“Because so far as I’ve heard, they’ve not yet caught Malachi. And I think you mean to hand me over to him if you can.” I didn’t really know if they’d caught him or not, but I figured she’d contradict me if I was mistaken.

“Well, that’s not right. I’m not about to hand you over to him.”

So he was still out there and Lulu had been right. Chattanooga considers Macon nearby enough to be a source of local news, so it wasn’t surprising that she’d heard. “Well, I don’t know that. Hell,” I added, “for all I know he just followed you and he’s planning to come for me once you’re gone.”

“That’s not the case,” she insisted.

“I’m afraid I don’t believe you, Tatie. I’d love to be friends, what with us being family and all, but I don’t believe you’re as interested in that prospect as I am. If you want me at your place tonight, it’s not because you’ve suddenly found your manners. You tell me why you really want me there, and I might think about it a little harder.”

She shifted, tapping her feet and twirling her fingers in the sweater. She was getting cold. I was too, for that matter. If she didn’t make her point before long, I was going to have to choose between inviting her inside and shutting the door in her face.

“You can’t stay here tonight, girl. You and I know it’s not safe.”

“You’re stalling. Besides, you and I know how little you care about my safety.”

Her shoulders slacked and she quit bothering the buttons on the sweater. “If you must know . . .” she began, but then stopped.

“Oh, but I must,” I prompted.

“Lord. It is Malachi, but not what you think. I swear, that boy’s lost his religion now.”

I laughed outright—practically in her face, which must have made her mad enough to boil. “Only just now? Christ, lady—what do you think he’s been up to all this time? He’s been as mad as a hatter most of his life, and you’re only just now deciding it’s so?”

“Never to me!” she shouted, raising one gnarled fist. “Never to me! He’s never put a hand against me, and I don’t know what made him now, but the boy’s lost his senses this time, and it just frightens me all to death. I can’t stay in that house now, not all alone.”

“What about Harry?”

“He’s not so old as me, but he’s an old man still and my nephew’s a young one with murdering on his mind. I tell you, child, I’m just so frightened it sends my heart trouble.”