“I’m just counting the chickens that have already skipped town.” The smugness in his tone didn’t lessen.

Molly briefly debated whether she should let him know that she knew his threat was basically empty—at least for the next four to six weeks—and decided to tell him. She didn’t want him to think that he had any power over them…at least not for another month. “Good luck finding a judge to go along with that. No one’s going to rule to forfeit her bail until she misses a hearing.”

He paused, and she wondered if he was taken aback by her calm comeback or if he was just plotting. “Maybe I’ll just have to push to get her preliminary hearing moved up. The public defender assigned to her is Nancy Lehry, who just happens to owe me a favor.”

It was Molly’s turn to fall silent as she squeezed her eyes closed, as if she could shut out the truth along with her vision. Her lungs squeezed with a fresh jolt of panic, and she fought through it, knowing she needed to keep a calm head.

“All the judges love Nancy. She could easily call in a favor to get her client’s hearing moved up.” He paused, his glee an almost tangible thing. “Wasn’t there some kerfuffle last time Nancy defended Jane? Hmm…let me think…”

Molly’s molars met with a click. Everyone in Langston knew what had happened five years ago. She breathed through her nose, trying to bring her anger down to concealable levels, while Barney made a sound that could only be called a chortle.

“Oh, that’s right! Jane and Nancy’s son-in-law had a thing, didn’t they? Things got messy. Nancy’s daughter dumped her husband, even though she was going through chemo at the time and had a bunch of little crotch fruit running around. It’s all coming back to me now.” Only the grossest of men could’ve taken such pleasure in recounting something so terrible and life-destroying. True to form, Barney sounded positively joyful as he clicked his tongue with false concern. “That has to be awkward for Jane, having a woman who hates her as her attorney.”

“I get it, Barney.” Molly’s voice came out with a gravelly edge, but it was the best she could do when her whole body ached to punch someone—either Barney or Jane, preferably. “What do you want?”

John made a wordless sound of protest, and she glanced away from him, only to find that all her sisters were staring at her as well. Molly didn’t think anyone breathed while Barney took his sweet time to answer.

“I thought you’d never ask,” he finally said, his voice sickeningly thick with satisfaction. “Just find Sonny and bring him back to jail, and I’ll convince Nancy to let bygones be bygones…until Jane’s preliminary hearing, at least.”

Bitter acid churned in Molly’s gut, but she knew she was trapped in a corner. Could Sonny Zarver be any worse than some of the sketchy skips they’d chased when the business was new, though? So much worse, a practical voice in her head warned, but she pushed it away. This had to be done. They’d get through it…hopefully. “If we do this, we get thirty percent, plus our usual expenses.”