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The instant Hez ended the call with Savannah, the door to his home office burst open. Simon rushed in, face flushed with excitement. “Was Aunt Savannah in a police raid?”

Hez swiveled his chair to face his nephew. “I thought you were supposed to be doing homework.”

“I’m almost done. Besides, I can’t concentrate with you talking so loud.”

Hez leaned back and crossed his arms. “I was speaking in a normal tone and the door was shut. Are you sure you weren’t eavesdropping?”

Simon frowned. “I wasn’t eavesdropping! I walked by to go to the bathroom, and I heard ‘police raid’ and ‘smugglers.’”

Hez chuckled. “I’ll remember this the next time you say you didn’t hear me tell you to quit gaming and get back to work.”

Simon rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay. Now tell me about the police raid! Is Aunt Savannah all right?”

“She’s fine. There were actually three police raids, but she wasn’t in any of them. You know those smugglers the Justice Chamber has been investigating? The police hit them in three simultaneous raids in Mexico, in Texas, and just outside Pelican Harbor. They arrested over a dozen people.”

“Get out!”

Simon’s eyes went round with awe. “Our Justice Chamber did that?”

Hez smiled and nodded. “Our Justice Chamber did that. We had a lot of help, of course, but it wouldn’t have happened without us.”

He gave one of Simon’s narrow shoulders a light punch. “Congrats.”

“Nice!”

Simon beamed. “I can’t wait to tell Mom. I heard you mention her name. Was she involved?”

Hez had been asking himself that exact question, though not in the way Simon meant it. “Exactly how long did it take you to walk past the door on the way to the bathroom, Simon? Should we get you checked for pediatric arthritis?”

Simon reddened and gave a sheepish grin. “I’m not sure what that is, but maybe I, uh, forgot to walk for a little while. Sorry, Uncle Hez.”

Hez tousled his nephew’s blond hair. “Thanks for being honest. Don’t worry about it—but don’t let it happen again.”

“No, sir,”

Simon said, trying a little too obviously to be sincere. “But, um, what about my mom?”

“She wasn’t working with the Justice Chamber on this. She just happened to be in New York on other business, and she and Aunt Savannah ran into each other. I’m sure she’ll want to hear all about it when she’s back—and you’ll want to be done with your paper on the Civil War so you’ll have plenty of time to talk about it, right?”

Simon bobbed his head. “Right.”

He started to walk back toward the living room, then stopped after a few steps and turned. “Thank you for making me part of the Justice Chamber.”

Warmth glowed in Hez’s chest. “Thanks for joining. You’ve been a great help.”

Simon grinned and sat in front of his laptop. Hez closed the door, and the warm feeling vanished as a cold wind blew through his heart. He pulled up his work email and hunted through it. He ignored dozens of items he’d ordinarily read as soon as they came in: excited emails from the Justice Chamber members forwarding news articles about the raids, two new real estate listings in Pelican Harbor, and an email from Toni titled “More car problems.”

There it was: the email from Savannah with the loan documents. He opened the attachments and started going through them again, line by line. He focused on the boilerplate this time, not the splashy headline terms like the interest rate. He reread a handful of buried terms three times to make sure he understood them. Then he logged onto Westlaw and spent an hour doing online legal research. Sweat prickled his brow as he worked, and he could feel his heart rate rising.

When he finished, he sat back and stared at the screen. Could he be wrong? He wasn’t a corporate finance specialist, and he was still recovering from brain surgery—but the answer seemed clear. Clear, but crazy. Why would Jess agree to this? It made no sense. But then, it also made no sense that she appeared at the exact time and place where Savannah was supposed to meet the smugglers’ courier.

He picked up his phone to call Savannah, but then he put it back down. She wouldn’t know anything about how the details of the loan documents worked. That was supposed to have been his job—and he was supposed to have done it before he told her to sign the loan. He winced at the memory. If he called her and told her what he thought he’d found, she’d just be worried and upset.

No, he needed to talk to the other Legare sister. Hez didn’t relish the thought, but she understood this loan much better than he did. If there was an innocent explanation for what he’d found, she would know it. If there wasn’t—well, he’d want to hear Jess’s story before he went to Savannah.

He picked up his phone again, braced himself, and dialed Jess’s number. She didn’t answer, and he hung up when the call went to voice mail. He texted her: Call me ASAP! I think we have a serious problem.

He put down his phone and shook his head. For the first time in his life, he wanted Jess to prove him wrong about something.

* * *

God had sent a gorgeous pink-tinged sunset for Ella’s birthday. The solace of the little Gothic garden around the family plot encircled Savannah. She traced the verse on the black granite headstone above the engraved picture of their little girl. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Their beloved treasure, their darling Ella, was in heaven, but they’d see her again someday.

She took a deep breath of the sweet scent of blooming camellia and released the tension she still held from the long flight home from New York today. The clasp of Hez’s hand around hers anchored her as they stood looking at their baby’s final resting place. “The sunset reminds me of how much she loved her pink pony, that one Blake got her when she was born.”

