Maybe something stronger?”

He shook his head while eyeing the crowd, mostly making sure no one got too close to his wife.

Reese was big enough that a few people backed away from the bar rather than chance it. “You’re scaring off my customers.”

He didn’t care. “There won’t be any bail for the bozos, which means they’ll be locked up until the completion of their trial.”

“How long will that take?”

“Couple of months, maybe longer, to get before the grand jury where they’ll be formally charged. Could take a year or two before it actually goes to trial.”

“Good. Let them rot.” Rowdy didn’t care what happened to them, as long as they weren’t turned free.

“There’s enough evidence against them that Lieutenant Peterson is thinking of offering them up to the feds. If that happens, they’ll try to make a deal.”

No way. If it came down to it, Rowdy would handle the bastards himself—

Reese straightened and stepped closer to Rowdy. “Get that look out of your eyes right now.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The hell you don’t.” Reese glanced toward the bar, then lowered his voice even more. “Everything is on track. When we first took them in, they told us to go f**k ourselves.”

“Can I echo that sentiment?”

“If you do, I’ll tell Alice.”

Rowdy clenched his jaw until his temples throbbed.

“Get a grip, Rowdy, and let me tell you how this is going to go down.”

“Spit it out then, damn it.”

For some insane reason, that amused Reese. “Right about now, the seriousness of the situation is starting to sink in on old Darrell and his buddy. With so much evidence against them, only idiots would go to trial.”

“They are idiots.”

“Yeah, sure. But as career criminals, they know they’ll get put away for good if they go that route. By saying we’ll offer them up to the feds, we’ll get them to take a plea deal, which would simplify things and they’ll still get fifteen to twenty years.”

It wasn’t long enough, but then, Rowdy wasn’t sure a lifetime would be long enough to satisfy him.

Reese clapped him on the shoulder. “Lighten up, man. They won’t ever again get near you or the kid, and that’s what matters the most, right?”

The ringing of the phone drew Rowdy’s attention. He turned to see Avery stare at it for three seconds before wiping her hands and cautiously lifting the receiver.

The relaxing of her spine and the relief on her face told him it was only a customer. This time.

Reese said, “What’s that about?”

“What?”

He nodded toward Avery. “She treated that phone like a venomous snake, and you watched her as if waiting for a clue.”

Sometimes detectives were a pain in the ass. “Something’s going on with her, but I don’t know what.”

“Ex-boyfriend, maybe?”

“Maybe.” Rowdy didn’t want to break Avery’s trust, so he didn’t explain that she’d been flying solo for over a year. More likely, the caller was someone she’d met recently, someone who didn’t have the sense to take no for an answer. But just in case, Rowdy told Reese, “We were followed the other day.”

“By who?”

“If I knew that, why would I tell you about it?”

Aggrieved, Reese said, “Because I’m the law and you aren’t?”

That had never stopped Rowdy before. “I saw the car just hanging around, too.” While telling Reese about the incident, he picked up a bar napkin and a pen and jotted down the plate. “Think you could run these for me?”

Reese took the napkin, looked at it and put it in his pocket. “Sure, but in the meantime, watch your back.”

“I always do.” And for the foreseeable future, he’d be watching Avery’s back, as well.

* * *

TWENTY MINUTES BEFORE closing, Avery saw her stepfather walk in, and it was such an incongruous sight that it almost knocked her over. How the hell had he found her?

Rowdy had just given the last call, and the crowd had thinned out.