Ty picked up on ring two, saying hilariously but I was in no mood to laugh, "Jesus, mama, the Pope there now?"

"No," I replied quickly. "I just got a five second visit from your friend Dewey before he went up in a puff of smoke. He told me your parole officer is on the way, with Fuller, to do a random inspection of the house. "

"Fuck!" Ty snarled.

"Baby, what do I do?" I whispered. "Can they ask me to open the safe?"

"They can do anything they fuckin' want," he answered on a growl, my heart sank and he went on. "Right now, get a bag, fill it with all the cash, the gun, clips and ammo, leave the diamonds but be sure to get Misty's letter, you put that shit into the bag and take it to the trunk of your Charger. Pull the Charger out and park it in the guest parkin' spaces down the way. Those spaces are off my property and the Charger is in your name. They see it and want to search it, you ask for a warrant. Stand firm on that, mama, 'cause they'll try to push you. I'll instigate damage control to sort that shit out but you gotta do that now, just in case."

From the minute he started speaking, I was on the move so I had a bunch of plastic grocery bags, was already dashing up the second flight of stairs and I breathed, "Okay," because I was out of breath from running and fear.

"Okay, lettin' you go now. Call back if there's somethin' you need to know."

I was dropping down on my knees in front of the safe when I said, "Right."

"Later."

He didn't wait for me to reply, he was gone.

Without delay, I did what he asked, took a deep breath and rechecked the safe just in case I missed something then shut it, made certain it latched and raced down the stairs to get my keys then to my car. I stowed the bags in the trunk, pulled my new baby out and parked it off our property then I raced back up the hill. The garage door was cranking back down and I was dashing up the stairs into the kitchen when my phone in my hand rang and it said, "Ty Calling."

I flipped it open and put it to my ear. "Hey," I wheezed out.

"We good?" he asked.

"We're good," I answered.

"Good," he said. "Now, Deke's on his way and, he gets there before our company, he's gonna store that shit in the tool cabinet in his truck. Then he's gonna stay. I do not want you in that house alone with that motherfucker there."

"Okay," I replied, also not wanting to be alone in our house with that motherfucker there. I leaned into a hand and pulled in deep breaths. "Is this... is this expected? I mean, is this normal? Are they allowed to do random inspections like this?"

"Yeah. That said, I'm surprised. My parole officer seems cool. He's a brother and when I say that, he's one of the few brother brothers a brother like me has, half and half. He did not say it flat out but gave indications he's not Fuller's biggest fan and had an understanding of why I was sittin' across from him. But I made parole for a reason and during my visits, he didn't communicate he had any concerns. But this shit happens. I shoulda been prepared, especially with the heat on."

"It's okay, it'll be okay," I assured him but I wasn't feeling assured, I was freaked out. "Team Walker bests any challenge they face," I finished more to convince myself than Ty.

He was silent then he said with a smile in his voice, "Yeah."

"The good news is, I threw so much sass at your parents, I think I'm clean out of it, you know, just in case Fuller pisses me off."

There was soft laughter in his voice when I heard, "Yeah, that's the good news." I sucked in a calming breath then his voice came at me, soft and gentle, "You okay, baby?"

I looked at the clock on the microwave and saw it said a quarter after three. He was done with work in forty-five minutes. And I doubted, with my day, he'd do overtime or go to the gym.

"You coming home right after work?" I asked, just to confirm.

"What do you think?" he asked back but it was confirmation.

"Then I'm okay," I answered.

"Good," he whispered then still soft he said, "Now, mama, Fuller is gonna dick with you. Team Walker is in the home stretch. Stay sharp."

"I'll stay sharp, honey," I whispered back.

"That's my Lex," he muttered. "See you soon."

"Right. Love you, Ty."

"Down to my bones, mama, right back at you."

Suddenly, I was perfectly calm.

"Later," he finished.

"Later, baby."

Then he was gone. I put my phone down on the counter, saw the tees and smiled to myself. Then I jumped and whirled when I heard a knock at the door.

Standing outside was a supremely well-dressed black man. He was also supremely handsome, bald head, thick, black, well-trimmed goatee, bedroom eyes. Tall, not as tall as Ty but a lot taller than me. Great body.

I stared at him thinking that Ty's parole officer was hot.

I moved to the door, searching behind him but seeing no company. I opened it and finally really looked at him to see he looked surprised.

"Hi," I greeted and he stared at me so I asked, "Can I help you?"

"Are you Lexie?" he asked back.

"Uh... yes." I played the game but found it weird when I confirmed my name that he smiled, big, broad and white. "Sorry, have we met?"

"I'm Samuel Sterling."

Cool name.

I smiled. "Hello, Samuel Sterling."

His smile got bigger and he noted, "You're back."

Well, that was interesting. It seemed Ty shared with his parole officer.

"Uh, yeah. Just over a week now. Would you, um... like to come in?" I invited, stepping aside so he could do so.

He didn't move. He simply studied me. Then he remarked, "You have no clue who I am."

"Uh " I started, wondering, if I did say I had a clue who he was, if that would expose Dewey's visit when he spoke again.

