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Savannah clung to Hez’s hand as they headed for the iron stairs to his condo. Her eyes burned, but she couldn’t cry. The meeting with the funeral home had left her gutted. Only Hez’s presence and her pastor’s gentle support had gotten her through picking out Jess’s casket and choosing the flowers for the funeral. She’d forgotten a funeral involved so many details, but she’d been in such a haze when Ella died that Hez’s parents had handled many of the smaller things. This didn’t seem real. How could she say goodbye to her baby sister? And how did she reconcile the way Jess had loved her and Simon with the way she’d betrayed them all?

The aroma of tomato sauce, garlic, and cheese rushed toward them when Hez opened the door. Will Dixon turned from stuffing the remains of pizza in the garbage. His normal smile was missing, and his dark eyes darted from her to Hez. “Simon didn’t want to work on his homework, and I didn’t want to push him.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Poor kid.”

Hez whipped out his wallet and handed over cash. “Thanks for helping us out today, Will. It’s going to take time.”

His worried glance lingered on Savannah. “For all of us.”

Will stuffed the money in his pocket. “I’m here if he wants to talk. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to lose my mom.”

Savannah patted his forearm as she passed. “Thank you, Will.”

She walked into the living room and found Simon in the armchair. Cody snoozed under the chair with his head on Simon’s bare left foot. Simon stared at the big-screen TV on the wall with a blank expression.

She approached and touched his shoulder, but he didn’t move. “Hey, buddy. Looks like Will fed you pizza.”

The two pieces of pepperoni pizza on his plate on the coffee table were untouched.

He didn’t shift his gaze from the screen. “Uh-huh.”

How did Savannah help guide him through his grief when she didn’t know how to navigate her own? So far she’d dealt with it by keeping busy, which meant she hadn’t really faced it. Her grief was a tsunami waiting to engulf her, and she saw that same expression of impending doom in Simon’s blue eyes. Even picking out a casket had been surreal, like some kind of nightmare that refused to be pushed away by the sunrise.

Hez joined her and took her hand. The strength of his grip reminded her she didn’t have to do this alone. The two of them went to the leather sofa, and Savannah sagged against Hez. Was this even the right time to tell Simon what the future held? If only he would cry or scream. Anything that would break the blankness he’d wrapped around himself.

Hez cleared his throat, and she tensed. He reached for the remote and clicked off the TV. Simon blinked, but that was his only response. No objection, no question about why they’d turned off the show. Hez put the remote back on the table. “Um, Simon, there’s something we wanted to talk to you about.”

The boy’s stare cleared just a bit, and he blinked again. “Okay.”

Savannah’s thoughts were a jumble, but she rushed to spill the important things. “You still have us, Simon. Your mom left everything to me to take care of you. We can never replace your mom.”

Her voice fell to a hoarse whisper. “We love you very much, and we are still your family too.”

Hez leaned forward. “We both loved you from the first minute we saw you, buddy. We’ll be here for you every step of the way, and that’s a promise. I’ve already started the paperwork for adopting you so we’re officially a family. Like Aunt Savannah said—”

Simon leaped to his feet and his rage eddied out in a wave that was almost visible. Cody whined and ducked deeper under the chair. “I don’t want new parents! I want my mom, not anyone else. No one can replace her—not anyone! You should have talked to me first. How could you think I’d want to call anyone else Mom?”

His gaze speared Hez. “Or Dad. It was me and Mom. We were our own family. It might not have looked like what other kids had, but it was good.”

Tears gathered on his lashes and rolled down his face. He stomped to the balcony door and slid it open to go out and stare toward Bon Secour Bay.

The tears Savannah thought she’d cried out already formed in her eyes too, and she rushed after him. “Simon, we only want what’s best for you.”

She touched his arm and he jerked away.

His face was red and he balled his fists at his sides. “My mom is what was best for me, but no one can give me that.”

He ran past her back into the house and dropped to his knees by the chair.

