“I think that was the idea.”

She looked at him with dismay.

Marty joined them just then. She’d had the presence of mind to tell neighbors who’d come out to see what the commotion was about that everything was under control. She’d also collected Arden’s purse, which she’d dropped when the dogs attacked. It had been trampled.

“Everything was spilled and scattered,” Marty told her. “I gathered up what I could see. Your billfold is intact.”

“Thank you.” Arden took her purse but seemed indifferent to its battered condition and at a loss as to what to do with it.

Ledge took it from her and set it on the floorboard.

Marty said, “Should we call the cops?”

“It won’t do any good,” he said.

“But with a pack of wild dogs—”

“You heard the whistle?” he said. “They weren’t feral, and they weren’t on the prowl.” He turned to Crystal. “Do you mind if Arden stays with you tonight? She shouldn’t go home alone.”

“Where are you going?”

“To run an errand.”

This trio of women wasn’t stupid. They shared a look among themselves.

Crystal said, “Of course; Arden can stay for as long—”

“Thank you, Crystal, but I won’t be pawned off on you.” Looking straight at him, she stated, “I’m going with Ledge.”

“The hell you are. You’re shaking like a leaf.”

“I was. But the shock has worn off. I’m okay now. See?” She held out her hands, palms down to prove they were steady. They weren’t.

“You’re staying.”

“No. I’m not.”

Marty nudged Crystal. “I think we should leave them to hash this out.”

Crystal looked indecisively at him, and then at Arden, then murmured, “Be careful,” and went along with Marty.

Ledge waited until they were inside the house, then said, “Arden, I don’t want to waste time arguing with you.”

“Then you had better stop arguing.”

“You could get hurt.”

“You keep telling me that, but so far I haven’t been.”

“You can’t go where I’m going.”

“Which is where?”

“I don’t even know yet. I don’t know what I’ll be up against when I get there. It will most certainly be dangerous. You can’t go with me. That’s final.”

She stared him down, or tried. But he won. She capitulated.

“All right.” She retrieved her purse and climbed down from the truck. But she didn’t start in the direction of the house. She headed for her car.

“What are you doing?”

“I either ride with you or follow in my own car.”

He erupted with a stream of obscenities, none of which fazed her. She walked back to him. “You believe Rusty was behind this, don’t you?”

“It has his trademark.”

“If what you told me tonight is true, and he killed Brian Foster, and he has let everyone think for two decades that my father did it, I’ve damn well earned the right to fight back.”

His head dropped forward. He blew out a gust of breath. He counted to ten as he stared at the ground between his boots.

When he looked up at her, he said, “I gave you fair warning.”

Chapter 31

As they drove away from Crystal’s house, Ledge got on his phone and called Don. “The other night when Rusty ambushed me in the bar, there was a guy playing pool with some buddies. I didn’t even turn around to look when Rusty hassled him about dogfighting. Rusty called him by name. Dawkins?”

Arden, in the passenger seat, heard Don say, “Hawkins. Dwayne Hawkins.”

“Do you know where he lives? Or where he holds the fights? Rusty mentioned an old barn.”

“You’re not taking to that sport, I hope.”

“Come on.”

“Then why are you asking about it?”

“A friend of mine had a run-in with a vicious stray. He thought it might belong to this Hawkimans character.”

Don said, “I’ll ask around and get back to you.”

“My friend needs to know now.”

“What’s the rush?”

“The dog may still be loose in his neighborhood. There’re kids around.”

“Then he should call animal control.”

“I need that info, Don. Please?” He clicked off and propped the phone in the cup holder.

“You told a fib,” she said.

“I edited the truth.”

“A skill you’ve perfected.”

He didn’t respond to that.

She noticed that they’d driven past the same water tower twice. “We’re driving in circles, aren’t we?”

“For the time being, yeah.”

“Why?”

“To see if somebody is tailing us.”

“Is someone?”

“Not that I can tell now, but somebody had to have told Hawkins where we could be found. Rusty’s got every deputy in the department in his back pocket. He had them on the lookout. Your car was spotted at Crystal’s. Eventually, you would have come back for it.”

“I could have been inside the house.”

“To get to your car, you’d have had to go outside.”

“I was the target?”

“Good. You’re finally beginning to catch on.” He turned into the parking lot of a closed business and brought the truck to a stop. “We’ll wait here for Don to call back. I’m burning up gas, and I don’t know how far we’ll have to drive.”

He turned off the engine and sat back in his seat, facing forward, staring at the brick wall in front of the truck. She did the same. Neither said anything.

Now that she’d had time to recover her breath and wits from the dog attack, her thoughts reverted to the fight they’d had just before it. The topic lay between them like a grenade whose pin had been pulled. No sooner had she wondered which of them would pick it up than he spoke in a grumble.

“That Jacob was the daddy?”

She glanced at him, then looked forward again. “Jacob Greene with an e at the end.”

“Where’d you two meet?”