“There’s an old cabin here, back up in the woods. Originally belonged to Craig’s grandparents. Here about ten years ago, his ex-wife sold it to some people who put it in a trust. It’s complicated, but the folks who own that trust are friendly with the wizard”—I swear he said wizard—“who supports Craig. On paper, it don’t look like it’s connected to him. That’s where they are. And it’s pretty far out in the country, not easy to get to, and not many folks around.”

“That’s a pretty big circle,” Zee said.

“Yeah, well, I’ve only been there twice, so it’s not like I can give you coordinates.”

“I bet a satellite map would help,” I said.

Zee shot me a glare.

“Like he said,” the bearded guy said. “You look at satellite maps, you’ll be able to find it. It’s the only thing for miles around.”

“You sure that’s where they are?” Zee’s uncle said.

“They’re there.”

“How do you know?” Zee said.

I’d been trying to keep an eye on the big picture, but I kept coming back to where everyone’s hands were in relationship to their guns. Zee’s uncle had his hands down at his sides. The bearded man kept his arms crossed, so that he was like Gentry’s mirror. Zee had her thumb in the pocket below where the gun was tucked into her waistband. It made me nervous, but I guess I was the only one.

“Because I spoke to a man who’s with them. And he seems to think they’d be better off without your gal. Save themselves some trouble. Now, I’m not about to get in the middle of this, but if you go there, I bet they’d talk to you for the right amount.”

“What’s your friend’s name?” Zee said.

“Same as mine. None of your business. Now, I think I’ve done what I agreed to do.”

Zee looked at her uncle and, when he nodded, she held out her hand to Gentry. Just like he had before, he took the wad of cash out of his pocket and gave it to her. She gave it to the bearded guy, and he walked out, leaving the map behind.

After he was gone, Zee took the gun out of her waistband and set it on the dresser. For almost a whole minute her uncle coughed, and then he said, “I wish I could do this for you, girl. I truly do.”

“I know. It’s okay,” she said.

“You take care of her, son,” the uncle said to Gentry. “I know you can handle yourself in a fight, so I ain’t worried about that, but you tread careful.”

“I shall, sir.” Gentry put out his hand and they shook.

After the uncle left, Zee and Gentry stood next to each other looking at the map.

“Am I allowed to talk now?” I said.

“If you have to,” Zee said.

“What the hell was that?”

They didn’t answer and, before I could ask anything else, Edrard came back with lunch. Zee folded up the map, and he put the pizzas on the dresser.

“How fareth Dame Rosalinda?” Gentry started passing around pieces of pizza, so I guessed we weren’t going to talk about the bearded guy.

“Well, she wasn’t very happy about Edrard coming here,” I said.

“Understatement. I suspect my name will be mud when I get home,” Edrard said.

“I’m sorry,” Zee said around a bite of pizza. “I didn’t think you two would come.”

“All for one and one for all, right?” That’s what I said, but I was seriously disturbed by the whole thing. Ever since I got the diversion for my DUI, I’d been keeping my head down, being extra careful. This wasn’t anything like careful.

“I thank you, my brothers,” Gentry said.

We ate our lunch talking about jousts and armor upgrades. Zee sat there eating, listening to us. When Edrard went to get another piece of pizza, he finally noticed what I’d been thinking about all along.

“Why is there a gun here?” he said.

Zee picked it up and set it next to her backpack. Like that solved the problem.

“Yeah, I have to say, Zee having a gun is just the tip of the iceberg, but maybe we could start there,” I said.

“She hath arms, for these Knights of the Ku Klux Klan are ne to be trusted ne to be trifled with,” Gentry said.

“Wait. That guy was KKK?” I said.

“What guy?” Edrard swiveled to look at me.

“While you were gone, Zee’s uncle came here with a guy who’s apparently in the KKK. So what the hell is going on?”

“What did Gentry tell you?” Zee said.

“That we were going to get your sister,” I said. “I assumed she needed convincing to leave a bad boyfriend. Or he needed convincing.”

“My sister is LaReigne Trego-Gill. She was taken hostage in the prison escape from El Dorado last week.”

“You’re serious? And you somehow think you’re going to do what? Go negotiate with white supremacists who murdered people and kidnapped your sister? And then what are you gonna tell the police about how you got her back?”

“We’ll drop her off in the country and she can walk into town and tell the police she escaped,” Zee said.

“Yeah, I’m sure nothing could go wrong with any of that.”

Zee looked annoyed and Gentry was scratching his neck, but I couldn’t get a bead on Edrard. He looked uneasy, but he wasn’t saying anything.

“Look,” I said, “if that guy is KKK and he actually knows where your sister is, we need to call the police. They’re the people equipped to deal with this.”

“You don’t have to be a part of this. But we’re not getting the police involved,” Zee said.

“What do you think we are? Navy SEALs?”

“No, I think you’re exactly what you are.” She managed to make it sound like an insult. “It was not my idea to invite you along, and Gentry, no offense, but I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“My lady, with all respect to thy view, ’tis better we should be four than two. I am thy champion, and they aren my brothers-at-arms.”

“I appreciate that. I do. But I don’t want to drag a bunch of people into this,” she said.

“Oh, now that’s occurring to you,” I said. “That maybe you shouldn’t take a bunch of amateur knights to a negotiation with the Klan. Exactly what are you going to say to convince them to let your sister go?”

“We’re not going to negotiate,” Zee said. “We’re going to ransom her.”