She struggled to breathe past the monstrous lump in her throat as she watched him coax Cody out from under the chair. The dog crawled onto his lap, and Simon hugged him to his chest and buried his wet face in Cody’s fur.

Marley, tail tucked between his legs, eased out onto the balcony. “Hey, boy,”

she said in a soft voice. He whined and nuzzled her hand.

Hez followed the dog out onto the balcony and folded her into an embrace. He said nothing, but his comforting arms were enough. “I thought maybe it would reassure him to know his mom made plans,”

she said against his chest. “But it was all wrong.”

“It’s going to take time, babe. He knows we love him. That’s got to be reassuring on some level. It’s a lot to take in. For all of us.”

She wanted to ask about the meeting with Martine, but it felt very inconsequential right now with the grief raging through them all. Even losing TGU would not come close to this level of despair. She’d give everything she owned to hear her sister’s voice one more time.

* * *

A gigantic form blocked the light from the hallway. Hez looked up from his worn plywood desk in the Justice Chamber, and his spirits lifted at the sight of his friend’s grin. He rose and stuck out his hand. “Jimmy! Thanks for stopping by.”

“Glad to. I had a hearing in Mobile, and I’ve been meaning to check out your new digs. So the timing of your call was perfect.”

Jimmy enveloped Hez’s hand in one of his as he looked around. “You chose this over an office at Little & Associates?”

“This place keeps me humble. And it has the advantage of being a lot closer to Savannah.”

A basso chuckle rumbled in Jimmy’s chest. “Well, maybe so.”

His gaze lit on the plaque over Hez’s desk. “‘Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!’ I like it. But you’ve run into a beaver dam, haven’t you?”

Hez nodded. “I’m afraid so. Any suggestions on how to get rid of it?”

“Grandpa used dynamite when beavers dammed up the stream on his place.”

“Got any handy?”

“We’ll see. I’ll need to know more about the case.”

Hez handed him a copy of Hornbrook’s motion and the supporting documents. “Want some coffee?”

Jimmy eyed the thick stack of paper. “Yes. And make it strong and black.”

He took off the jacket of his two-thousand-dollar suit, hung it on a chair, and sat at the scarred old table.

Hez poured him a mug. “You’re in luck. I just brewed a pot of dark roast.”

Hez explained the case and answered questions as Jimmy flipped through motion papers and the loan documents. He absently rubbed his kinky black hair as he read. Toni arrived halfway through the conversation and took a seat at the table. She was five-seven or five-eight, but she looked like a little girl next to Jimmy.

When Hez finished, Jimmy leaned back and crossed his arms. “It seems that you, my friend, are well and truly stuck.”

Toni’s brow furrowed. “What about the tip Professor Webster got concerning Hornbrook’s connection to the smuggling? Won’t that help?”

“Nope.”

Jimmy shook his head. “Hearsay.”

Toni looked confused. “Hearsay? Sorry, I don’t take Evidence until next year.”

Hez poured himself coffee. “Hearsay is an out-of-court statement introduced to prove the truth of the matter asserted. It’s generally inadmissible because the person who made the statement wasn’t under oath and isn’t available to be cross-examined. So my friend’s statements to me aren’t evidence the judge can consider. In fact, now that I think about it, this is double hearsay because she was repeating something someone else told her—also out of court and not subject to cross-examination. We don’t even know who that person is.”

“All sadly true,”

Jimmy said. “How about emergency discovery to Hornbrook to see if you can find some backup for these claims? The right judge might cut you some slack and continue the hearing to give you time to do a little digging. Who are you in front of?”

“Alice Sticklesby.”

Jimmy rolled his eyes. “Ouch. She runs a very tight ship. Is she the one who made a lawyer stand in the corner for talking in the gallery?”

“That’s her.”

Hez took a swig of his coffee. “I’m not counting on her cutting me any slack.”

Jimmy drained his mug and Hez held out the carafe. Jimmy extended his mug, which Hez filled. “Thanks, Hez. You always have good coffee.”

