Brandon watched Jason’s expression. Again, what he was saying lined up with the evidence they had. He’d switched back to being truthful, and Brandon was getting better at spotting when he toggled back and forth.

“Back up,” Brandon said now. “What did Vanessa say when she called you last Wednesday?”

Jason ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up in patches. He looked stressed now, and he had good reason to be.

“She was upset. I don’t know why.”

“She didn’t say?” Brandon asked.

“Not really.”

“What did she say?”

Another deep breath. “At first, it was just small talk. But I could tell she called me for a reason because she seemed distracted. Like she wasn’t really listening to me. And then she told me she needed a favor, and could I help her out.”

Brandon glanced at Antonio. His partner was still leaning casually against the wall, but he was on high alert.

“Okay, what else?” Brandon asked.

“She said her sister was having trouble with some guy and—”

“Wait. Her sister?” Antonio shot a look at Brandon.

“That’s what she said. Her sister Kate was worried about herself and her kids and needed something for self-defense.”

Antonio’s gaze drilled into him, and Brandon could see Jason getting worried about revealing too much. Brandon wanted to keep him talking.

“So, what kind of trouble was her sister having with a guy, supposedly?” Brandon asked.

“I don’t know. She didn’t go into it. And I didn’t really buy it, anyway, because when I met her out at the lake, it was pretty clear the gun was for her.”

Brandon waited, wanting him to expand.

“Why was it clear?” Antonio asked.

Jason glanced at him. “I don’t know. Just a feeling I got. Like she was really relieved to have it.”

“What’d you sell her?” Brandon asked.

“A Ruger EC9.”

“How much?”

He hesitated a beat. “Four hundred.”

That was a rip-off, and everyone in the room knew it.

“Was it loaded?” Brandon asked.

“What?”

“The gun.” Antonio leaned over him. “Did you sell it to her loaded?”

“No. Jesus. I’m not stupid, all right? You think I’m going to sell some crazy woman a loaded gun and then turn my back and walk away?”

“What makes you think she’s crazy?” Brandon asked.

Jason clamped his mouth shut.

“Come on, Jason. Let’s hear it. We need you to cooperate.”

“Nothing, really. She just seemed . . . I don’t know. Tense. I mean, she called me Wednesday in a panic, and then when I see her, she’s all upset, and I just thought, I don’t know, she was the one who needed the gun.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Brandon drove down the narrow road, scanning the pine trees as he waited for the call to connect. This area got spotty reception—a detail that might or might not turn out to be important.