Herky moved slightly and bumped Knox in the arm. He glanced over at the big man. “Is there a problem?”

“No problem,” said Herky, whose menacing features clearly said otherwise.

The waitress moved away to make a phone call.

“So you got any kids?” said Herky.

Knox looked surprised, but said, “Yeah, two, why?”

“So why don’t you take care of ’em?” Herky snapped, stuffing a biscuit in his mouth.

“What the hell are you talking about? My kids are grown and gone. They should be taking care of me.”

“Asshole,” said Herky between bites.

“What?”

“You leave your wife and kids with nothing. Asshole,” he said again.

“Herky!” the waitress said as she rejoined them. “Shut up!”

“Doris, this man is letting his wife and kids starve.”

“Starve! My wife’s dead. Who the hell have you been—”

Herky bumped him again. “I got a mind to take you out back and teach you some manners, mister.”

“I wouldn’t advise that.”

“Advise this!”

Herky swung a big fist. Knox caught it, twisted it around Herky’s back and then slammed the man’s face into his grits and eggs.

“Hey!” the waitress screamed as other men in the One T started rising from their chairs to help their friend.

Knox pulled his badge and his gun. “Everybody sit their butts back down in their chairs unless they want to spend some quality time in a federal prison a long way from here.”

The men froze, all except Herky, who was snorting out grits and egg yolks.

Knox looked at the waitress. “Who the hell told you that I—”

The waitress committed the mistake of glancing toward the door.

Knox burst outside, his gaze sweeping up and down the street.

Annabelle peered back from inside the van, the front of which was just barely in Knox’s line of sight. She was still holding her phone from when the waitress had called her. “Damn it, they must have tipped him off somehow. Caleb, put the van in reverse and very slowly back up.”

Caleb did so, and then once out of Knox’s sight he backed into a parking lot, shifted to drive and sped off.

“That was close, but at least I got the tracker on his truck while he was in the One T.” She looked at a small device in her lap. “He’s on the move. Let’s go, but take it slow.”