“I’ve promised to guarantee their security. I’d be more confident if Kaiser and the U.S. attorney could get a deal signed. Kaiser is grateful to us for turning the witness, so he’s glad for him to help Dad out. But there are a lot of moving parts.”

“Always, always.”

“What about Dad? Did you talk to him?”

“I’m just leaving the jail now. I told Tom everything you told me—the possibility of deputies tampering with the hair and fiber evidence, everything—and he agrees with me. Don’t make any accusations against the sheriff’s department.”

Serenity squints at me as though something is wrong.

“Dad said that?” I ask.

“Yes, and more. Tom said, ‘We have no proof of anything, and even if we did, it would only create a distraction.’”

I’m incredulous. “Wait a minute. Dad said that even if we have proof of tampering, we should do nothing?”

“Correct.”

“Quentin, what the hell?”

“There’s more. Tom also said to tell Jewel Washington to stop digging into whatever those deputies might have done.”

“Why?”

“You lost your fiancée, Penn. Do you really have to ask me that?”

A wave of heat passes over my face. “Are you saying those deputies might kill the county coroner to cover up what they did?”

“I’m saying it’s reckless to pretend we’re not in a very dangerous situation.”

“Christ, man. If we could get proof that Billy Byrd’s deputies suppressed evidence implicating someone else in Viola’s death, that alone—”

“Boy, listen to me! This case ain’t about hair and fiber. Do you hear me?”

Serenity’s brow is knitted tight in concentration.

“What’s it about, then?”

“For me? Representing your father’s interests to the best of my ability. Now, I’ve got to go. Doris is waiting. The best thing you can do is get the U.S. attorney to close that plea deal and clear—”

“Don’t say the name!”

Quentin curses in frustration. “I was going to say clear my witness to testify tomorrow. But don’t make any other moves without checking with me first.”

“Bullshit I won’t. Don’t you want me to come down there and brief you on what the witness knows about Viola?”

“No. I’m not going to start getting excited about a witness who may or may not appear tomorrow. I’d be a fool to rely on that. Good night.”

As I drop the phone on the sheet, Serenity says, “Did that sound right to you? About the hair and fiber?”

“It sounds like the same bullshit Quentin’s given me from the start.”

“I just don’t see the logic of your father’s position, other than he’s acting out of fear. And that doesn’t fit with what I know of him.”

“I know. It’s not fear for himself, though. It’s fear for others.”