"Own a jet, Lexie," he informed me quietly.

Oh my God!

I blinked. Then it was my turn to study him and it hit me that parole officers probably didn't wear two hundred dollar, shiny, killer polo necked shirts nor did they have custom-made Italian loafers.

He smiled again, took three steps into the house and I turned with him as he did and shut the door behind me. Then I kept staring at him as his eyes did a sweep of the place and landed on the tees. Then they came back to me and his smile was huge.

Then he spoke. "I was close to town on business. Thought I'd stop by, see how Ty was seeing as how Ty was the last time I saw him was not good." He dipped his head to the tees and commented, "I suspect he's doing much better."

"He is," I whispered.

"Good," he whispered back.

"Uh... thank you for, um... doing that favor for Ty and I. But back then I was just," I threw out a hand, "well "

"You don't know me so you owe me no explanations, Lexie, I'm just glad you're back."

I grinned at him. "So am I."

He grinned back then his eyes cut to the door behind me and his body went alert.

I turned around to see Deke at the glass. Deke didn't knock. Deke opened the door and I jumped out of the way.

"He is?" he asked, jerking his head at Samuel Sterling.

"A friend of Ty's," I answered.

"What kind?" he shot back.

"The good kind," I replied.

He sliced his eyes to Samuel Sterling then back to me. "Keys. Now."

I still had my keys in my hand, I held them out to him, he took them and then he was gone.

I looked to Samuel Sterling who had his eyebrows raised and I shared, "We, um... have a bit of, uh... situation."

His eyebrows lowered but his look turned sharp before he asked, "Can I help?"

"If you have time, you can stay for a drink and if the afternoon progresses like I think it will and I give any indication I might be losing my temper and on the verge of what my husband calls 'throwing sass', you can wrestle me out of the room no matter how much I fight you."

He held my eyes. Then he said quietly, "So it's that kind of situation."

I sighed. Then I said, "We have that kind of situation every once in awhile. But we think we're in the home stretch." My eyes slid to the side and I muttered, "I hope."

"Team Walker never admits defeat," Samuel Sterling said and my eyes shot back to him.

"What?"

He moved to the counter and touched a tee. Then he looked back at me.

"Never admit defeat, Lexie. No matter the situation. And no matter what resources you have to call upon to do it."

Then he dipped his chin without losing contact with my eyes and I could swear he was volunteering for duty.

I smiled at him. He smiled back.

I heard the garage door start to crank open and I whispered, "Deke's back with my car."

And he was. The garage door cranked down, Deke came up the stairs, looked at me, looked at Samuel then grunted, "Beer."

I hustled to the fridge. Then I got Deke a beer. I gave him the bottle thinking he wouldn't take offense. After asking his beverage preference, I also got Samuel one of Ty's bottled waters but since he was obviously a millionaire or something, I poured it into a glass.

Then I got myself a diet and since I wasn't on the phone with a Ty who was being sweet, my calm evaporated and I tried very hard as the minutes slipped by not to start hyperventilating.

Conversation was scarce and only included Samuel and me as Deke's monosyllabic grunts made Samuel give up on him. Both men were sitting at the stools and I was at the side of the island when the air in the room started pulsating and my eyes went to the boys then to the door.

The glass showed another good-looking black man, light-skinned, close-cropped hair like Ty's, close-trimmed beard unlike Ty, as tall as Samuel Sterling, as wiry as Dewey but in a lean, attractive way not in a jittery, felonious way and, even though I didn't know him, he had a face that said he was pretty extremely displeased.

But he was not what I was looking at. I was looking at the man in the uniform standing behind and beside him, glowering through the glass. Older, he had thin, light brown hair going gray at the temples and beyond, a serious beer gut that fell well over the belt on his uniform pants and small, mean eyes.

Arnold Fuller, Chief of Police.

And more, beyond him was not only Officer Frank but also Detective Chace Fucking Keaton.

Shit. Shit. Fuck!

I moved to the door, hoping I was schooling my features.

Then I opened it and my eyes darted between the men, hoping I looked surprised and curious.

"Uh, hi. Can I help you?" I asked.

"Does Tyrell Walker reside here?" Ty's parole officer asked.

"Yes, this is Ty's home. I'm Ty's wife, Lexie." I looked at Fuller then Frank and back to Ty's parole officer before I whispered, "Is Ty okay?"

"Yes," I heard Samuel say from close behind me, "is Ty all right?"

"And you are?" Ty's parole officer asked.

"Samuel Sterling, a friend of the family."

"Right," Fuller muttered and I watched Ty's parole officer twist instantly to throw him a glare.

Then he turned back and looked at me. "Mrs. Walker, I'm Jamarr Gifford. I'm your husband's parole officer. We're here to perform a random inspection of your home. This is normal procedure for parolees, as I suspect you know."

I nodded, stepped back and hit Samuel who didn't move so stopped but spoke. "Yes, I knew this could happen. Ty told me."

"That might be so," I heard Samuel say from behind me and I twisted my neck to look up at him, "but wouldn't such an inspection occur when Mr. Walker was in attendance?"

"We " Jamarr Gifford started.