She left me without another word, rolled the chair inside, and closed the door. I got in the car, passed through the trees and thought of Sarah’s mother, whose message I had failed to deliver. They were family gone to ash, the bond between them as bloodless as time can make a thing. Maybe that’s why I felt a kinship, why I thought of once precious bonds charred to light gray nothing.

I slowed as Ken Miller stepped out of the shade and waved me down. He leaned into the window. “Everything okay?” he asked. “She need anything?”

His face was open, but I knew how meaningless that could be. People show you what you want to see. “Do you know Grace Shepherd?” I asked.

“I know who she is.” He nodded through the trees. “Sarah talks about her.”

I watched him closely. “She was assaulted, almost killed. You know anything about that?”

His reaction was unscripted. “I’m truly sorry to hear that,” he said. “She sounds like a fine girl.” He seemed innocent and concerned.

“The police may want to talk to Sarah.” A quick jolt of worry flashed across his face. I watched his eyes roll left, to the long purple bus. That’s where his stash would be. “I thought you might like to know.”

“Thanks.”

I turned on my cell phone as I drove back into Salisbury. It rang almost immediately. It was Robin. “I’m not sure that I’m speaking to you right now,” I said.

“Don’t be stupid, Adam. You lied to us. The questions had to be asked. It’s better that I was there than not.”

“You said that going to Salisbury P.D. instead of the sheriff’s office was for my sake. Did you mean that?”

“Of course. Why else would I do it?” I recognized the truth in her voice and some small part of me loosened. “I’m walking a thin line, Adam. I recognize that. I’m trying to do what’s right.”

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Where are you?”

“In the car.”

“I need to see you. It’ll only take a minute.” I hesitated. “Please,” she said.

We met in the parking lot of a Baptist church. The steeple rose against the blue sky, a needle of white that dwarfed us. She got right to the point. “I understand that you’re angry. The interview could have gone better.”

“A lot better.”

Conviction crystallized her voice. “You chose to mislead us, Adam, so let’s not pretend that you’re on some moral high ground here. I’m still a cop. I still have responsibilities.”

“You should have never been a part of that.”

“Let me explain something to you. You left me. Get it? You… left… me. All I had left was the job. For five years, that’s all I’ve had. And I’ve worked my ass off. Do you know how many female officers have made detective in the past ten years? Three. Just three, and I’m the youngest in the history of the entire department. You’ve been back for a couple of days. You understand? I’m who I am because you left. It’s my life. I can’t turn it off and you should not expect me to. Not when you made me like this.”

She was angry and defensive. I thought about what she’d said. “You’re right,” I said, and meant it. “This is just bad all around.”

“It may get a little easier.”

“How so?”

“Grantham wants me off the case,” she said. “He’s angry.”

A large crow settled atop the steeple. It spread its wings once then dropped into black-eyed stillness. “Because you told me the truth about Grace?”

“He says I’m biased toward you and your family.”

“Life gets complicated.”

“Well, I’m about to make it more so. I asked around. Grace had a boyfriend.”

“Who?”

“Unknown. The girl I talked to knew almost nothing. He was a secret for some reason; but there were issues there. Something that made Grace unhappy.”

“Who told you this?”

“Charlotte Preston. She was in Grace’s class. She works at the drugstore now.”

“Did you ask Grace about it?”

“She denies it.”

“What about Danny’s ring? Or the note? Those don’t add up to a frustrated boyfriend.”

“I’m sure that Grantham is working on that.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked.

“Because I’m angry, too. Because it’s you and because I’m confused.”

“Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

“The body is Danny Faith. Dental records confirm it.”

“I knew it.”

“Did you know that he called your house?” She put a keen edge on her words, and her attention was complete. “It’s on his cell phone records. We just pulled them. Did you talk to him?”

She wanted me to say no. It was too damning, and there could be no easy explanation from where she stood. The timing was pretty bad. I hesitated, and Robin drilled in on it. I saw cop rise in her like a tide. “I spoke with him three weeks ago,” I said.

“Forensics thinks he died three weeks ago.”

“Yeah. Strange, I know.”

“What did you talk about, Adam? What the hell is going on?”

“He wanted a favor.”

“What favor?”

“He wanted me to come home. He wanted to talk about it in person. I told him I wouldn’t come. He got pissed.”

“Why did you come, then?”

“That’s personal,” I said, and meant it. I wanted my life back, and that included Robin. But she was not making it easy. She was a cop first, and while I understood that, it still cut.

“You need to talk to me, Adam.”

“Robin, I appreciate what you’ve said, but I’m not sure where we stand. Until I know for certain, I’ll proceed as I see fit.”

“Adam-”

“Grace was assaulted, Danny killed, and every cop in the county is looking at me and my family. How much of that comes from what happened five years ago, I don’t know; but I do know this. I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect the people I love. I still know this town, still know these people. If the cops aren’t going to look deeper than Red Water Farm, then I’ll have to do it myself.”

“That would be a mistake.”

“I’ve been railroaded once. I’m not going to let it happen again. Not to me or anyone else in my family.”

My cell phone rang, so I held up a finger. It was Jamie, and he was stressed-out.

“It’s the cops,” he said.

“What about them?”

“They’re searching Dolf’s house!” I looked at Robin as Jamie yelled in my ear. “It’s a freakin’ raid, man!”

I closed the phone slowly, watching Robin’s face. “Grantham is searching Dolf’s house.” Distaste filled my voice. I could see five steps down the road. “Did you know about that?”

“I knew,” she said calmly.

“Is that the reason that you called me? So that Grantham could do this without me around?”

“I thought it would be best if you were not there when he conducted the search. So, yes.”

“Why?”

“Nothing could be gained if you and Grantham have another difficult encounter.”

“So you lied to me to protect me from myself? Not to help Grantham?”

She shrugged, unapologetic. “Sometimes you can kill two birds with one stone.”

I stepped closer, so that she seemed very small. “Sometimes, maybe. But you can’t have it both ways forever. One of these days, you are going to need to make a choice about what’s more important to you. Me or the job.”

“You may be right, Adam, but it’s like I said. You left me. This has been my life for five long years. I know it. I trust it. A choice may be out there somewhere, but I’m not ready to make that choice today.”

Her face refused to soften. I blew out a breath. “Damn it, Robin.” I took a step and turned. I wanted to punch something. “What are they looking for?”

“Danny was killed with a.38. The only pistol registered to anyone at Red Water Farm is owned by Dolf Shepherd, a.38. Grantham is looking for that.”

“Then I have a problem.”

“What’s that?”

I hesitated. “My fingerprints are all over that pistol.”

Robin studied me for a long time. To her credit, she did not ask me why. “Your fingerprints are on record. It won’t take very long.”