“I remember.”

Hez pulled her down with him onto the bench by the headstone, then slipped his arm around her to press a kiss against her hair. “I can’t wrap my head around the fact she would have been six today. She would have been going to school and learning to read.”

The grief in his voice hollowed out her chest, and her eyes welled with tears. “I found an old video and listened to her little voice over and over again. I know you’ve seen it. It’s the one where she’s dressed like a princess and she’s lost her tiara. You’re helping her find it, and she won’t let anyone but you put it back on her head.”

A choked sob erupted from his chest, and she listened to his ragged breathing for a long moment. “She’s safe in heaven now.”

She watched a hummingbird hover over a pink blossom. “I’m so glad you’re with me this year. Grief shared is so much easier to bear.”

“I should have been here all along. I’m so sorry I drove you off.”

His voice wobbled.

She lifted her head and straightened so she could gaze into his eyes. “It was for the best. We grew during that time apart, both of us. A lot has changed in the past year, all good. We’re back together, we both have jobs we love, and we have a nephew. Next year will bring even more great changes. We’ll be married, and we might even have a baby on the way.”

She rested her hand on her flat stomach and imagined a baby’s flutter there. “And TGU will be in great shape with the smugglers gone and better finances thanks to that new loan. Even Jess is starting to come around where you’re concerned. I think she might actually like you.”

His lips smiled but his eyes stayed somber. “That last part is debatable.”

He cleared his throat. “And about the smugglers—we still don’t have them all. The courier got away, and I’m not convinced we’ve got the leader.”

She studied his expression. What was he keeping from her? Before she could probe a little deeper, her phone sounded with a message. She dug it out of her purse and frowned. “Nora needs to talk to me. You think she’s heard about the raids?”

“News like that has probably raced through law enforcement.”

“I should have told her and not let her be blindsided.”

“You were staying quiet like we were told. She’ll understand.”

He glanced at his watch. “I’m going to check out the new AA group here in town. I’ve been meaning to go but haven’t, and I think it’s time.”

Was he battling with the desire to drink? Remembering their daughter’s birthday might have resurrected those old demons. “Let’s walk down together. I’ll have Nora meet me at the pond.”

He rose and took her hand, and they walked through overgrown wildflowers and sprawling trees sprinkled among pillared crypts and ornate headstones of stained and decaying marble. They picked their way down the oyster-shell path toward TGU. The view from up here never failed to soothe her. With the sunset glimmering color on the buildings and the water, she couldn’t see the maintenance that needed to be done. They’d soon have money to do it.

Hez kissed her goodbye and hurried off to catch an Uber while she walked briskly to Tupelo Pond. She spotted Nora waiting by the bench and lifted a hand in greeting. Nora’s strained expression and lack of greeting told Savannah all she needed to know—her friend knew.

Nora shot her an accusing stare. “Elliot Drake has been all over the news bragging about how he led the effort to take down an international artifact smuggling ring. The media somehow got old family photos showing the Willard family, and I’m in some of the pictures.”

She pulled out her phone and swiped through the images. “Look.”

Savannah studied the old pictures. One of them showed a young Little Joe, barely out of his teens. He had his arms around Nora and another cousin. They stood smiling on the beach at Pelican State Park, and they looked impossibly young, happy, and wholesome. What turned Little Joe into the glaring thug with the ugly Punisher tattoo on his shoulder?

Savannah handed Nora’s phone back. “At least your face is blurred.”

Nora huffed and dropped it in her purse. “Like that matters. Everyone knows it’s me. Officers are looking at me like they think I should have known. The past twenty-four hours have been horrible. You were part of the raids that wrecked my family, weren’t you? Don’t try to deny it.”

Savannah barely managed not to look away from the hurt on her friend’s face. “I-I’m not supposed to talk about it, Nora. I’m so sorry I couldn’t tell you.”

Nora took off her glasses and wiped tears from her eyes. “Two of my cousins are dead, including Little Joe. Another cousin is in the hospital and likely heading to prison. Uncle David was arrested and so were some other relatives. Was the Justice Chamber behind this?”

“Sort of, but I’m not supposed to talk about it.”

Nora’s brown eyes pinned Savannah in place. “You were in New York. Were you working with the NYPD?”

“I . . . I . . .”

Savannah couldn’t lie. “Yes.”

“Graham was taken in for questioning.”

Nora raked her hand through her thick brown hair. “He’s never even had a speeding ticket, but they badgered him for two hours. He was on a trip to visit publishers and he had proof, but the police refused to believe him. He probably needs an attorney, which he can’t afford. Would you know anything about why the best man I’ve ever met was picked up? He told me he saw you there, so I want the truth.”

Her friend needed at least a heads-up that Graham might be involved. “I hate to have to say this, but, well, I have reason to believe he might not be who you think he is, Nora. Be careful.”

Nora’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes filled with tears. “I can’t believe my best friend would do this.”

A sob broke from her chest, and she turned and ran back toward the parking lot.

Savannah wanted to go after her, but what could she say?