A fresh burst of tears pours out of my soul, but with them comes a tiny laugh that makes snot bubble from my nose. I grab a tissue and try to wipe it all away, every last bit of snot, tears, and pain.

“It’s okay. I knew better. I shouldn’t have thought it would be any different.” He pats my shoulder awkwardly, and as sad as it is, it’s the closest thing I’ve had to parental comfort in so long that I lean into it. “I’m sorry I messed up the case.”

“Pshaw. Don’t worry about that none. If Yvette killed him, she ain’t getting her money, and like I told you, today was about money, not law. I can still investigate. You might be surprised to learn this, Zoey, but I’m not half-bad at figuring stuff out myself, so if there’s a way to do it legally, I will.”

“You promise?”

“I promised Richard Horne, same as I do every person in the county, to serve and protect. I couldn’t protect him, but I can make sure he’s served proper justice.”

“Thanks, Jeff.”

“Now, you’d best get out of here. I’m betting that Hale fellow is gonna be down here as soon as Mike bangs his gavel and that you’d rather be gone when he gets here. You can go see Martha if you want. She’ll fix you up. Probably have you eating cookies in fifteen minutes. She’s got this new recipe she’s playing with, some oatmeal raisin thing with zucchini in it. Oh, don’t tell her I know about the zucchini because she thinks she’s sneaking me some green vegetables, but the truth is, I’m the one sneaking extra cookies.”

He’s right.

About Martha, but more importantly, that I don’t want to see Blake.

Not now, not ever. I’m afraid I’d be inclined to call down hellfire and fury, beg the universe to do to him what it’s done to me. And I don’t want that on my shoulders.

So I take Jeff’s advice and leave but forego Martha’s, running to Holly’s to hide. But now I really want to drown my sorrows in some cookies.

Chapter 22

Blake

I’m listening to Frederick, getting more and more frustrated as he and Mr. Monroe make Everlife sound like nothing more than a scam.

That’s not who we are, not who I am. I’m damn proud of what I do and the sense of peace I give my clients while they’re living, and their families after their death.

But we also don’t rush through claims willy-nilly because someone is in a hurry, and we certainly don’t pay out benefits when there’s a reasonable question of cause of death.