"Oh, no," I said. "I wouldn't want to impose." Or run into Cade while I was over here, showering. "Is Stan home? Unless you know something about water heaters..."

April shook her head and smiled. "Not at all," she said. "But Stan's inside."

Stan sat at the front table, reading the paper, and peered over the edge at me as I walked inside the kitchen. "Morning, June," he said. "What brings you over here? I don't suppose it's the coffee, is it?"

"Not at all," I said. "I'm actually here to see if you know anything about water heaters. Mine went out this morning."

"Well, now, that I can help you with," Stan said. "This old man is still good for something. Give me an hour or so and I'll come by."

"Thanks, Stan," I said. I walked back home, having a hard time deciphering the feeling I had as I walked away. I felt disappointed, but at what, I wasn't sure. Not seeing Cade? I needed to get past that s.h.i.t.

An hour later on the dot, Stan showed up, tool belt in hand. "Alright, June," he said. "Let's have a look. I showed him to the garage, and sat on the step while he began to work. He tinkered around for a while, and I made idle chit-chat with him while he worked, until he proclaimed it fixed. Afterward, we sat at my kitchen table, drinking coffee.

"I'm glad you came back here, June," he said. "Glad you moved into this old place. It needed someone like you here to breathe new life into it."

"Thanks, Stan," I said. "It's nice settling in here. It's been a long time since I felt settled." Since before my parents died.

"Now, if only you could talk Cade into coming back home."

"Oh, I don't think my words wield any sort of influence over Cade anymore, Stan."

He was quiet. "I think you still have more influence over him than you know, June. You always have."

"That's not true, Stan," I said. "I think Cade does what he wants." And he certainly doesn't have any special regard for what I think.

"This is entirely me speaking out of turn here," Stan said. "But I watched my son carry a torch for you long after you left. I think he joined the Marines to get away from memories."

Memories of me, he meant.

"After you left, he kind of turned back in on himself, like he always did when things got hard," Stan said. "Well, you know how he is."

"Yeah," I said, without even thinking. Well, I knew him back then.

"He thinks I don't understand the path he's on," Stan said, his voice soft. "But I understand more than he thinks. I was in the Navy myself, back in Vietnam, you know. Things were different then. People talked about 'sh.e.l.l shock,' coming back from war different."

"You think that's what happened with Cade?"

"He did all those deployments," Stan said. "Came back different after the second one, the time in Ramadi. Got a Silver Star for it, but wouldn't say a word about it. Got p.i.s.sed off when anyone tried to ask him about it. Said the Marine Corps should have kept their award. After that, he'd come back to visit between deployments, but it wasn't the same. He doesn't know I know about the nightmares and stuff. I'd hear him at night."

I didn't know what to say. That I understood? I'd been near an explosion. Tangentially involved. I hadn't seen what Cade had seen.

"The mood swings, doing crazy stuff," Stan said. "Dangerous stuff... It was like he didn't care if he lived or died."

Risk-taking behavior, my therapist had called it.

Like sleeping with my boss.

Like Cade joining an outlaw biker gang.

"I deployed with the Marines to Afghanistan," I said. I wasn't sure why I was telling him. "I came back here because I didn't want to do it anymore. Be a surgeon, I mean."

Stan nodded, thoughtful. "Cade's still a good man, June. At heart, I know he is."

Why was he telling me this?

I didn't want to hear that Cade was a good guy.

I didn't say anything.

"That family over there, he's hiding them from something bad," he said. "I know you don't want to put them in jeopardy."

"Of course not." What was he getting at?

Stan nodded. "Mentioning who's staying here, to a cop, wouldn't be a good thing."

Jed.

"I wouldn't do something like that," I said. "Where's this coming from?"

Stan sighed. "I know you wouldn't do anything that would put them at risk. And I figured you had enough common sense to figure out what to say. I'm sorry for b.u.t.ting my nose into this. It's none of my business. I just want to make sure that little girl and her family stay okay."

