“That ought to do you, ma’am.”

I stood with my arms folded against the far wall. The van in my driveway drew a crowd. Paul Sauter owned the only locksmith/home security business in town. He punched buttons on the keypad he’d just installed near the front door then snapped the box closed.

“Hit your code then enter if you want to shut it off. When it goes off, it’ll send a signal to our computers and then trip the 911 system. So if you don’t mean for it to go off, get in here and enter your credentials within sixty seconds.”

“Thanks, Paul,” I said. I signed the work order and let him out. The alarm system beeped once when I shut the door. I opened it again to make sure the thing was armed. As Paul backed his van out of the driveway, the gawkers across the street started to disperse. There was nothing to do now but go to work, such as it was.

Ed had been discharged from the hospital and Darlene was driving him to a rehab facility up the coast. My job was to head back to the courthouse and file motions on all his outstanding hearings. Then I had to try and smooth things over with the clients we had on the front burner. This time, there’d be no help for it. I would have to make arrangements for substitute counsel. Ed’s drinking had finally caught up with him. We were losing business.

I had three missed calls from Deacon and no idea what to do. The asshole who broke into my house made sure I saw his patch and knew exactly where he was from. If he didn’t really want Deacon to know about it, why on earth would he have made a point of all that? Only one thing made any sense. He wanted me to run to Deacon right away. He was trying to play us both. If I told Deacon a Hawk broke into my house and threatened me, Deacon and the club would retaliate.

After smoothing over what I could at the courthouse, I started back for the office. I made it as far as the town square before Sheriff Finch flagged me down.

“Hey, Beckett,” I said, painting on a smile. He had that concerned look in his eye as he crossed the street and came to me.

“Hey, yourself. Haven’t seen you around much. Everything going okay with Ed?”

I adjusted the strap on my messenger bag. Beckett took me by the arm and led me to one of the park benches near the water fountain at the center of town. So this wasn’t going to just be a casual hello. I chewed my bottom lip and sat down.

“Ed is Ed,” I answered. “He’s getting some help. Hopefully it sticks this time.”

“Well, I sure hope so. Despite all his shortcomings, Ed Albright is one of the good ones.”

I don’t know why, but Beckett’s words brought a lump to my throat. I’d spent so much time covering for and defending Ed, it was nice to have someone else see past all his ... shortcomings ... for a change.

“I’ve been meaning to check in on you,” he said. “And look, I told you last time that I don’t relish stepping into your business, but I’m hoping you know you can come to me if you ever need anything.”

“Beckett, I appreciate it. I really do. And I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t really need you to step into my business. If that changes, I know how to ask for help. Promise.”

I knew he wasn’t satisfied with my answer. I also knew he’d probably already heard I had Paul’s security company at the house this morning. Life in a small town, I guess. Beckett Finch was also one of the good ones. There was no doubt in my mind enough people had seen me with Deacon for it to get back to Beckett. It wasn’t jealousy swirling in his eyes though, it was deep concern.

“Well,” he said, tipping his hat to me. “Then I won’t keep you. Except for one thing. I’ve heard some rumblings that have me worried. It’s the only reason I’m even willing to step over the line with you.”

“What rumblings?” I asked, shielding my eyes from the sun. Beckett had stood up and I looked up at him.

Squinting, he stared at a far-off point before answering. “Look, I don’t know if that guy from the Saints is a close friend of yours or a casual acquaintance. And I know neither is any of my damn business, Beth. But I have it on good authority that things are about to hit the fan with that club and the one over in Laredo. People are going to get hurt. I just want to do everything in my power to make sure it’s none of my people.”

I rose and slid my bag over my shoulder. “And you consider me one of your people?”

He gave me a crooked smile. “Well, Beth, yes, I do. So does the rest of Crystal Falls. The trouble with men like Deacon Wade, there’s always collateral damage.”

Beckett dropped his smile and his words cut straight through me. He had done his research. I never once told him Deacon’s name. I didn’t have to. Damn this small town.

“Noted,” I said, my heart racing. “I’ll watch my back.” It was in me to tell Beckett about what happened last night. The thing was, he already knew something was up. Once again, I felt the need to protect Deacon. I just didn’t know how best to do it. For now, I went with my gut. The fewer people involved in Deacon’s business, the better.

I knew Beckett wasn’t satisfied, but I couldn’t help that for now. He let it drop and I walked to my car. My heart jumped as my phone rang in my bag. I pulled it out. Deacon. I felt that same little ache I always got when thinking about him.

“Hey,” I answered. There was silence on the other end for a moment.

“Hey, you,” he finally said.

I wanted to tell him it was good to hear his voice. It was. I wanted to fall apart and unload on him with everything that had happened. Still, something held me back. Maybe it was the stupidest thing I could have done under the circumstances, but I decided to trust my gut.

“I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay,” he said. “I didn’t like how we left things.”

I squeezed the phone to my ear. “I wish you were here,” I said, breathless. I meant to keep it cool, but everything that was in my heart just rushed out.

“I wish I was there too. Beth, that’s what I need to talk to you about.”

A lump formed in my throat. Oh, I knew this side of him all too well. It was the thing that drove me the most crazy about Danny when we were younger. He would open his heart, then turn to ice. Before, it was guilt and obligation. This time, he thought he was protecting me.

“I’m listening,” I said.

