room pretended

f eyes and not one of them blinking. Graham had kept

he said. "

aha

eas

remembered never asked for anything twice, and

auburn when Hannah left and was now a fierce silver, reached over the counter and squeezed her hand ha

pool table. "Funeral's in three days,

hat Hannah half remembered him as a prospect who used to fetch her

s," someone else muttered. "H

she when we buried him? Where wa

stopped

wo fingers to stop him. If you let someone else

stions, Cole.

n ri

ay my family's business on a pool table in front o

not an

nly one you

lence

ntly produced from thin air, "she has been in the building ninety s

ling through the room like loose change. Even C

am said, and the room went quiet in a way that h

o one even shift

oks like, Hannah thou

and Raymond's voice carried thro

el desk, a map of Love Valley and against the far wall,

t use it,

sn't

p. Red pins north and east. Green pins south. A thin

aham said. "Tha

of w

club needed a president. Nobody could agree. It should have been

moth

her like the deed to the building." His mouth flattened. "Arguments. Threats. Then they kille

ch s

. "Kings Riders. Dragon Riders. Each took a piece of the territory and half

sh

ils her black roses. Jackson's men park outside the house at night with their engines running

de, and Hannah flinched bef

will. She had never pictured her mother ly

ub probably wishes you'd hand h

e h

en

, and Hannah had the sense of standing a

," he said. "Their crimes aren't hers. If I hand

t held, a long, deliberate snarl, as if someon

w before she had finish

to stand behind his shoulder and saw headlights through the rain, a single

raham said. "He w

hy is h

iver so

he gravel, thumbed his throttle unt

my mother,"

ton

aha

ve never seen-" He stopped, then started again, quieter. "She's safe. I'll take you myself at first l

d just as fast. He was right

ight," s

at arm's length as though it might bite. The paper

s w

nnah Mo

as neat, deliberate, almost elegant, and

Tell her the debt her father l

e signature in re