The graduation ceremony was held in a massive sports arena downtown. The school was quite a large one, and the graduating class included nearly a thousand kids. That meant the stands were overflowing with a thousand moms, a thousand dads, and God only knew how many aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, friends…it was crowded.

I stood under the archway leading into the arena, to one side of the section where Alli sat with Sue and the Stones. They’d all adopted Sue and Tommy as one of their own, as excited as Alli was to be here to watch the ceremony. I was more into watching Alli watch the ceremony. She was as Alli always was, loud and sexy and the center of attention.

When the principal announced the valedictorian, Thomasina Brenda Collins, Alli jumped to her feet and whistled. And not just any whistle, but that kind of whistle with her fingers in her mouth that seemed to project for miles. People around her turned and glared, but Alli didn’t see them. Sue did. She just glared back as she slipped her hand into her mother’s and settled back to listen to her sister’s speech.

Again, when they called Tommy’s name to receive her diploma, both Alli and Sue jumped to their feet, screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs like this was a football game rather than a dignified graduation ceremony. People glared, but they were oblivious, and I loved it. A week ago, I would have been one of those glaring. Now? I could see the pride and excitement in both of them, and the life that just seemed to exude from them. I liked that. I wanted that in my life.

I was so busy watching them, oblivious to the people coming and going around me, that I didn’t feel his hand on my arm until it was too late. Pain thrust through me, a pain that was like nothing I’d ever felt before. I arched my back, trying to pull away from him. But even as I did, he was already pulling away. I was vaguely aware of a clatter on the floor behind me through the pain…the pain was almost all-consuming.

I reached behind me and touched the spot where the pain originated. Blood covered my fingers.

I’d been stabbed.

Anger mixed with adrenaline surged through me. I turned, looking for the person who’d done this. There were people everywhere, families of the graduates whose names had already been called making their way to the parking lot before the surge began. I spotted the knife and kicked it with my foot, knocking it behind a trash can so no one else would pick it up and contaminate any fingerprints that might be on it. And then I stumbled out into the main corridor, looking for my attacker.

So many people!

I stumbled through the corridor, glad I’d chosen a dark coat to cover my holstered gun this evening. No one could see the blood. But I could feel it trickling down my back and under the waistband of my pants. I knew the kidney was located near where he’d gotten me. I hoped…I couldn’t let myself focus on that.

I searched faces as I walked as quickly as I could. But my quickest wasn’t what it had been five minutes ago. I felt like I was moving steadily, but it seemed to be taking a lifetime to go fifty feet. People were looking at me, some annoyed, some with concern in their eyes that was enough to make them curious but not enough to ask if I needed help. I kept walking even when my head began to spin.

And then the rush as the ceremony concluded. People everywhere.

I knew I wasn’t going to find my attacker now. He was probably long gone.

Or waiting outside for Alli.

That thought gave me a little rush. I fell through the door of a men’s restroom and tugged my phone out of my pocket. My hand was dripping with blood now just from reaching into my back pocket. My phone, too, was as red as it was black. I dialed, my vision going in and out as I did.

I was still conscious. That had to be a good sign, right?

Stone Security had a hotline operatives were to call if they ran into trouble. It was programmed into the phone Jack had provided for me. That was the number I dialed.

A voice answered, using a code that we were supposed to answer with a specific word.

“Cougar,” I mumbled after a hesitation. I had to search my memory banks for it.

“Mr. Sullivan. How can we help you?”

“I’ve been stabbed. I’m in a restroom at Tiger Stadium.”

I dropped the phone the moment the words were out of my mouth. I slid down the wall, unaware of the streak of blood I left on the tiles behind me. I closed my eyes, and…it was like no time had passed. I must have blacked out.

Brent Stone was crouched beside me, urgency in his voice.

“What happened, Crispin? Did you see who it was?”

I shook my head. “Came from behind.”

“We need to get you to a hospital.”

“Alli?”

“Aiden and Bo took her out. She’ll be at Remy’s house for the party, completely secure.”

I lowered my head, my vision beginning to go dark around the edges.

“Don’t…worry…don’t…worry…Alli.”

“Don’t worry,” Brent said, squeezing my shoulder as he regained his feet and began talking urgently into his phone. I don’t remember much after that.

 

 

They told me I lost a lot of blood. They told me I was in surgery for three hours. They said I was lucky that the knife didn’t puncture a kidney. They said I was lucky to be alive.

All I could think about was Alli.

“I need to get out of here.”

Brent shook his head. “You just had major surgery. You need to finish the prescribed antibiotics first.”

“She’s vulnerable. What if they come after her?”

“We have her under protection. You have to trust us.”

“Where does she think I went?”

“We told her you had an emergency to deal with.”

I closed my eyes, aware of how betrayed she must feel. I needed to see her, to explain to her, but I couldn’t let her see me like this. She’d be horrified.

I’d failed. I was assigned to protect her, to keep her safe. Instead, I’d gotten myself stabbed.

“I want this over. Whatever this is about, it has to be connected to the sheriff.”

“Patrick said you got a few notes making threats on the windshield of your car.”

I wasn’t sure how he knew that. But I nodded. “More than a few. Almost every morning. I assumed it was just former coworkers expressing their frustration with my decision to leave the sheriff’s office. I should have known better. Those Guardians…they’re insane!”

