Joe flipped through the pages on his clipboard. “Interesting how Braden Cahill is this model citizen. No tickets. Not so much as a blip on his record anywhere. Brian Cold-well however…not so lucky.”

Braden snatched the opened Red Bull out of Joe’s hand and sat on the curb as he downed the contents. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Embezzling from an antique shop—”

“It was my uncle’s shop. He owed me back wages that he refused to pay. So I helped myself.”

“He prosecuted.”

“He’s an asshole.”

“Okay.” Joe could buy that easily enough, he’d been raised by an asshole. “You were also held and questioned about another matter. Money laundering.”

“Again, my uncle. When I discovered the truth about his business, and how he was laundering drug money through his shop, I quit. But then he was caught and they thought I’d helped him.”

“You hadn’t?”

“No, and I was never charged for anything.”

“True.” Joe tossed his file into the truck. “You have access to Creative Interiors’s books.”

Braden swiped a hand over his mouth. It was shaking, and Joe had no idea if that was nerves or the caffeine jolt he’d just given his system. “I’ve done nothing wrong,” he repeated.

“Then why are you leaving town?”

Braden closed his eyes and let out a harsh laugh. “To avoid this.”

“Haven’t you watched Cops? Running is always a bad thing.”

“I didn’t think of it as running. More an avoidance technique.”

“Well, you might want to rethink it,” Joe said. “Seriously rethink it.”

Braden got to his feet and pulled out his keys. “Are we done here?”

“For now.” Joe watched Braden stalk away before he got into his car just as his cell phone rang. “Walker.”

“So official.”

His entire body softened at the sound of Summer, even as a certain part of him went hard. Jesus, he was worse than Pavlov’s dog.

“Did you find Braden?” she asked.

“Yes. I think he’s going to rethink leaving for now.”

“Any news on the text message I received?”

“We’re tracing the number it was made from.”

“Did anyone else get a text message?”

“Not that we know of. Red, I’m telling you more than I should be.”

“I guess that means you trust me.”

That or he was a fool. He hadn’t decided which yet.

She was silent a moment. “The fires, the phone call, Braden lying…None of this makes any sense to me.”

“It will by the time we get to the bottom of it all.”

“You sound so sure.”

“I am.”

She let out a low laugh. “Do you have any idea how it feels to hear you sound so confident? So assertive?”

Confident and assertive? Was she kidding? He had no idea what the hell he was doing.