And she knew her father’s partner twenty-four years ago was a dirty cop. She knew that her father knew it. She knew that her father was working at proving it and he got close. And she knew because she’d heard the break in, she’d heard her mother’s shouts, the partner’s replies, she’d called 911 then she’d heard the shots and she only stayed alive because she was smart enough to hide and the partner had to get out before he could find her because the sirens were approaching. Before the cops could stop her, she saw her mother’s dead, bloody body in the front entry of this same f**king house. And she knew her father had been hit the same night and left for dead but, by a miracle, he’d survived. Dave hadn’t made his wife’s funeral because he was in a hospital room with a tube down his throat. Merry and Rocky had gone with their grandparents. He also knew she’d testified at the hearing.

And Layne knew this because she’d told him, in the dark of night, in their bed, her body pressed to his, hers trembling like she was freezing to death.

And Layne knew one last thing.

Raquel Merrick Astley would do anything to take down a dirty cop.

“I can’t talk her out of it, man,” Merry was still whispering.

“You should have never told her, Merry, Jesus!” he exploded. “What was in your f**kin’ head?”

“She… Tanner… fuck,” Merry hissed. “When you got shot… fuck… let’s just say, Roc was not good. She kept at me, wanted to know what you were workin’. And, big man, you know, you know, when Rocky keeps at you, you got no choice but to talk. Fuck, more than once in my career I wished I had her in an interrogation room with me. She’s the master.”

He knew this. She wanted to know something, she was a dog with a bone, and not just any dog, a vicious pit bull. She never let anything go. Hell, their first Christmas together, she knew every last present he gave her before she opened them. He’d learned to go shopping last minute on Christmas Eve or the day before her birthday and then come home and keep her occupied in a multitude of ways where she couldn’t use her mouth to speak and he’d had to do it for as long as he could so she’d be exhausted or she’d always know what gifts he’d bought her.

He’d thought it was kind of cute and he definitely liked the exhausting her part.

Now he did not find it cute.

Merry interrupted his thoughts.

“Did you hear me, Tanner? She was not good when you –”

Layne cut him off, his mind on other things, namely keeping Raquel Merrick Astley alive until her next birthday.

“I’ll talk to her,” he declared.

“Oh boy,” Merry muttered, rocking back on his heels and looking to the heavens.

Layne ignored him. “She start this gig?”

“Not yet,” Merry answered.

“What’s her plan?”

“You’re not gonna get it outta her head,” Merry warned.

“What’s her plan, Merry?”

Merry pulled in a breath then blew it out. Then he said, “She’s gonna reel him in.”

“Come again?”

“She’s gonna get on his radar, hopin’ he’ll be interested, which I know he will, then she’s gonna get him to ask her out and get close.”

Layne felt the leg of lamb, cooked with rosemary and garlic and served with roasted potatoes, homemade tzatziki sauce and fresh, still hot from the oven, homemade pita bread followed with homemade baklava smothered in a sugary honey roil in his stomach.

“She intends to sleep with him?” he whispered.

Merry gave him an unhappy look.

Then he said, “We’re talkin’ Rocky here, brother. My sister goes the distance.”

“Fuck,” Layne was still whispering. “Fuck!” he repeated, not in a whisper.

“You talk to her, she’s gonna be pissed… at me,” Merry informed him.

“I’ll take that chance,” Layne snarled.

“Fuck, now you’re pissed at me,” Merry muttered, studying him.

“Believe it, brother,” Layne clipped. “You should have nipped this in the bud.”

Merry threw his arms out. “This is Rocky!” He took a step closer to Layne. “We been skirtin’ this awhile, Tanner, but here we are. It’s over, long over, but we all know shit’s so f**ked up between you two, it isn’t ever gonna get sorted. We also know shit’s so wound up between you, there’ll always be a connection. No,” his hand came up almost in Layne’s face, close enough for Layne to snap his mouth shut, not close enough for Layne to feel the need to take a swing, “do not bullshit me. There’s shit you don’t know and I’m not gonna tell you but let’s just say the last eighteen years you aren’t the only one been lickin’ those wounds, keepin’ ‘em fresh.”

Another shot to the gut, this one bounced around, tearing through a variety of organs.

“You are shitting me, Merry, she walked out on me,” Layne ground out.

“I’m not goin’ there,” Merry shot back.

“You brought it up,” Layne bit off.

“I’m just sayin’, you are not comin’ at this in a position of not bein’ in the know of what I’m dealin’ with here. Roc gets somethin’ in her head, nothin’s gonna shake it out and you and I both know it. The other part of this is, even with that, you aren’t in the position to do dick about it.”

“You wanna bet?” Layne asked quietly.

“Yeah, I’ll bet. Tell me somethin’, brother, she went all out tonight, why isn’t she here?”

Layne straightened and didn’t answer which he knew, f**k him, was the answer.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. She wanted to be in on our little chat.” Merry indicated the two of them with a hand jerking back and forth. “Tonight was her idea. Dad didn’t win a f**kin’ leg of lamb in a poker game, for f**k’s sake. Rocky bought it. She isn’t stupid enough to think she can head into this without as much firepower at her back as she can get. She went to your house, proverbial olive branch, and you shoved it up her ass. I get that right, brother?” Merry asked cuttingly.

Layne didn’t answer this time because he was grinding his teeth.

“You’re blown,” Merry stated. “You got two sons, an ex-wife shacked up with the town ass**le and three bullets for your troubles. Rutledge knows you took your shot, he nearly took your life makin’ his warning for you to back off so I reckon, since you’re still breathin’, he figures he’s got nothin’ to fear from you. He can only guess I gave you the intel. You’re close with every cop in that department, half of us you worked with when you served.”