Brent lowered his eyes slightly. “I remember.”

I’d almost forgotten that Brent and the other Stone brothers were at the compound the day we raided it. He knew firsthand how crazy Smythe was because he was there when he made all those threats against Ruth. Then maybe he understood the danger Alli was in.

“They think she’s endangering the souls of the church members there in Ellaville with her store. They want her gone. If this is the Guardians—”

“Alli is safe. She and the girls are at Remy’s. If necessary, we have a place we can move them to where they’ll be even safer.”

That made me feel a little better. But I wouldn’t feel completely at ease until I could see her for myself.

“I get it, Crispin,” Brent said, watching me with something like sympathy. “My wife was kidnapped while I was assigned to protect her. Killed me, knowing what she was going through and knowing there was little I could do to help her. My wife is a strong woman, and she survived, but she’s nothing compared to Alli.”

“I know Alli’s strong. That’s the problem. She’s had to be strong for years. Too many years. I was just beginning to convince her that those days were over, and this…” I gestured at the bandages wrapped around my lower torso, “…and this happens.”

He nodded. “I’m sorry.”

I shook my head. “Your sister said something about doing a deposition? Putting everything I know about the sheriff on tape? I want to do that.”

“I’ll talk to her.”

“No, you don’t understand.” I straightened up in the bed a little. “I want to do it now. As soon as possible.”

Brent’s brow furrowed, and then understanding slowly came into his expression. “You think they’ll back off if you get it all on tape.”

“Remy thought it would work. I need to be able to protect Alli.”

“Okay. We’ll see what we can do.”

 

 

The office of the attorney general of Arizona sent a young man who looked like he was barely out of diapers to monitor the process. He had a folder filled with questions they wanted to ask me and documents they wanted me to verify. It was a much longer process than I ever could have imagined, but Remy and a friend of hers from a local law firm, Raymond Grufoil, were watching closely, calling the attorney general’s lackey out whenever it was necessary. They made it clear they were on my side, and I really felt it through the grueling hours of questions and answers.

“Did you ever see the sheriff commit a crime?”

I’d answered this question a dozen times already, my reply always straightforward and to the point.

“I saw him ignore complaints from citizens against the Guardians. I heard him instruct all of us deputies not to go out of our way to investigate crimes that could be attributed to the Guardians. I heard him tell us that Smythe’s group was associated with the church, and that the church took care of its own. And I saw him have long meetings with Smythe in his office during business hours.”

“Were you aware of the investigation involving an accident that killed a man named Harry Cravits?”

That was a new question. I glanced at Remy. She seemed as surprised by it as I was.

“I was.”

“Did you involve yourself in that investigation after being told not to pursue it?”

“I was one of the responding officers on the night of the accident.”

“But did you order lab tests on a scrap of paint taken from the side of Mr. Cravits’s truck?”

I glanced at Remy, wondering how the truth could hurt me. She gave a cursory nod.

“I did. I also asked a reconstructionist to take measurements from the site of the accident and give us an idea of what happened that night.”

The boy looked up at me. “You have permission from the sheriff to do that?”

“No.”

“Did office policy allow for you to do that yourself?”

“It did.”

“Why did you order those tests?”

“Because the sheriff told us to shelve the case. He said it was a tragic accident that could stir up a hornet’s nest, and that was the last thing the town needed.”

“Why do you think he said that?”

“Because he knew one of the Guardians was behind the accident.”

“Were you able to prove that?”

I dipped my chin. “I was. The analysis of the paint scrap came back to a specific make of car. We were able to trace that back to a member of the Guardians. We then obtained a recording of the leader of the Guardians naming this man as Harry Cravits’s killer.”

“Even though the sheriff told you to back off?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you leave the sheriff’s office, Mr. Sullivan?”

“Because I didn’t like the corruption I saw going on.”

“Is there any other reason?”

My heart sank a little. Had they found the emails? Did they know I gave Jack the information on the accident investigation? That was a crime. I could go to prison over that.

“No.”

There was a long pause, then the boy nodded. “I think we have all we need here.”

Relief rushed through me. Remy shook the man’s hand and spoke to him for a few minutes, her colleague there beside her. I pressed my back into the pillows, the pain from my wound almost reassuring. I wanted this over. But more than that, it felt almost like releasing a burden to finally get all of this on record. To share the burden of it with someone.

“You did good,” Remy said, touching my foot lightly.

I brushed off the compliment, my only thought jumping to the woman I was failing at protecting.

“How’s Alli?”

Some of the light went out of her eyes. She dipped her head slightly. “She’s good.”

“Pissed at me?”

“Yeah.” Remy forced a little smile. “She seems to think our explanation for your absence is a lie. She said something about you breaking a promise to her.”

I sat up a little higher. “I need to go see her.”

“Why won’t you let me bring her here?”

A memory of seeing Gloria in the hospital during her final days popped into my head. No one likes hospitals, and no one should have to visit someone they care about there.

“Because I don’t want to frighten her. She went through enough when Harry died.”

“Not telling her is only making her think you skipped out on her.”

I pushed the light blanket off my legs and swung them over the side of the bed. “I’m going to her. I don’t care what the doctors have to say.”

Remy hesitated, but then this bright smile filled her pretty face. “Get dressed. I’ll go talk to the nurses.”