I dug out my house key and opened the front door while Muffy ran around like a crazy dog in the front yard.

Skeeter watched in horror as she started rolling around on her back in the grass. “Does she always do that?”

“She’s happy to be home,” I said, stepping inside. An immediate feeling of relief and belonging washed over me, as welcoming as the smell of fresh-baked cookies.

Neely Kate brushed past him and laughed. “You don’t have any pets, do you?” she asked, but she didn’t wait for an answer before heading upstairs to use the bathroom.

Muffy ran in through the open door, but Skeeter lingered on the porch with a wary look on his face.

“You can come in, James,” I said, holding the side of the open door. “All this domestication isn’t catching.”

His eyes found mine. “I don’t think I belong in there.”

“That’s bull crap if I ever heard it. Get your butt inside. You’re letting the cold in.”

Something about his demeanor changed as he crossed over the threshold. It was like some of the wildness bled out of him.

I shut the door behind him, then led the way to the office’s French doors. “The key is in Mason’s desk drawer.” I pushed one of the doors open and hesitated. “He still has paperwork here. Maybe you should stay out of this room.”

He gave a sharp nod as he came to a stop outside the office. “You inherited this house,” he said, surveying the living room décor.

“That’s right. But I only found out about it last June. I moved in after the whole Crocker mess.”

He smirked. “Which Crocker mess?”

I grinned as I opened the drawer and pulled out the key. “Good point. The one in November.”

His smile fell, but his eyes were sharp. “You and Deveraux escaped and eluded Crocker and his men in the woods. In a snowstorm.”

“Until we were caught,” I murmured, clutching the key in my hand as I closed the drawer.

“But you held your own. You killed the bastard.”

I walked to the door and stopped next to him. “I didn’t hold my own at first. He almost . . .” I shook my head. “I only killed him to save Mason.”

“And yourself.”

I didn’t like thinking about the day I killed Daniel Crocker. A shiver ran through my body.

“What happened in that house, Rose?” he asked quietly.

My breathing sped up. “Why are you asking me this?”

He ignored my question. “You said you didn’t hold your own at first. What happened?”

“He dragged me out of the closet, and he . . .” I closed my eyes. “And then Joe showed up.”

“And Deveraux was locked in the closet.”

I wasn’t surprised he knew the details. The real question was why he was asking me to retell them. I opened my eyes, glaring at him. “What’s your point, James?”

“How did you feel when Crocker dragged you out of the closet? Before Joe showed up?”

Fear made me lightheaded. “Do you really need to ask me this?”

“Yes. How did you feel?”

A list of emotions rushed through my head. “Scared. Helpless.”

He nodded his acknowledgment. “And how did you feel last week at Gentry’s house? When you were facing down Simmons. Did you feel helpless then?”

“No.”

He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “J.R. Simmons is a hell of a lot scarier than Daniel Crocker and ten times as deadly. Simmons doesn’t just want to kill us. He wants to make us suffer on a scale that not even a sadistic son of a bitch like Crocker could have envisioned. There’s only a fifty-fifty chance of us coming out ahead. And that’s generous.” His eyes turned serious. “If we find ourselves in a defensive position, you need to remember that you aren’t the scared woman who walked into my pool hall last summer. You’re a fighter. You’re a survivor. You are not helpless. The best way to get J.R. Simmons’s goat is to not only survive, but to show bravery and courage. Show him no fear. Just like you did last week.”

My stomach churned with nausea. “This won’t end well, will it?”

His face hardened. “Someone’s goin’ down before this is all said and done. We need to make sure it’s not us.”

I nodded, swallowing bile.

“You two ready to search the barn?” Neely Kate asked from the bottom of the stairs, her hands on her hips.

Taking a step back, I spun to face her. After Skeeter’s little pep talk, looking through a barn that had been searched many times over suddenly seemed like a waste of time. The fact that Skeeter was on board with the scavenger hunt was the only thing that convinced me to go through with it.

“Mason and I have looked through that barn multiple times, and neither of us found a blessed thing. I’m worried whatever used to be there is gone.”

“The only way to find out is to start searchin’,” Skeeter said. “Let’s get to it.”

I headed into the kitchen and grabbed two flashlights out of junk drawer. Although it was mid-afternoon, the sparse lighting in the barn made it difficult to see into the nooks and crannies. We needed all the assistance we could get.

I told a disappointed Muffy that she had to stay in the house, but I was worried she’d get in the way, especially since she was being more attention-seeking than usual. I led the way to the barn, trying to ignore her forlorn barks. At least I couldn’t see her face pressed up against the glass. Instead, I cast a glance at the fence posts Neely Kate and I had used for target practice the week before. The gun Mason had given me was in my pocket, and I suspected I was going to need it sometime soon. Too bad I wasn’t very good at shooting.

When we reached the barn, I started to open the heavy door, but Skeeter swung it open instead, then motioned for Neely Kate and me to enter.

He started to close it behind him, so I said, “We’ll be able to see better if we open both doors.”

He shook his head. “We don’t want to clue anyone that we’re back here.”

“But your car’s out front,” Neely Kate said.

“The chances of anyone finding us are slim,” Skeeter said. “They would have already looked for you at the farm. If someone drives up, we’ll hear the car. Keepin’ the doors closed will buy us more time because they’re sure to start at the house.”