"And you are?" Luke asked.
The guy made his way over, holding out his hand in greeting. "Jeff Andrews, usually called Knock by my friends. Shawn said he needed a hand who knew something about horses, so here I am."
Luke didn't even try to hide the way he looked the guy over. "And you know about horses?"
Jeff just laughed. "Yeah, that's usually the reaction I get. My sister owns a place called Andrews Shires. You know, real horses, not like these little ponies you got here. And yeah, I got blue hair and a lip ring." Then the guy smiled. "But I do recognize your face, Luke Barrett."
I clasped Luke's shoulder, holding him back before he got the wrong impression. "So you know Shawn, huh? I'm going to guess that you're one of the people who helped out with our video problem, right?"
Jeff tipped his head slightly in acknowledgment. "That's one way of looking at it. I mean, I'm the guy who signed on for that creepy fucker who was hiding his stash, helped to trash it so that he couldn't share with anyone else, ripped a clean copy, and then made sure that it appeared on that bastard's hard drive about two seconds before my handler walked into the house. So, I mean, if that's what you call helped, then sure."
Every muscle in Luke's entire body just relaxed. "You set him up?"
Jeff made a face. "I made sure he would get caught. You see, the problem with doing things online is that the law hasn't quite caught up to the tech. That means that sometimes we just have to be a little more blatant. Storing shit on a cloud server only accessible on the dark web is pretty hard to prove in court. Suddenly dropping a file on some pedophile's hard drive is no more work than a double-click. I also happen to have a real big problem with assholes who think that being online and anonymous means that they can ruin someone else's life."
Belatedly, Luke thrust his hand out. "I will never be able to thank you enough for what you did. Thank you. If there's anything I can ever do for you…"
Jeff accepted his hand, and patted it with the other. "It's all good, man. Kinda what we do." Then he let go and glanced around. "Also, Shawn said that you might be having some trouble with the local cops. So I gave his friend's number to my friend - that FBI guy - and we're waiting to see if he can help out. I mean, we may technically be criminals, but since we're working for the feds, it's more of a gray hat kind of situation."
"I don't know what half of that meant," Luke admitted.
"White hats are the good guys," I explained, "and black hats are the bad guys. Gray hats are more like Billy, the ones who are bad for good reasons."
"Sounds like y'all might be my kind of people," Jeff said. "But if you want to tell me what these guys eat, I can take care of that so you can get the update on everything that's gone down here today. Also, I would like to say that your lawyer is even crazier than mine."
I had so many questions, but I was not going to ask. Instead, I just waited until Luke explained to the young man the diet his horses were on, and then we headed inside. I was barely in the door before Lucy spotted me. Her little legs only a few inches long, my pretty little girl raced across the living room, wiggling like she couldn't be more excited to see me.
Scooping her up, I hugged her to my chest. Sissy may have gotten all of the attention for waking up Darnell, but that didn't mean I hadn't missed my little dog. She was such a good girl, and never seemed to get in the way, but I was slightly addicted to the feel of her pawing at my leg in an attempt to get picked up.
"Hey, baby," I muttered to her. "Did you miss your daddy?"
"That's kinda disgusting, Cy," Shawn said as he came around the corner. "And, as soon as I saw that dog, I knew she was yours. The sweater was a dead giveaway."
"Fuck off," I told him. "She's cute."
"Yeah," he agreed, "and useless, and tiny, and the gayest thing in this house."
"Okay, you have a point," I admitted. "She definitely is my kind of dog." Then I bent to kiss the top of her little fuzzy head. "Nothing wrong with being a little gay icon, Lucy. Shawn's just jealous. He wishes he was enough of a man to carry around a pocket-size puppy."
"Never," Shawn teased, "make that voice again. I thinkmymanliness just dropped a few points."
Which was when Cessily hurried out of the guest room with a bag full of stuff and her keys in her hand. "Dan came by earlier, but left when Teal got here. Oh, Teal, are you staying for the night?" she asked, barely slowing her feet on her way to the door.
"No," he told her. "Some of us have college in the morning, but we can work out something if you need it."
"Go," I told her. "Believe it or not, we can hold down the fort."
She almost obeyed, but paused again at the last minute. "Actually, do you want to ride with me? I know he will chew my ass if I go there on my own, but Zeke and Emily won't leave until somebody else's there with him."
Shawn just held out his hands for my dog. "I'll be good with her, I'll tell the guys what's going on, and this is probably the best solution. Chartreuse won't be on her own, and everyone else here can keep an eye on the place. Go, Cy."
I passed over my dog. "I still have luggage out in the truck, and -"
"Go!" Shawn insisted.
So I went. Shawn's friend was still in the barn taking care of the horses. Down at the bottom of the hill, Emily's cottage was dark, making it clear that no one was home. When she had to stop to wait for the gate to open, Cessily tapped out a rhythm on the steering wheel of Darnell's SUV, clearly having no patience for the wait. The moment it was open, she took off.
I was pretty sure she kept it to the speed limit while in Cats Peak, but the moment we were outside of town, Cessily gunned it. Jeff was right; our attorney really was a little bit crazy. Her eyes were locked on the road, her knuckles were white where they gripped the wheel, and I had to not only grab the handle beside the door to hold myself in place but also brace my feet.
