“I don’t have it,” Jess told him. “Whatever you and Ty were into, he carried that to his grave. He sure didn’t share it with me.”

Harwood’s smile remained, but his eyes got harder. “You look for it, Jess? I mean, really look?”

“Of course I looked.” She gestured around the house. “There really aren’t that many hiding places, in case you couldn’t tell. Maybe if you’d give me an idea what I was supposed to be looking for, I could help you.”

“What about the boat?” Harwood said. “You check the boat?”

“Checked the boat. Checked the truck, checked the shed, checked under the porch. Deputy, whatever you’re looking for, I don’t have it.”

“There’s no need for that tone, Jess,” Harwood said, and he had a tone too. “I’m an officer of the law now, don’t forget.”

Sure aren’t acting like one, she thought.

“Here’s the thing,” he said, planting his boots and pushing himself to his feet. “Like you said yourself, there aren’t too many hiding places in this little house of yours.”

Lucy tensed as the deputy turned toward them. Pulled at her collar, whined a little. Hackles still raised.

“You’ve been back, what, a good couple months now; that’s plenty of time to look. Doesn’t seem like you’re doing much with your free time besides.”

“That’s right,” Jess replied. “I’ve got nothing to do all day but sit around and clean up Ty’s messes. So if I haven’t found this particular mess yet, Deputy, maybe it just isn’t here.”

“Or maybe you’re hiding something yourself.” Harwood’s smile was gone; he took a step toward her. He filled the room, so she had nowhere to go. “You holding out on me, Jess? Because I’m telling you, if you’re trying to play hardball, you picked the wrong man.”

Jess shook her head. “And I’m telling you I have enough problems without getting into Ty’s little calamities. Now maybe you’d better run along, Deputy, before you do something you’ll regret.”

Harwood smirked. “That a threat?”

She didn’t say anything. Lucy tugged again toward Harwood, front legs off the floor, clawing at air. She was growling still, low in her throat. Harwood didn’t seem to notice.

“You and Ty were always a pretty good match,” he said. “White trash, through and through. But Ty isn’t here to protect you anymore, sweetheart. And I’m not much given to negotiation.”

He chuckled, as if impressed with his own cleverness, and Jess could see more than meanness in his eyes, could see hunger, too, like he’d just talked himself into something worse than he’d intended, something he’d been wanting for a long while.