My 6-year-old granddaughter phoned me in panic just after midnight. “Mommy says the baby is coming! Help!” I asked, “Where’s daddy?” She answered, “He k!cked mommy’s tummy and left.”…..

Thinks nobody knows about it, but he bragged about it one night when he was trying to impress me. What else? He’s paranoid about his gambling operation. Thinks everyone’s trying to rip him off, which they probably are. He’s also convinced that his bookie and Billings is skimming from him, but he can’t prove it. Harry filed the information away.

Paranoia was a useful tool if he knew how to feed it. There’s something else. June continued. Trent’s got a mean streak a mile wide, but he’s also a coward. First sign of real trouble. He runs. That’s what happened after he hit Cassidy. Soon as he realized what he’d done, he took off instead of facing the consequences. Where does he go when he runs? Lake cabin mostly.

But if things get really bad, he’s got a bolt hole. Old hunting lodge about 60 mi north belongs to his cousin. Place is falling down, but it’s off the grid. No phone, no electricity, just a place to hide until the heat dies down. Harry made a mental map of the locations. Escape routes were important. You had to know where someone was likely to run before you could trap them.

Why are you helping me? Harry asked. June’s eyes went hard. Because Trent Huxley is a cancer on this town, and somebody needs to cut him out. I tried leaving him alone. Tried minding my own business. But what he did to your daughter, that’s a line you don’t cross. This won’t be legal, Harry warned. If things go wrong, you could end up in serious trouble.

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