He was twitchy, a little unsure of himself in this situation he’d stumbled on in the dead of night. He told Darren to drop the flashlight.

Darren obliged, watching the Maglite fall in the dirt and roll a good two feet between the men.

“You here on official business, Ranger?” the kid said.

“I might ask you the same, Deputy.”

“Got a call from the property owner up the way saying his tenant’s son was out here fussing around when his mama wasn’t home, said she wouldn’t like it none.” Darren had just enough whiskey sluicing through his veins to wonder if this was a lie, to entertain paranoid thoughts that Frank Vaughn had had him followed. “You have the tenant’s permission to be on the property, sir?”

“I must have if she gave me a key.”

The words were out before Darren could remember if he’d visibly damaged the front door when he’d jimmied the lock. He kept talking, tried to keep the deputy’s eyes on his face and away from the door. He said the first thing that came to mind. “She asked me to feed her cat while she was out.”

He was almost pleased with himself, with the simplicity of the lie.

“Cat?” The deputy’s shoulders relaxed, and for the first time he took his hand away from his holster. It was dark out here, but Darren thought he saw the flicker of a smile finally. The kid was relieved. This would all be over soon. “And the cat’s inside right now?” he said, craning his head around to see the front door.

Darren blocked his view and said, “That’s my exact problem. The thing got outside, and I can’t find it.”

“Did you look under the house? Let me give you a hand,” the deputy said.

He started for his squad car; his belief that this all boiled down to a missing cat had so lifted his mood that there was a light bounce in his step, an eagerness now to do this Texas Ranger a favor. “Let me back up and aim my headlights under the trailer. You’ll see anything that’s hiding down there.”

The back of Darren’s neck went hot. He shook his head and told the deputy it was hardly necessary. “I’ve got my truck,” he said, speaking more emphatically than was wise.

“Naw, that sits up too high. You not gon’ see much of nothing that way.”

The deputy slid into the front seat of his squad car and turned over the engine, then repositioned his bulky vehicle so that the underside of Bell’s trailer was awash with light. The deputy shot one leg out of the car, preparing to stand, and asked Darren, “You want me to try to get up under there too?”