“There were two men earlier—they tried to break in,” Mary Beth told them. “They said they were killing marijuana fields but I guess they were growing it. They might all be working together.”

“Where’s Bell?” Lucy asked. “And Mason?”

“He’ll be here in a half hour,” Rhyme said.

Lucy shook her head in dismay at this information. Then looked again out the window. She stiffened as, it seemed, she sighted a target. She lifted the pistol, aimed quickly.

Too quickly.

“No, let me!” Sachs cried.

But Lucy fired twice. Her grimace told them she had missed. She squinted. “Sean’s just found a can. A red can. What is that, Garrett? Gas?” The boy huddled on the floor, frozen in panic. “Garrett! Talk to me!”

He turned toward her.

“The red can? What’s in it?”

“It’s, like, kerosene. For the boat.”

Lucy muttered, “Hell, they’re going to burn us out.”

“Shit,” Garrett cried. He rolled to his knees, staring at Lucy, eyes frantic.

Sachs, alone among them, it seemed, knew what was coming. “No, Garrett, don’t—”

The boy ignored her and flung the door open and, half running, half crawling, skittered along the porch. Bullets cracked into the wood, following him. Sachs had no idea if he’d been hit.

Then there was silence. The men moved closer to the cabin with the kerosene.

Sachs looked around the room, filled with dust from the impact of the bullets. She saw:

Mary Beth, hugging herself, crying.

Lucy, her eyes filled with the devil’s own hatred, checking her pistol.

Thom, slowly bleeding to death.

Lincoln Rhyme, on his back, breathing hard.

You and me …

In a steady voice Sachs said to Lucy, “We’ve got to go out there. We’ve got to stop them. The two of us.”

“There’re three of them, they’ve got rifles.”

“They’re going to set fire to the place. And either burn us alive or shoot us when we run outside. We don’t have any choice. Take the cuffs off.” Sachs held out her wrists. “You have to.”

“How can I trust you?” Lucy whispered. “You ambushed us at the river.”

Sachs asked, “Ambushed? What’re you talking about?”

Lucy scowled. “What am I talking about? You used that boat as a lure and shot at Ned when he went out to get it.”

“Bullshit! You thought we were under the boat and shot at us.”

“Only after you …” Then Lucy’s voice faded, and she nodded knowingly.

Sachs said to the deputy, “It was them. Culbeau and the others. One of them shot first. To scare you and slow you up probably.”

“And we thought it was you.”

Sachs held her wrists out. “We don’t have any choice.”

The deputy looked at Sachs carefully then slowly reached into her pocket and found her cuff key. She undid the chrome bracelets. Sachs rubbed her wrists. “What’s the ammunition situation?”