A perfect fingernail moon shone down from the midnight sky onto the dark farmhouse. Blue parked by the barn, which had a fresh coat of white paint, and headed for the side door, only to discover it was locked. So was the front. A creeping sense of dread trickled through her. What if Dean had already left? But when she reached the backyard, she heard a porch glider squeak, and she could make out a broad-shouldered shape sitting there. The screen door was unlatched. She stepped inside. The clink of ice cubes drifted her way. He saw her but he didn’t say a word.

She twisted her hands in front of her. “I didn’t steal Nita’s necklace.”

The glider squeaked again. “I never thought you did.”

“Neither does anyone else, including Nita.”

He kept his arm draped over the back of the cushions. “I’ve lost track of how many of your constitutional rights they’ve violated. You should sue.”

“Nita knows I won’t.” She moved toward the small iron table at the end of the glider.

“I sure would.”

“That’s because you don’t feel as close to the community as me.”

The edges of his cool chipped away. “If you feel so close, why were you running?”

“Because—”

“Point made.” He set his glass on the table with a heavy thud. “You run away from everything you care about.”

She couldn’t work up the energy to defend herself. “I really am a coward.” She hated feeling so exposed, but this was Dean, and she’d hurt him. “The thing is, a lot of really good people have cared about me over the years.”

“And they all gave you up. Yeah, I know.” His expression said he didn’t care. She snatched up his glass, took a big gulp, and choked. Dean never drank anything stronger than beer, but this was whiskey.

He rose and flipped on the porch’s new floor lamp, as though he didn’t want to be alone with her in the dark. His stubble had grown a good quarter of an inch past the fashionable point, his hair was flat on one side, and he had a paint smear on his arm, but he could still have posed for an End Zone ad. “I’m surprised they let you out,” he said. “I heard that wasn’t supposed to happen until Nita signed off on the town plan next week.”

“They didn’t exactly let me go. I sort of broke out.”

That caught his attention. “What does that mean?”

“As long as I get Chief Wesley’s car back before he goes off duty, I doubt he’ll notice. Just between us, he runs a fairly loose operation.”

He snatched the tumbler from her. “You broke out of jail, and you stole a squad car?”

“I’m not that stupid. It’s the chief’s personal car. A Buick Lucerne. And I only borrowed it.”