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Rex led us toward the back hall. As we passed Meredith’s table, I glanced over and saw that she still hadn’t sat down. Her gaze stayed fixed on Gavin, and the fear in her face had deepened now that the man she’d spent seven years remembering was standing a few yards away.

Gavin saw her too, and his steps slowed.

Rex gave him the second he needed, then continued toward the quieter stretch outside the small office.

The music and party noise dulled there without disappearing. We were out of the direct path of guests but still close enough that Meredith remained visible from her table.

Gavin turned to face Rex. “All right. What is it?”

I already knew what Rex was about to say, and knowing did nothing to make the moment easier.

Rex stood between Gavin and the dining room, his voice low enough not to carry beyond us.

“The old bond is over. This isn’t North Fork taking you back on a seven-year-old forfeiture.”

Gavin’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he stayed still, and Rex continued before he could answer.

“The warrant is active. You missed court on a felony charge and stayed gone for seven years. Whatever Meredith says tonight may change the case against you, but it hasn’t been reviewed by anyone with the authority to clear that warrant.”

Gavin looked at me.

“You knew?”

The question hurt, but it wasn’t an accusation I had to fear.

“Rex told me yesterday.”

Gavin held my gaze for a long second, then looked back at Rex.

I could hear the party behind us, Case calling an order at the bar and the brief rise of laughter from somewhere near the front windows. Meredith still stood beside her chair.

Rex stepped closer to my brother and closed one hand firmly around his forearm.

“I’m calling law enforcement now,” he said. “Gavin, I’m taking you into custody.”

Chapter 6

Rex

Gavin’s forearm stayed rigid beneath my hand, but he didn’t pull away, which told me I could keep this from becoming uglier than it already was. I had no interest in putting him against a wall in the middle of the Lantern House. The party carried on twenty feet away, music and conversation softened by the turn of the back hall, while Georgia stood close enough that the edge of her Queen of Hearts skirt brushed my leg.

The happiness I’d watched break over her face when she reached her brother at the front door was gone. She had known this could happen, but knowing it yesterday in my field office and watching it happen tonight were two different things.

I eased my grip enough to reach for my phone without letting Gavin mistake the movement for permission to leave. “I’m calling now. If you stay where you are, this doesn’t need to become anything more than it already is.”

Gavin looked toward Georgia before answering. “I’m not running.”

She folded her arms across her middle as though holding herself still. The little gold crown remained pinned in her hair, absurdly festive above an expression that made me want to reach for her when I couldn’t.

I called dispatch and gave my name, our location, Gavin’s name, and the active-warrant situation in the fewest words necessary to get an officer moving toward us. I wasn’t going to turn the hallway into a public explanation of his case. When the dispatcher confirmed someone was on the way, I put the phone back in my pocket.

Gavin glanced at my hand on his arm. “You going to cuff me?”

“Not unless you give me a reason.” His mouth tightened, but he nodded and stayed where he was.

Movement near the back wall caught my attention. Meredith had left her table.

One hand braced on the chair she’d pushed away while the other curved over her stomach. Her face had gone white. Georgia saw her at the same moment I did, and Meredith took one careful step toward us.