He scowled at the headline. “Not guilty? Are they nuts?”
He read through to the conclusion, looked up at his guests. “The jury agrees he probably did it, but they let him walk on two violent murders because they didn’t think Karen’s testimony was enough to make it beyond a reasonable doubt. Did they listen to her? She’s like the nitpicker of precision in everything she says. She won’t say white when its cream, won’t say a few hours when she means two and a quarter. She’s so precise, I joke about it just to get that smile of hers.”
“They didn’t believe her,” Ann said softly, watching him. “She found that bewildering, Will. Devastating. She’s become even more cautious and precise in what she says because of it.”
Will dropped the articles back on the table. “Okay, you’ve showed me stuff about the trial. Karen obviously decided to wash her hands of Chicago and find somewhere else to settle, use her skills as a chef elsewhere. What’s the problem? I get the name change. That’s common sense. Why bring gossip with you when you can change your name and not have people asking you lame questions about what happened?”
“Tom Lander.”
“He’s here giving her trouble?” He was on his feet before he finished the question. “Where is she now?”
Ann cast a look at Gabriel, already blocking his brother’s path.
“What? Come on, guys, spill it!”
“Karen’s likely working the first shift at the Fast Café as she does most Wednesdays,” Gabriel replied easily. “Lander is in Chicago. He doesn’t know she’s in Carin County. Sit down, Will, we need you to listen.”
Will dropped back into the seat, picked up the coffee mug to have something in his hands. “Fine. Just make it the CliffsNotes version.”
Ann nodded. “He’s an extremely violent man who terrorized Karen for the sport of it, then stabbed to death his ex-wife. Maybe simply to send a message.”
Will closed his eyes and rolled the mug between his hands. “Okay. Got it.” He looked from Ann to his brother. “You’re still the sheriff, right? You’re carrying a gun? What’s the problem? He shows up, you deal with him.”
“You know it’s not that simple, Will.”
“Of course it is. You’re the one who makes the law difficult, Gabriel. I’m like, that’s a good guy, that’s the bad guy, now let’s go deal with business.”
“Yeah.” Gabriel smiled, and it was a look Will remembered from their childhood.
“What?”
“I don’t need a soldier messing up my town.”
Will snorted. “I’m retired. Am I not up to my armpits in house construction, barn construction, baby animals, and Mom’s fussy pansies?”
Gabriel laughed. “Mostly, yes. You’ve also got a shooting range out back, and don’t bother telling me those illegal M-80 fireworks I hear go off occasionally aren’t you blowing up coffee cans to see how high they’ll fly.”
“Those were legal when I bought them a decade ago. You should have confiscated the leftover spare box.”
“Boys.”
Will and Gabriel both looked over at Ann.
“Back to the problem at hand. Karen Joy.”
“Did you come up with her new name?” Will asked. “Nice job, if that was you.”
“It was her idea, but I like it too. She’s worried about you, Will.”
“Karen? Why?” He groaned. “Oh, I was teasing her a bit about being a soldier guy. She’d been ragging on me that, as a medic, I was more nurse than soldier. And I protested it was more like Rambo with a first-aid kit. Did she take that the wrong way? I didn’t mean to spook her, Ann. It wasn’t-”
“Will, shut up,” Gabriel said, but his tone was kind.
He stopped talking, not because of his brother but because his gut was churning. He’d scared the girl he liked more than anyone he’d met in his life, and she was wondering if he was a violent man like this Chicago guy. He’d often complimented her that she was a really good chef, but occasionally jested that he was good with a knife too. What an idiotic thing to have said. He was feeling sicker by the minute.
Ann’s hand came over to rest on his arm, and she squeezed, tight enough to force him to look at her. “Chill out, Will. Please. She likes you, more than a little. I’d say she’s halfway toward being in love with you.”
He sucked in a breath, let it out. A smile then spread across his face. “Really?”
Ann looked at him with a humor that went back years. “What is it with you Thane men? You’re hung up on Karen, Josh is still hung up on Grace, and Gabriel would be hung up on someone around here if he’d let himself, and you’re all stunned that it might be reciprocated. My advice, Will? Put a ring on the woman’s finger, settle down, have some kids. Life would be so much easier on the females around here to not have you three all still available.”
“Ann, I thought we were here to talk about some cautions,” Gabriel said, stepping on her statement to pull it back a bit.
Ann smiled. “I’m changing my mind. Do you see Tom Lander causing problems for anyone Will cares about, that between the three of you brothers and your dad, you can’t effectively halt in its tracks? Look at this place.” She gestured toward the backyard. “Tom Lander hasn’t seen more than a patch of manicured grass and a few neatly kept trees in his life. He couldn’t get near here without being bit by a few snakes, find some dogs sniffing around him with bared fangs, or finding an M-80 tossed at his feet to move him along. It would be a collision of worlds so far apart he’d be lucky to leave the county in one piece. Although what Karen would think of living out here is a mystery, but that’s another question.”
“She’s coming around to the view that a town with a couple of stoplights is too much traffic for her; country life sounds more appealing,” Will calmly replied.
Ann laughed, then turned somber again. “Seriously, Will, you need to know Tom Lander is a nasty, dangerous man, and life stays better for everyone if he never learns Karen is living in this county. If he figures it out, if he comes this direction, you don’t attempt to handle it alone. You call every family member and friend you have, we create a little war council of our own to convince Tom Lander he doesn’t want to be here or have anything to do with Karen in the future. Promise me that? No handling it on your own?”
Will held out his hand. “I’m retired.”
She accepted the handshake, and Will smiled, rather than let go of her hand. “Of course, I hear you are too.”
She smiled back, tipped her head. “I was afraid you’d mention that.”
Will nodded and gently let go. “Ann, I appreciate you telling me all this. It explains a lot of things Karen hasn’t said. But we Thanes have a long history of taking care of our own within the law. That’s not going to change if Tom Lander shows his face in Carin County.” He paused and grinned. “Mostly because Mom wouldn’t like it, Karen might not either, and life is more pleasant when a guy is in good graces with his mother and his girl.”
Ann leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Will.”
He felt himself turning red and went for a change of subject. “Does Evie want her dogs back? Because they’re comfortable here and welcome to stay another week, if that would help.”
“I can tell.” Ann nodded toward the back porch, where Evie’s two dogs and his own two were now lined up in their own pack, studying the backyard for interesting movements. “If you can keep them for now, it’s appreciated.”
“They’re fine here,” Will repeated, pushing back his chair. He had a place to be and it wasn’t here. “Karen was worried what I was going to think?”