“From us.” Kevin pulled a piece of paper from his pocket on which he had written down a number, a large number, a generous sum of money that would cover Roger’s loan and even put some cash into his back pocket. It was a number so generous that Roger couldn’t help but put the paper down as his eyes welled up with tears.

“Are you serious? You would do this for me?”

“If you’d let us, yes.”

“But, Detective, this is more than—”

“Think of it as payment for future services. If you agree, and I hope that you do, we intend to make good use of you. You know this property better than anyone, and it’s in our own interests if we can pick up the phone and talk to you whenever we need help. We’re newcomers to all this, my daughter and I, but we’re eager to learn, and we’d love for you to be involved, as little or as much as you would like.”

“And the horses?”

Amy leaned forward. “Them too,” she said. “This is their home, and we’d love to keep them here, but only if that’s okay with you.”

“You don’t know what this means to me. I don’t know what to say.”

“We’re hoping you’ll say yes,” Kevin said.

“Yes,” Roger said, his voice choking up with tears. “Of course, my answer is yes.”

•••

“Are you mad ?” Jack spluttered, nearly ejecting a mouthful of beer. “Kevin, I sent you down there for the night, not to quit your job and buy the place. Jesus.”

“It’s a little out of the blue, I know,” Kevin said.

“Out of the blue? It’s extreme is what this is. Isn’t there some rule about making life-changing decisions when you’re in grief? You only lost Helen a month ago. You’re still hurting. Are you sure everything’s all right? Are you sure you’re thinking straight?”

“My leaving CID has been a long time coming, you know that.”

“Maybe,” Jack conceded. “But to uproot your life and move to the country? Is that really necessary?”

“I’ve got you to thank, Jack. You thought we needed to get out of the city, and you were right.”

“Gee, that makes me feel a lot better.” Jack set his bottle down and slumped against a banister on Kevin’s back porch, shaking his head. It was a good few minutes before he managed to speak again. “You do know what you’re doing, don’t you?”