"But who said I was talking to the cops?"

"Cade was in town yesterday," he said. "Saw you having coffee with Sherriff Easton."

"What?" I couldn't keep the irritation out of my voice. Cade followed me into town and spied on my coffee date with Jed?

"Oh, h.e.l.l, now I've gone and done it," Stan said. "Sticking my nose in someplace it doesn't belong."

"No, you're fine, Stan," I said. "So Cade thinks I'm running my mouth to the cops?"

"No, I don't really think he thinks that," Stan said. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't inadvertently - "

"What's his problem, then?" I interrupted.

Stan didn't answer.

Oh.

"So he's jealous?" I asked. Unbelievable.

So Cade suddenly thought my dating life was his business, and enough to talk to his father about it.

"Oh boy," Stan said. "I don't think I should have said anything. I didn't mean to upset you."

"No," I said. "I'm glad you did."

Stan cleared his throat. "I think maybe I should be going."

I threw myself into yard work, my irritation at Cade building even as I tried to stifle it by diving into a physical distraction. Getting a little dirt under my fingernails had never failed to work as a stress reliever, but now I found myself getting more and more worked up over the conversation I'd just had with Stan.

So Cade thought I was colluding with the sheriff or was jealous that I went out on a date with Jed. Either way, it p.i.s.sed me off.

When I saw him riding toward the barn on one of the horses, I was so worked up about what he'd said to his dad about my dating life that I felt myself marching across the field on autopilot. I caught him just as he was walking out of the barn, and he stopped abruptly when he saw me, looking up from underneath that cowboy hat.

And I wasn't going to let the fact that he looked s.e.xy as h.e.l.l in that hat and boots deter me from the fact that I was p.i.s.sed the h.e.l.l off at him.

"What are you doing here, June? You should be hanging out down at the police station, shouldn't you?"

That was it. That G.o.dd.a.m.n c.o.c.ky att.i.tude. Now I for sure wasn't distracted by that smug smile and those piercing eyes.

"What, were you spying on me?"

Cade shoved his thumbs in his belt loops, and stood there, unmoving. Something about seeing him stand there like that, casual, like he didn't give a s.h.i.t, p.i.s.sed me off even more. "I didn't spy on you, June. I just happened to walk by."

I laughed. "Sure, you just happened to see me at Nina's."

He shrugged. "If you want to have some fantasy that I'm interested in you enough to spy on you, go right ahead. It's not any of my business if you want to date some douchebag small town deputy," Cade said, his tone mocking.

"Better than dating some loser from a biker gang," I said.

Cade's jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed.

I'd hurt him.

Good.

"Stay away from him until we're out of here, June," he said.

"Do you think I'd do something that would jeopardize that family in there?" I asked. "I'm not stupid. And you're not going to tell me who I can and cannot see. My dating life is off limits. It's none of your business who I date, where I go, or what I do."

"You think I give a s.h.i.t who you date?" Cade asked, his voice louder now. "I couldn't care less who you choose to go out with. But it is my f.u.c.king concern when you're in bed with the deputy in town, while I'm trying to keep Crunch and April and MacKenzie safe."

"In bed with the town deputy?" I heard my voice rising, the sound shrill. "I'll get in bed with whomever I want, wherever I want, Cade Austin. And that's not going to ever be any of your business." I heard my words coming out faster, uncontrollable now. "And if you think I'm talking to Jed about Crunch and his family, you obviously don't know me that well. Maybe you never did."

"Clearly not," Cade said, a dark expression on his face. "Although you sure think you've got me pegged."

"I think whatever the h.e.l.l you're into now all the criminal bulls.h.i.t with the biker club or whatever - I don't think the old Cade would have gotten involved in that one bit."

"That's for d.a.m.n sure," he said. "And the old Cade wouldn't have told you to go out with the deputy, like I'm doing right now. In fact, Jed sounds like the kind of guy who would be perfect for you."

