The old man frowned at him, then sighed. “But when a Rawlins gets something in his teeth, he doesn’t let go.” He ran the back of his fingers over the underside of his chin. “As near as I can remember, the sheriff went to school with your mother. Cady had a bad habit of leaving broken hearts in her wake.”

Free tossed her long blond ponytail over one shoulder. “It doesn’t count as breaking someone’s heart if they never had a piece of yours.”

I could feel Girl stalking in the shadows of my mind. She hadn’t forgotten about the knives or the guns in the cases. She hadn’t forgotten the trap. I’d officially reached my limit on chitchat.

Ash, I reminded myself. We’d come here to ask about Ash.

“John Ashby,” I said, knowing that I’d reached my capacity for human interaction but pushing forward for Jude’s sake. “Did Cady break his heart?”

It wasn’t subtle, but it was the best I could do. I couldn’t make eye contact, couldn’t keep my teeth from gritting so hard that I could hear it in my ears.

Jude nudged me toward the door. “We’ll take it from here.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice.

The rush of cool air that hit my face when I flew out the door calmed me. Maybe the sheriff had gotten under my skin, or maybe the events of the day were catching up with me. Either way, I fell back on habit and began counting down from one hundred.

By seventy, I’d quelled the desire to run.

By fifty, I’d managed to turn my mind to Free and Jude and the questions they were probably still asking inside.

One for all, and all for trouble. No matter how many lines Free added to the Miscreants’ Creed, the last one was always the same.

Thirty. I could breathe. Twenty. The sound of the door opening behind me told me that I wasn’t alone.

“Would now be a good time to share some excellent news?” Jude appeared beside me.

Nineteen. Eighteen. A breeze lifted my hair away from my face as I finished the countdown. I stared up at the mountain’s peak. I could feel it, like a magnet or a black hole or a siren’s song calling me home.

In. Out. In. Out. I breathed, and Jude timed his breaths to mine. “I sense that now would be a good time to share some excellent news!”

“You got the information you wanted?” I asked.

“No.” Jude grinned. “The old man was remarkably silent on the topic of whether or not Mom and Ash were involved. However, he did share that John Ashby left town with Mom and Mac way back when.”

“The difference is that Ash didn’t come back,” Free added.