Page 16

Kieran looks up from his notebook, expression perfectly neutral. "I'll put that in the file."

"Kieran," Ethan says.

"I'm only writing it down."

"You're enjoying it."

"I write down everything," Kieran says mildly, and does. Ethan stares fixedly at a point on the ceiling. A flush is working up out of his collar into his beard. It's the first time I've seen him unsettled.

I decide not to examine how much I like it.

When Kieran has everything he needs, he closes the notebook. "Here's where it stands. Whoever did this tried a door while somebody was upstairs. They may not have known you were there. They may have known exactly. Until we know, I don't want you sleeping in this house."

"I'll sleep in my car."

"In October, in an orchard."

"I have blankets."

"You have a back door somebody's been at." He says it without any heat at all. "The locksmith's been on call for festival lockouts all weekend and can't get here until Monday morning. I've got two trail cameras in my closet and I'll have them up on the barn and the porch by this afternoon. That helps tomorrow. It doesn't help tonight."

"There's a motel."

"Booked. So is every room within twenty miles. You may have heard."

"I heard." I fold my arms. "I'm not going to be a problem for the county."

"You're not a problem," Ethan says.

His voice is quiet. It's the first thing he's said in a few minutes that isn't a report or a question. I turn, because the register has changed so completely that I almost don't recognize it. He isn't smiling. He isn't doing the thing with his head. He's looking at me, and nothing in his face is clever at all.

"I've got a spare room. It's got a door that locks, and a window that doesn't face a barn. I'd feel a lot better if you used it."

Behind him Kieran says nothing, in a way that's almost loud.

I know a man doing a favor when I see one. I also know what it looks like when a man says a thing straight and doesn't ask for anything back. I want to say no. I've known him for fifteen hours. I took my clothes off for him in a house with a creaky stair, and he left before the sun came up, exactly as promised. I woke up alone and understood it perfectly well.

Walking into his home now would feel like giving up a thing I never agreed to give.

On the other hand, there are pry marks on the back door.

"Two nights," I say.

"Two nights."

"I'll drive my own car."

"Of course."

"And you don't get to be charming at me."

A smile, small and surprised and real, finally gets through. "I don't think I can promise that."

"Try."

"I'll try."

"The offer stands," Kieran says to the notebook, "that I'll walk you through the process on the paperwork." He looks at Ethan. "Go on. I've got the cameras. I'll cover the desk until noon." There's a second where he seems to want to say more, and decides against it. "Take your time."