at me.
“We don’t know how many men he brought.”
“And if this ends with somebody k/i/lled, half the truth disappears.”
Samuel looked toward the window.
“You think truth protects people?”
“No.”
I said, “But evidence can.”
Melissa had already sent our coordinates to investigators.
We needed time.
I stepped onto the porch.
Samuel cursed behind me.
Vance stood beside the first SUV.
Gray suit.
No umbrella.
Rain misted across his shoulders.
Three men stood nearby.
I saw no obvious we/@/pons.
That didn’t mean they were harmless.
“Thomas Grant,” Vance said.
“You attended my daughter’s funeral.”
He smiled faintly.
“I attend many funerals.”
“You hugged me.”
“That was unnecessary.”
Something cold moved through me.
Not rage.
Clarity.
Men like Vance survived because everyone around them reacted emotionally while they remained controlled.
So I did the opposite.
I smiled.
“You’ve spent twenty years trying to steal property from