“Baby. I ... I can’t see you for a while. Things are …”

His voice trailed off. Deacon’s words echoed those of Beckett’s. Something was already happening. “Don’t say it,” I finished for him. “I don’t think I want to know.”

“Look. I just need to know everything is okay with you. I can handle all the rest of it if I know that.”

“Don’t put this on me,” I said, hating the hard edge my voice took. “I’m fine, Danny. I’ve been fine for ten years, remember?” God. We both knew that wasn’t true.

“I wanted to come there and tell you all of this in person,” he said. “It’s just not a good idea today. There are some things going down and it might get messy. You know I can’t go into detail. Especially not over the phone, but …”

“Danny,” I said, my voice cracking. My world spun. This had all happened before. He was saying the exact things Sean used to tell me. Things were messed up. He had it under control. He’d need me to just sit tight and wait for him. But this wasn’t Sean, this was Danny. And here I was again.

“It’s okay,” I said, finding a cool tone. “I know how to take care of myself.”

“I still wish you’d take a vacation. Just go be somewhere where nobody knows you for a little while.”

“Can you promise me something?” I asked. “Can you promise me you’ll be careful?”

The sigh on the other end of the phone cut through me. Oh God. This was just like it had been with Sean before everything turned to shit. Why couldn’t I keep from falling for men who were no good for me?

“Yeah,” he said. It was as good as I was going to get. “Beth ... you might not hear from me for a little while. And you might hear about some things you won’t like.”

“You voted to go to war,” I whispered. Danny got silent again. “Danny? I’ll go. Okay? If you come with me, I’ll go. Whatever’s about to happen, you don’t have to be there. You took care of me. You took care of your family. If this is about Sean, he’s not worth it. Not anymore. If he were here ... I swear I think he’d tell you to forget about what happened to him. He knew, you know? He always knew he’d end up just how he did.”

“Beth, I’ve got to go.”

“No, you don’t!” I screamed into the phone and hated myself for that too. Old patterns. History repeating itself. If I closed my eyes, I could picture Danny lying dead in some alley instead of Sean. They were nothing alike. Sean had real evil in him. Danny didn’t. And yet, he looked for the darkness just the same.

“I’ll call you in a few days when I can,” he said. “Just ... if you won’t take off for a little while, be careful, okay? Don’t go meeting any clients by yourself. Take a few days off and stay home at least. Will you do that for me?”

I should tell him about the Hawk who came to my house. I knew I should. And yet, if I had, I also knew it would make things worse. Danny couldn’t help himself from coming to my rescue. I would not be the thing that put him in greater danger. I knew with every instinct in me that’s exactly what his enemies were hoping for. I’d be damned if I’d play straight into their hands.

I heard a commotion on the other end of the phone. “I’ll talk to you soon, Beth,” he said. My throat ran dry. I never even got a chance to say goodbye before Danny hung up the phone. Squeezing my eyes shut, I pressed the phone to my heart.

“Please, God,” I prayed. “Keep him safe. Whatever’s coming, don’t punish him now.”

As I turned the key in the ignition, I saw Beckett Finch watching me from across the street. Of course, he couldn’t hear what I’d been saying or know who was on the other end of my call. Still, the hard look in his eyes told me he knew enough.

---

“Well, he’s settled. That’s going to have to be enough for now,” Darlene said. She was rummaging in the file room. After my call with Danny, I came to the office and tried to busy myself catching up on some legal research. It was fruitless really. We’d gone full stop on all active cases. Anything on the back burner would stay that way. Anything needing immediate attention had been reassigned to other lawyers. I knew they’d likely never come back. Ed had enough cash flow from his big settlement to float us for a little while, but with no new business likely to come in, things would get dire in a few months.

“Good,” I said. I went to the doorway. Darlene slammed one of the big metal file cabinets shut and turned to me, dusting off her skirt.

“He’s sorry,” she said. “He wanted to make sure I told you that.” She waddled over to the worktable we kept in here and grabbed the TV remote. This was where Darlene usually escaped to watch her soap operas when Ed drove her the most nuts. It was past eight o’clock in the evening. I should have left for home hours ago, but I didn’t want Darlene to stay here alone. Sure, part of me held a little fear about going back to my house. Though I was sure I’d called my intruder’s motives correctly, I was still scared.

She flipped through the channels, settling on the local news. “You should head on home, honey,” she said. “Take a few days. We’ve taken care of everything pressing.”

“Same goes for you,” I said. “In fact, why don’t you let me take you to dinner? I could use the company and we could both use a change of scenery.”

Darlene’s eyes brightened. “You know, that’s not a half bad idea. Why should either of us sit here wallowing about Eddie or ... well ... any other man?” She shot me a conspiratorial wink then lifted the remote to turn off the TV. Something made her stop. Her mouth dropped. Instead, she turned up the volume.

“Honey,” she said. “Isn’t that …”

My heart stopped cold. The news reporter stood outside a bar. The crawl across the bottom of the screen gutted me.

“That’s Woody’s,” Darlene said. “In Port Azrael. Isn’t that a biker hangout?”

I couldn’t stop reading the crawl. Gang violence erupts in Port Azrael. Two dead.

The windows of Woody’s bar were shot out and yellow crime scene tape crisscrossed in front of the door. As the reporter gave sketchy details, two men came out carrying a body bag. The ground seemed to give way beneath my feet.