The Liar

“I never do.” She patted her pocket, and the phone in it, but Forrest shook his head.

“Anywhere. You take a shower, it goes in the bathroom with you. And.” He pulled a small canister out of his pocket.

“What’s this?”

“Pepper spray. You’ve got your Second Amendment rights, but you never could shoot worth shit.”

Because he wasn’t far off in that assessment, she bristled. “I wasn’t that bad.”

“Worth shit,” he repeated. “And you don’t want a gun around Callie. Neither do I. So you leave the gun to me, but you take this. You carry this with you. You have trouble, aim for the eyes. Put it in your pocket for now,” he advised when she studied the canister.

“I’ll take it, I’ll be careful if doing that and saying that puts your mind at ease. He’s no reason to come after me, especially now. I want to put this aside—that doesn’t mean I’ll be stupid—but I’m not going to keep it at the center of my life anymore. Now, Mama made her party potatoes and she’s doing up some collard greens. I marinated the chicken myself, and Daddy’s going to grill that up once he gets home. Why don’t you come on in and eat?”

“I hate to say no. I love those damn potatoes. But I’ve got some things to do. Tell Mama I’ll come by later if I can, scrounge up any leftovers.”

“I will. I need to get back, check on the kids.”

“You go on, then. I’ll see you later.”

He watched her walk back around the house. Things to do, he thought. The first was to go by Griff’s. It wouldn’t hurt to give his friend the information. He wanted as many eyes on his sister as he could get.

•   •   •

ON HIS HANDS AND KNEES, Griff set the next tile on the bathroom floor. The golden sand color made him think of the beach, so he thought the little en suite would be both pretty and cheerful.

While he listened to Forrest, he sat back on his heels.

“It can’t be random. Breaking into a PI’s office—that PI’s office, killing him. You guys with the badges can’t think that’s random.”

“It’s being looked into. No,” Forrest added, leaning on the doorjamb while Griff worked. “We don’t think it’s random. The trick is connecting Privet to Harlow, to Warren, to that fucker Foxworth, to the Miami case back five years ago. Odds are Harlow killed him, but you gotta ask why. What did the PI know, or who did he know, ’cause maybe those odds don’t play. Maybe there’s somebody else we don’t know about.”

“That’s not a comfort.”

“Nothing comfortable about any of this.”

“What happened in Miami five years ago isn’t over.”

“Nope.”

“If Harlow had the take from that job, he’d be gone. Maybe the PI was the last thing he had to cross off, and now he is. Gone.”

Griff set the spacers, moved to the next tile. “Then again, if the PI knew where the take was, it seems like he’d have been gone.”

“It’s a puzzle.”

“You’re worried this Jimmy Harlow may be missing some pieces yet, and may still think Shelby’s got them.”

Forrest hunkered down. “There’s not a lot we can do here but keep hunting for him locally, asking questions, showing his picture around. The federals, they’re sniffing out leads, but what I get is there isn’t a lot to sniff at this point. They’ve dug up some of Foxworth’s past associates—same on Harlow and Warren. But nothing’s shaken out of that. Not that they’re telling us local badges, anyway.”

“Do you think they’re holding back?”

“Can’t say for sure, and don’t see why they would. But you never know. What I know is we’ve got an unsolved murder in the Ridge, and that doesn’t sit well with any of us. My sister’s in the middle of it, and that doesn’t sit well with me, or with anybody in the department. We’re keeping an eye out for her, extra patrols and the like. But she’s not inclined to have dinner with the sheriff or spend the night with Nobby.”

“If she was, I’d end up in jail for assaulting an officer. I’m looking out for her, Forrest. She doesn’t much like that terminology, but she’s going to have to live with it. It’ll be easier when she moves in here.”

Now Forrest sat back on his heels. “Is that so?”

“Sure it is. I’ve got that new security system in—pain in the ass, but it’s done. I’ve got this fierce guard dog.”

They both glanced over to where Snickers lay, snoring on his back, feet in the air.

“Vicious son of a bitch, that dog.”

“He’s just resting between patrols.”

“Uh-huh. I think you know I meant ‘Is that so?’ about Shelby moving in here, not about the safety of it.”

Griff continued to work. Laying a row of tile was methodical. So for him that made it soothing.

“I can’t push that button yet. She’d balk. The fucker did a number on her, and she’s working her way through it or out of it faster than most people would. But she’s not there yet, so the word of the day is ‘tenacity’ with a side of patience. Because yeah, that’s so. I want her here, with me. I want her and Callie here with me.”

“If you go there and with your patient tenacity, son, talk her into moving in out here, my mama’s going to start planning a wedding.”

“That’s fine, just the next step in the plan. But it’s going to take Shelby longer to get there.”