Stomping across the wooden planks of the back porch, Gary raised his hand and called, “What’re you doing here?”

Shrugging, Ben felt a sense of relief that there would be no beating around the bush. “I need to speak to you; in private.”

Bewildered for a moment, Gary wasn’t sure what to make of the older man’s arrival, or his casual demeanor.

“Take up a chair,” he offered, wafting a hand at the picnic table, which was clear at the moment, but would be covered with snow most of the winter.

“Thanks, I’ll stand,” Ben replied, shoving his hands in his pockets as he ambled away from the house and further into the yard. “I guess you know we’ve got a bit of situation here.”

“Yes, I know,” Gary replied, taken by the sudden urge to pull out a cigarette and light it up. He had quit when Candy and Daks had first moved in with him, and for the most part never gave them a second thought, but the stress of that particular Monday had sent the craving coursing through him.

“Is it safe to talk here?” he asked in a quieter tone.

“As safe as anywhere, I guess,” Ben chuckled, then ran his fingers through his silver streaked hair. “I wish I could spill everything I know, but that would be against attorney-client privilege.”

“Then what are you doing here?” Gary repeated.

“I need your help,” Benjamin confessed. “Their privilege ends when I feel my own life is in danger, I don’t care what the rules say.”

“If your life is in danger, why haven’t you gone to the police?” Gary demanded, his face growing flushed.

“There’s some things even the police can’t help with,” Ben mused. “When you live a thug life, you sometimes exist outside the law.”

Gary curled his tongue, considering the other man’s choice of words. “You consider yourself a thug?” He had never thought of Benjamin Monroe as even remotely crooked, much less a full-fledged criminal.

“No, not in so many words,” Ben grinned sheepishly. “But some of my clients probably wouldn’t hesitate to settle this in a most unpleasant fashion if they thought I was going to reveal anything crucial about them.”

“I see,” Gary nodded, wondering if Ben knew about Caroline’s being there or her suspicions. “How deep are you into this?”

“All the way,” Benjamin laughed out loud, cutting his eyes up to stare into Gary’s deep brown orbs. “I swear, I didn’t have a clue what was going on until last week. I was filing the last report and it hit me like a ton of bricks.”

“Last week,” Gary agreed. “Caroline had already quit by then,” he offered.

“Yes, she was already out of the office. I went digging on my own, and I think I figured out why she took off in such a hurry.”

“She’s scared, Ben.”

“So am I. These aren’t street hoods, the guys who did this. They’re real professionals.”

“You have proof of that?” Gary growled, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

“I could follow the paper trail well enough. What gets me is that the four I pieced together were all in my office; my clients. What if there’s others? How big could this thing be? Worth more than my life to someone, I’m sure. All our lives, in fact.”

Gary stiffened, shifting his gaze to the lighted window, where his family sat enjoying their dinner. Fear tightened his gut, and he asked in a husky tone, “Would they have followed you here?”

“I doubt it,” Ben shook his head. “They don’t know that I’m on to them. I haven’t met with anyone else. If we move quietly, maybe we can get to the bottom of this. Get the proof we would need to make sure they go to jail and they don’t come out.”

“Lawyers don’t normally talk about sending their own clients to jail,” Gary sneered.

“Like I said,” Ben stretched to his full height, “their privilege ends when my life is in danger. If they set those fires, they have blood on their hands. I’m a financial attorney, and I didn’t hire on to protect them from the law when it comes to murder.”

Nodded, Gary agreed, “All right, then. Go on about your business and I’ll be in touch tomorrow; Wednesday at the latest. Right now, I have to figure out what I’m going to tell Candy.”

“She doesn’t know?”

“No, and I want to keep it that way. If she ever thought I might have put her in danger by bringing Caroline here, she would never forgive me. I just hope that’s not what I’ve done.”