Riley threw down the mail and followed Matt to the fridge. You know, seriously, it wouldn't kill you to knock, Matt. What if I was in here all tangled up in a game of nude Twister or something?

Matt took one long gulp of beer after another, staring at his brother over the length of the bottle. Eventually, Matt let out a sigh of relief, slammed the empty on the counter, and patted Riley's arm. I didn't know our girl Loretta was into freaky shit like that. Matt then belched loudly, moved into the parlor, and flopped on the settee.

Riley grabbed a couple more beers and went in after him. Hilarious. Take off your boots, man. They're covered in mud.

Right. Matt unlaced his work boots and set them on the wood floor by the couch. Look, I gotta tell youI really feel bad about spraying Kat Cavanaugh with muck like that. Slowly, Matt turned his head to look at Riley, and after a moment of tightly wound silence, the two burst out laughing. Loretta joined in.

You did that on purpose, dickhead.

No, I swear I didn't! I wasn't paying much attention to Kat, to tell you the truth. I didn't even realize it was her I nailed until I got out of the cruiser. Matt grabbed one of the fresh beers from the coffee table.

I'm not ashamed to tell you that my focus was on the brunette in the Jaguar. I'm lucky I didn't run Kat flat over.

Riley shook his head and took a swig of beer.

Hey. Aren't you on call? Should you be drinking?

Shut up, Riley said.

I thought you weren't supposed to drink when Shut the hell up, man.

Matt shrugged. Fine. Well, Kat looked good. Real good. She must be loaded.

Riley laughed and took off his own boots. His feet were achy and wet and he needed a shower. What he really needed, he knew, was a mercifully slow night on call and for Carrie to forget to contact him for about a week. He didn't have the patience to deal with her now. Lately, she'd been teetering on the line between ex-fiancйe and completely psycho ex-fiancйe. He sure as hell didn't want her to find out that the infamous Kat Cavanaugh had materialized. It could be the ticket to push ole Carrie right over the edge.

I'm thinking about becoming a Buddhist monk.

Matt hooted with laughter at Riley's lament, and Loretta howled right along for support. Hey, man, before you go taking a Norelco to your noggin, you should know that Lisa Forrester's been asking about you every day. Remember her? The second-shift dispatcher with the belly ring I was telling you about?

Wow, Matt. You sure can pick 'em. Riley was trying to take another sip from his beer bottle when Loretta head-butted his forearm, sending a slosh of foam onto the area rug.

See? Even the dog knows you're not supposed to be drinking on call.

Hey, Matt?

I know. I know. Shut up. And here I am, not only trying to find you a love connection but working construction for you nearly every damn weekendand this is the thanks I get?

Thanks, Matt. Riley didn't have the energy for a clever retort.

Well, as much as I'm enjoying this conversation, I gotta scoot. Matt straightened from his slouch, then grabbed his boots and his beer. I just wanted to make sure you were cool. You know, not oiling up Daddy's old twelve-gauge or something stupid.

Thank you for keeping our community safe.

Matt got to his feet. Just so you knowMadeline informed me the women were staying at Cherry Hill.

Riley nodded. Figured as much.

You know what that means, right?

Riley slowly raised his head, checked out his brother's expression, and closed his eyes against the realization. /Fuck./ Hey, I know Madeline's a gossip. But she's a nice woman, and she makes a mean lasagna. It didn't work out with us, but I still think you should ask her outyou know what they say about the sexual needs of divorced single moms.

Riley opened his eyes, ignoring Matt's ridiculous suggestion. No chance Madeline would forget to tell Carrie that Kat was here?

Matt snorted. Are you on drugs or something? She tells Carrie /everything/. The two women were friends, after all.

Great.

Look, Bro. Matt cleared his throat. Are you, uh, you know, thinkin' about going over to the B and B for a little friendly chat with Kat tonight?

Behind his brother's smirk, Riley knew there was real concern. Matt and Carrie were the only people who knew Riley had a son, and Matt was clearly worried about how all this would turn out. She named him Aidan.

Isn't that a riot? And she says she's been in Baltimore.

Hole-eee God. Matt's eyes went wide. Big Daddy would've loved that shit.

He headed toward the kitchen but stopped after two steps. Baltimore? As in Baltimore, Maryland?

Do you know any other Baltimore?

Huh. Matt gave a slow nod of comprehension. That would go a long way toward explaining why we never found her in California.

Yeah, it would. Wrong end of the continent and all that. Riley had been given wrong information about Kat's whereabouts and he couldn't safely say if it had been deliberate or not. But it wouldn't surprise him if it was. With a deep sigh, he rose from the sofa to see his brother out.

They'd nearly reached the front door when Matt suddenly spun around, eyes bright with anger.

What the hell's wrong with you, man? Matt shoved him in the chest.

What the f? Riley stared at Matt in disbelief. He couldn't remember the last time his brother laid a hand on him. What was that for?

Kat just came back from the dead, man! Matt waved his arms around.

You're going to finally get to meet your kid! But you're moping around like you just found a boil on your ass or something! What is /with/ you?

You're like some zombie-assed robot!

Riley's head snapped back from the force of his brother's words. Matt was pissed. Over something that was really none of his business. I don't want to get into this right now, all right? I've got a lot on my mind.

Matt laughed bitterly. You never want to get into /anything/. Nobody knows what you've got on your mind because you never want to share nuthin' with nobody.

Drop it, Matt. This is not the time for an intervention.

Fuck you, too! Here's the thingand you know what I'm about to say is trueyou didn't say a damn word when Daddy died. Do you realize that? You didn't cry. You didn't talk about him. Nothing.

Jesus, Matt.

And you won't talk to me about the problems with the building money. You haven't talked about your kid in months. You don't talk about crazy Carrie. So now Kat is back and you say /nothing/. And I know what's nextyou're gonna wallow around in one of your megafunks and not come out of this tomb except to work.

It's the way I am.

That's just dandy, Matt said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. But here's the thing. I swear to God, that you're wound so tight, you're going to explode on me one dayjust /snap/and the next thing I know I'll be getting a report of a twenty-seven-eight in progress at the Bohland House.

Riley calmly reached around his brother's body and grabbed the carved brass doorknob. Thanks for stopping by.

Matt let out a hiss of air. Hey, asshole. I grew up here, same as you, and there ain't no?stopping by' involved. He yanked open the heavy door himself. And just 'cause Big Daddy made you executor of his estate don't mean this house isn't as much mine as it is yours, so don't go gettin' all high-and-mighty on me like this is your own stately manor house and you're the Earl of Persuasion or some shit like that. It might deflate your head a bit to remember that our great-granddaddy paid for this place with bootlegging profits he kept under his mattress, for crying out loud!

Riley would've laughed if Matt's words weren't so true and didn't slice down to the raw core of his guilt. Matt had no idea that his trustworthy, honest, straight-and-narrow big brother had mortgaged their ignoble inheritance to the hilt and, barring some miracle, they'd be in foreclosure by the New Year.