He took a sip of the fresh brew. “You know, if Martine’s client is right, all the strands of the spiderweb lead back to Hornbrook. The smuggling, the predatory loan, everything.”

Toni leaned forward. “I’ve been thinking the same thing. The police raid in New York failed, but that must be because he somehow figured out it was coming.”

Hez hadn’t revealed Jess’s true role—and he didn’t want to—so he changed the subject slightly. “Are you saying he was behind the bomb, Jimmy?”

“I’m saying you’d best be very, very careful if you’re going after him.”

Hez turned, revealing the holster on his hip. “You know what a cautious fellow I am.”

Jimmy smiled at the reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark, which they’d watched multiple times together. “That’s a good first step. But a gun on your hip won’t protect against another bomb in your car.”

“I Uber now.”

“You know what I mean. I think this guy plays for keeps. You need your eyes wide open.”

Toni sat up straight. “Speaking of car bombs, I wonder if the bomb that killed Jess is tied to the failed New York police raid. She was the only known contact between Hornbrook and TGU, right? What if she came across evidence connecting him to the smuggling, and she was killed to keep her from sharing it?”

Jimmy drummed his fingers on the table for a moment. “That would make sense, but how do we prove it?”

An idea flashed into Hez’s head. “I’ve got to make a couple of calls, but I think I just might be able to find us some dynamite.”

* * *

Savannah had often passed Horton Funeral Home on the outskirts of Pelican Harbor, but this was the first time she’d been here. Multiple balconies with black railings accented the painted white brick with French flair. It was beautiful and terrifying.

A boulder lodged in her throat as she stared at the double entry doors. At least Jess would have a closed casket funeral, and Savannah wouldn’t have to stare down into her baby sister’s face. The funeral home had a time for family set aside for the first hour of visitation, but she, Hez, and Simon were the only ones here. Hez’s aunt Jenna and cousin Blake planned to come a little later. But that was all. Such a tragic ending to Jess’s bright future.

She turned off the engine, and Hez took her hand. “I know it’s hard, babe. Do you need a minute?”

She glanced at the rearview mirror to take a peek at how Simon was faring. She could only see the top of his head as he stared down at his phone. His hand moved in a swirling motion, so she knew he was catching a Pokémon in his game. He probably didn’t want to face the day any more than she did.

She shook her head. “Let’s go on in. I want Simon to have some time to process it before people start to arrive.”

She opened her car door. “Time to go, Simon. Leave your phone in the car.”

He gave a small nod, and she caught a glimpse of his face—misery etched in every pore of his expression. If only she could spare him this pain. She walked around to his side of the car. Hez got out and opened the door for the boy, and Simon clambered out in his new khaki slacks, white shirt, and navy blazer.

She took his hand. “You look very handsome.”

His fingers closed around hers in a tight grip. “Thanks.”

His voice was barely audible, and his gaze stayed on the asphalt.

He let her keep his hand as they walked to the entry. A suited employee greeted them and opened the door. “Your sister is in the room on the right.”

She nodded and took Hez’s arm to steady her weak knees as they entered the big room. Faint music played from speakers around the space, and she recognized the tune of “Amazing Grace.”

She pressed her trembling lips together when she spotted the casket. At Simon’s almost inaudible gasp, she tightened her grip on his hand. “We’ll get through this,”

she murmured to him. “Remember, your mom isn’t in that casket.”

Hoping it would comfort him as much as it did her, Savannah had told him about Jess’s last moments.

He nodded and yanked his gaze away. He pulled his hand free and started for the back row of chairs. Savannah let him go. They would have to move to the front row for the funeral, but he needed some alone time right now. No amount of words on her part could help him.

She caught a movement from the corner of her eye and turned to see four people enter. Nora was flanked by Helen Willard on one side and Michael Willard on the other. A younger woman with a curly brown bob and glasses trailed them. They headed toward the casket draped with flowers.

