Harlan Kalling was the exact level of pain in the ass that Dallas had been warned about. All her previous tricks to rid her security details had been laid out for him. He was ready for her attempt at bribery. Ready for her to run. What he wasn’t prepared for was the pained look in her big brown eyes. They were the color of rich deep soil you’d find only in the farthest untouched corners of a jungle.

Dallas had been a bully, an officer, a leader, a judge, jury, and executioner in his lifetime, but sitting next to Harlan as they sped away from the bar, he felt like his most challenging job lay ahead of him.

“So you have to take me wherever I want?” Harlan asked, her words layered with diabolical intent.

“No,” he replied, checking the rearview mirror to ensure no one had followed them out of the parking lot.

“I told you I’m not going home yet,” she argued, and from the corner of his eye he could see the pout forming on her lips. This woman was defeated. She was exhausted. All feelings he could relate to, even if they didn’t show on his face.

When his phone rang he considered ignoring it. There was something engaging about the fight Harlan was waging against him, against the world. He hated to interrupt it. But this wasn’t his work phone, it was his personal cell. Very few people had the number and none of them called unless it was something pressing.

“Hello,” he said, shifting the car quickly and picking up speed as they hit the highway. He tucked the phone between his shoulder and his ear as the familiar voice on the other end of the line launched into a long speech.

“You knew this day was coming, Dallas. I’ve kept you as informed as I possibly could over the last year. So when I tell you this news I hope that you’ve prepared yourself appropriately for the emotional blowback you might feel.”

“Melissa,” he growled, unable to hold back the rage that was boiling in his gut. “He’s not getting the new trial?”

“We’re not positive yet, but it doesn’t look promising,” she whispered apologetically, and the quiet tone reminded him she was not the enemy.

“I can’t talk right now,” Dallas said through his ground together teeth. “I’ve got to go.”

“Whatever you’re planning, whatever you’re thinking, just let it go. Please. I can only do my job if you stay out of this.”

Dallas didn’t reply. Disconnecting the line, he threw his phone into the center console hard enough to send Harlan jumping.

“I need to drop you off,” he said, leaving no room for debate.

“What’s the matter?” Harlan asked, every ounce of the combativeness in her voice gone now. “Who was that?”

“I’m dropping you off,” he repeated.

“You’re clearly very upset. Maybe you shouldn’t be alone.”

“I need to go kill a man right now,” Dallas said, knowing his words were concerning, considering how level and unemotional his tone was. If he’d have been yelling maybe she’d think he was just blowing off some steam. “I’d prefer it if you were not an accessory to murder.”

“Stop,” she said, a nervous laugh. “I’m sure whatever it is will turn out fine. Plus, just announcing that you were going to kill someone already makes me at least a witness, and possible partially culpable if I don’t step in. Now I’m ethically, maybe even legally, obligated to not leave you alone.”

Dallas realized suddenly how fast he was driving and reduced his speed, moving over to the right-hand lane and getting ready to take the next exit. It didn’t lead anywhere in particular. He had no destination in mind, but he wanted the option to pull over if he needed to, if his hands began to shake, if the sweat started to gather on his forehead.

“Who’s not getting the new trial?” she asked, her words so cautious he felt bad for probably scaring her. Though Harlan didn’t seem to frighten easily.

“A friend,” Dallas replied, pulling in to the parking lot of a burger joint and slamming the car into park.

“New evidence, inadequate representation, jury tampering?” Harlan shifted in her seat so she could see him better, but the extra attention made him more rigid in his responses.

“How do you know so much about it?”

“I was going to be a lawyer when I grew up,” she said, that breathy sigh of defeat back in her voice. “The problem is I grew up too fast and missed my chance. But I’ve always loved the law. The control of it. The black and white of it all. There is right. There is wrong.”

“That’s bullshit,” he said, angry that he’d cursed in front of a client. “Sorry, I just mean it’s not true. There are loopholes and laws to protect the criminals. You leave your fate to twelve strangers and hope they can tell the difference between liars and good men. They can’t.”

“The laws are to protect all of us,” she challenged. “If you were innocent and charged with a crime, those laws could free you.”

“They aren’t freeing him,” Dallas said, slamming his fist against the steering wheel. “He deserves a new trial. The investigation was botched; his lawyer was a disaster.”

“Who is he?”

“I’m not getting in to it right now. Especially with you. You’re a client, not my therapist.”

“You have a therapist?” she asked, her lips lifting into a tiny smile.

“Hypothetical therapist. If I had one, you would not be it. You wouldn’t be my lawyer either.”

“Who is he?” she asked again, and he could feel her eyes on him as he stared out at the flashing burger sign in front of him.

“Tim Andrews,” Dallas said, a vice tightening around his stomach as he said his good friend’s name.

“And what exactly did he do?” Harlan sounded tentative, as if the tightness in his jaw or the bear-trap grip he had on the steering wheel let her know she better tread lightly.

“He didn’t do anything. He’s innocent.”

“Right,” she said gently. “So what was he convicted of?”

“Maybe you would have made a good lawyer.” He looked down at his phone and thought the next call he got from Melissa might bring even worse news. “He was convicted of murder. But it wasn’t him. Tim wouldn’t hurt a fly. That’s not who he is. The problem was he figured if he was innocent he wouldn’t go to jail. He took a court appointed lawyer and assumed because truth was on his side he’d be fine.”

“Oh,” she said, drawing in a rigid breath, clearly not prepared for his blunt truth. But who was? He certainly hadn’t been prepared the night he got the call that Tim had been arrested for murder.

Dallas had been running. Not literally, but he knew what his life had turned into. As a cop the caseload was big, and he never took a break. It was all about filling the day so you didn’t have to feel the pain with each new case. It hadn’t worked. There was no real escaping when you’re running from your own mind.

“I’m sorry,” Harlan whispered. “We don’t have to talk about it.”

“I’ll drop you off at your house. There’s ample security there.”

“You shouldn’t be alone,” she said, urgency in her voice. “I’m not sure who you were planning on killing or how it would help the situation, but it’s not worth it. Plus I’m starving. Maybe we can get a burger.” Gesturing over at the burger joint, she smiled.

“I could eat,” he shrugged, the gears in his brain sparking and burning from the thoughts spinning through them. Maybe a greasy burger would help. Not to mention if he dropped Harlan off right now, driving away alone, there wouldn’t be anything stopping him from doing something incredibly stupid.