I popped it open and looked at my phone readout. Four calls. All from Felix. I bit my lip. Apparently he’d read my column.

I was just contemplating putting the phone on mute, when Cal slammed his coffee cup down on the kitchen table behind me.

“What the hell is this?” he asked.

I spun around to find Cal—a very pissed off Cal—holding up today’s Informer.

I guess Felix wasn’t the only one doing some early morning reading.

“Um…my column.”

“Obviously. Are you out of your mind?”

Aunt Sue angled around him to read it, then did a subdued little, “Oh, my,” her big, round eyes going my way.

I crossed my arms over my chest in a defensive posture.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Cal asked.

“What? I should just sit back and let this creep systematically destroy everything around me? I can’t go home, I’m being babysat twenty-four seven, my neigh-bor’s dead, and someone’s trying to blow me up! Everywhere I go this guy is threatening me. I’m sick of it!”

“The police—” he started.

But I cut him off. “The police aren’t doing jack. You saw them test the scene yesterday—they came up with nothing. I’m tired of chasing leads to nowhere. I’m calling this guy out in the open.”

“And if he doesn’t turn himself in?”

I sighed. “I’m not stupid. There’s no way he’s turning himself in.”

Cal narrowed his eyes. “Then what exactly do you expect to accomplish with this bluff?” He threw the paper down on the table.

“Don’t you watch any cop shows?”

He didn’t answer, just glared.

“If he doesn’t want to see his name in the paper as a murderer, he’s got to shut me up before I turn in my column for tomorrow.”

Something shifted behind Cal’s eyes. “Shut you up.”

I nodded.

“You mean—”

“I mean he’s going to come after me, and that’s when I’ll catch him red-handed.”

A muscle twitched in Cal’s jaw. “No.”

“What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“No way am I letting you use yourself as bait.”

“This isn’t about you letting me do anything. It’s about me taking my life back.”

“Over my dead body.”

“Don’t tempt me,” I countered.

Cal threw his hands up in the air. “This is dangerous, reckless, and about the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Are you calling me stupid?” I thrust my chin up, hands on hips.

He ground his teeth together. “And just how, exactly, are you planning on catching this guy before he actually silences you?”

I bit my lip. “That’s kinda where you come in.”

“Me.” A statement, not a question.

“Yeah. You’re the trained bodyguard. With you watching my back, we’re sure to get the jump on him before he does on me. Right?”