‘Well, I just keep going back to the amazing fact that events always seem to work out exactly the way you want them to. Birch didn’t get exposed. He got killed. He became a martyr. Common Way became bigger than ever. Instead of losing everything, you wound up with even more power and money than you started with.’

‘Only by losing the love of my life,’ Caprice reminded him acidly.

‘The love of your life? That’s sweet, but I recall you saying your relationship was mostly political. And if Lyle talked, well, that would have been the end of his political usefulness, wouldn’t it?’

‘How dare you,’ she snapped.

‘I’m afraid emotional outrage doesn’t become you, Caprice. It’s not convincing. Isn’t it remarkable that Deacon chose to kill Lyle because he was afraid of going to prison for the hit and run – and yet he chose to do it in a way that also took care of a huge political problem for you? Birch dead, Lyle dead, it was like winning the lottery, wasn’t it?’

Caprice slapped his face. Hard. Cab touched his cheek, which bore the crimson mark of her hand. He laughed. ‘Are those nails or claws? “Tyger! Tyger! burning bright / In the forest of the night / What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” Peach reminded me about that poem. I couldn’t help but think of you.’

‘Shut up.’

Cab smiled at her, completely unaffected. His calm drove her crazy. He reached inside his pocket and slid out a photograph. ‘See this picture? I got it from an electrician in Ocala. He’s a reformed member of the Liberty Empire Alliance. A true believer who ran out of anger. It’s a picture he took outside an Alliance meeting in the spring ten years ago. They don’t like pictures, but he was actually shooting a photo of where his car was parked because he was pissed that he got a ticket. Turns out he got a few of the Alliance members in the background of the photo. Anyone look familiar?’

She didn’t look at the picture. ‘No.’

‘The kid with the red hair? Definitely Deacon Piper.’

Caprice shrugged. ‘Good for you, Cab. You’ve discovered concrete evidence that Deacon had Alliance sympathies. That explains a lot. He killed Birch for the Alliance, and he killed Lyle for his own reasons. Ham Brock got him to do the same thing to Diane. Probably with Ramona’s encouragement.’

‘And once again, things work out perfectly for you.’

‘I don’t like your tone, Cab.’