I could have slapped him, slapped that stupid smug expression right off his face. "You're probably right, Cade. At least I know now you're not the kind of guy who's perfect for me." I didn't stop to listen to whatever else he might have to say. I just turned on my heels and walked back toward my house.

Axe I watched June walk back to her house, my blood pumping loudly in my ears. s.h.i.t, that woman had a way of getting under my skin. I stomped inside the barn, getting more and more furious by the second.

Spying on her. h.e.l.l, she was full of herself, thinking I was obsessed with her. Like she was something special.

She is something special, though, isn't she.

I put that thought out of my head. No, she was a stuck up b.i.t.c.h. I thought she was the same June I used to know, but she'd morphed into someone else, an uptight sn.o.b.

Some loser from a biker gang. That's how she saw me.

I was done with that girl. Jed could have her.

So why did I still feel so angry, thinking about the two of them together? And why did I just want to grab a fistful of hair at the nape of her neck, pull her toward me, cover her mouth with mine? And why couldn't I stop thinking about burying my head between her legs?

I needed a drink.

My fists clenched, I felt anger boiling up inside me. No, not a drink. I balled up my fist and punched, hard, at a rough plank leaning up against the wall of the barn. Once. Twice. Three times.

Until my knuckles bled and my fist hurt so much I couldn't think about June anymore.

I needed to let go. She wasn't mine.

West Bend wasn't part of my life anymore.

I needed to get the h.e.l.l out of this town.

It would be dangerous to stay here. I'd stretched it out for far too long already, staying here.

But being here any longer would be dangerous for Crunch and his family. Dangerous for my dad. And dangerous for me.

For my heart, anyway.

RECONCILIATION.

I felt a spirit of love begin to stir Within my heart, long time unfelt til then.

~ Dante's La Vita Nuova (The New Life), Rosetti's translation Malibu, California Benicio's Home "Maurice." Benicio rose as one of his men entered the room, impeccably clad in a suit tailor-made for his broad frame, and stood at attention in front of his desk, arms behind his back, his military experience and training oozing from every pore. Benicio sought men with military backgrounds, not only for his security team, but for his household staff as well, appreciating the precision and self-discipline that came with that background. This man, Maurice, was one of the best.

"Sir," Maurice began. "I have a full brief for you."

Maurice was a well-built man, built like a tank to be more precise, and he was one of Benicio's most impressive soldiers, loyal and disciplined to a fault. Maurice had been with him back in the early days, in the glory days when Benicio and his brother Guillermo were key political players in Panama, getting rich under General Noriega. When Noriega was ousted in the American invasion, Benicio had been set up by his traitorous brother; connected to illegal smuggling; and imprisoned for twenty years. Still, Maurice was loyal to Benicio, even when he came with Guillermo to the United States, where Guillermo's shipping connections made him a force to be reckoned with in the smuggling market. Maurice continued to provide intelligence to Benicio, waiting for the day when Benicio would return to deal with his brother's treachery. Last year, he had returned.

And Guillermo had been dealt with, with the help of Benicio's daughter and the Inferno Motorcycle Club. The same club that Benicio suspected was now betraying him.

"At ease," Benicio said. "Have a seat. Tell me what you found." Benicio sat behind the large mahogany desk.

"Sir," Maurice began. "We were able to acquire the reports from the medical examiner's office and the fire department, as well as video footage from security cameras on a building in the vicinity of your warehouse. In addition, we interviewed a homeless man who witnessed some of what happened."

"And what did you find?" Benicio was eager to clear up what had happened at the warehouse. Maurice had carte blanche when it came to tracking down intel, greasing palms or blackmailing whoever needed extra incentive to provide information. And he was very good at what he did.

"The coroner has identified the body, but the office has not made the information public yet."

"Ours?"

"No, sir," he said. "They've identified the body as one of theirs - Jonah Wilson. Goes by the name of Tank. Dental records confirmed."