Hez nudged her. “What are they doing here so early?”

he whispered.

The realization nearly made her buckle. “Th-they’re family. Jess was a Willard at heart. They fostered that desire for revenge in her.”

Nora turned from the casket and started for Savannah. Moisture glistened behind her glasses, and her lips trembled when Savannah stepped out to meet her. “I-I’m so sorry, Savannah. I’m doubly sorry my last words were hurtful. I started to call you several times, but it hurt too much, especially since I knew you’d probably be testifying against my family in the smuggling case. I should have done it anyway. I had no idea Jess was involved.”

Savannah gaped. “Wait, what? Jess was involved in the smuggling operation?”

Everything clicked into place. “That’s why she was at the restaurant? She was supposed to hand off the artifact?”

Nora’s brown eyes widened behind her glasses. “You didn’t know? It was in the prosecution disclosure to my uncle’s and cousins’ legal team. I thought for sure Hope talked to Hez about it.”

Savannah’s jaw tightened. “He didn’t tell me.”

She glanced around for him and found him sitting beside Simon with his hand on the boy’s back. Why had he kept something so important from her? Did she even know her sister at all? Wasn’t it enough that she’d tried to destroy TGU?

Nora touched her hand. “I’m sorry this is a shock, Savannah. Especially today of all days.”

“It’s all right. Hez should have told me.”

And a chat with him needed to happen as soon as this awful funeral was over. “I should go talk to Helen at least.”

“Um, I’m not sure Mimi will talk to you. She’s lost a lot the past few weeks, and she . . . well, she’s processing some anger. More than some, to be honest. Michael too. They were both really proud of Jess, and they loved her very much.”

Nora cleared her throat. “They were hoping Jess would bring Simon to meet them, but she must not have gotten a chance.”

Savannah knew Jess had slipped off sometimes while they were growing up to meet with her Willard relatives, but she never realized they were close. “Why am I learning all this about Jess now that she’s dead? It’s like Jess had a whole other life I knew nothing about. I—I can’t wrap my head around all of it.”

She took a step back. She wasn’t going to pull Simon into this, but she knew what she needed to do. “If Helen and Michael loved Jess that much, the least I can do is say hello.”

“I’ll come with you. I’d like to introduce you to my niece, Tammy.”

Savannah nodded and pinned on a neutral expression as they approached the Willards, who had wandered into the adjoining room to watch the digital pictures on the screen. When she entered with Nora, Helen’s expression soured. She spoke to Michael, whose face hardened. The younger woman, Tammy, rose from the seat where she’d been watching the picture presentation.

Nora spoke first. “Mimi, I’m sure you know Savannah, Jess’s sister.”

The reminder of the relationship didn’t soften the older woman’s hard brown eyes. “I notice you didn’t have any pictures of Jess with her true family. Typical of the Legare arrogance.”

The attack dried up Savannah’s welcome, and she struggled to think of something to say to disarm the woman’s hostility. She couldn’t engage in an argument here in the funeral home. It would be too disrespectful of her sister. “I didn’t find any pictures or I would have included them, Mrs. Willard. I’m sorry.”

“You could have picked up the phone and called me,”

Michael put in. “She was my daughter, Savannah, not just your sister. She was a granddaughter, an aunt, a cousin. She had more relatives on our side than on yours, and she loved being with us.”

He fumbled out a picture from his shirt pocket and thrust it at her.

Her hand trembled as she took it. Surrounded by a dozen other people, Jess’s smiling face turned toward the camera with a joyous expression Savannah hadn’t seen in years. She stood next to Little Joe, whose shoulder didn’t yet have that ugly Punisher tattoo. Savannah handed it back. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“And I’d like to meet my grandson.”

“We’ll arrange that later, Michael, but not today. He’s already reeling.”

And so was she. She turned and fled from their accusing stares. The bathroom could be her only haven now. She couldn’t talk to Hez right now either, not when he’d kept important information from her. She locked the bathroom door behind her and buried her face in her hands.