Her phone rang. She was grateful for the interruption.

‘Fruity,’ her brother said when she answered. The connection was bad; the storm was already eroding the quality of the signal.

‘Hey.’

‘I’m in the office, where are you?’

Peach hesitated. She didn’t want to admit what she was doing. ‘The library,’ she said.

‘Caprice told me about last night.’

‘Yeah, I figured.’

There was a long pause. The connection flitted in and out, making him stutter. ‘I am pretty pissed, you know that, right? Caprice said you made contact with Macy. Do you know what kind of man he is? He may look like Leo DiCaprio, but he’s not.’

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t go there alone. Annalie was with me—’

‘You could have gotten her killed, too!’

Peach felt like crying again. ‘Don’t yell at me, Deacon.’

Her brother went quiet. She thought for a moment that she’d lost the call, but then she could hear him breathing. ‘I know. I’m sorry. Look, do you think I ignored what you said? I started investigating Macy myself as soon as you told me about him.’

‘What did you find?’ Peach asked.

‘I hooked up with some of my contacts who know the Liberty Empire Alliance pretty well. Word is, their recruitment efforts are strong in the state prison system. If Macy spent eight years there, maybe they got to him.’

‘You think he’s tied in to Ham Brock?’

‘I don’t know. I’m still asking around.’

‘Ramona Cortes represented both of them.’

‘Yeah, I know. Interesting, huh? Look, I’m going to try to follow—’

He stopped talking.

‘Deacon?’

And then again: ‘Deacon?’

She looked at her phone. The call was gone. She tried dialing his number, but she had no signal.

Peach fidgeted impatiently. Suddenly, Lake Wales felt far away from everything. She didn’t know what she was doing here. She spent half an hour pretending to study the newspapers and hoping Deacon would call back, but when he didn’t, she decided she should go. She put the box of microfiche on the shelf to be refiled. She headed for the exit door, but the librarian called to her.

‘Did you find what you needed?’

Peach stopped at the desk and gave her a weak smile. ‘Oh, yes, thanks. It was very helpful.’

‘I’m so sorry again about your fiancé.’

‘Thank you.’

‘You be careful in the storm, okay? The best thing to do is find somewhere to hole up and let it all blow over.’

‘Yes, you’re right,’ Peach said. She turned away, but as she did, she thought of another question. ‘Oh, there’s one other thing, if you don’t mind. I was wondering, did Justin ask you anything about someone named Alison?’

The librarian stared at her. ‘Alison? I don’t think so. Do you have a last name?’

‘I don’t.’

‘Do you know anything else about her?’