Irked at his teasing, she decided to cut to the chase.

“What do you want, Crutchfield? If you’re not here to kill me, you must have another reason. Please just spit it out, because, in case you couldn’t tell, I’m a little busy right now.”

The smile remained plastered to his face but his eyes lost their gleam and went cold.

“You are such a party pooper, Miss Jessie. And so ungrateful, what with me here to help you again.”

“Then help, Bolton,” she said curtly, using his first name to emphasize her point. “I’m tired of these games.”

He looked down for a moment, as if he’d lost a bit of self-control and was trying to find it again. When he looked up again, the mask had returned.

“With your harsh tone, you are making it quite hard for me to continue in the role of your guardian angel. And your repeated half-glances at your ankle are quite unsettling. I have important information for you, Miss Jessie. But I can only share it if I have assurances that you’re not going to try to reach for that pistol by your shoe. Can you give me that assurance?”

“How about I assure you that once I pull out that pistol and arrest you, you’ll do your talking down at the station?”

Crutchfield smiled at her as if she was a small child demanding to be taken for ice cream.

“I think we both know,” he said in his maddeningly soothing manner, “that that is the least likely outcome of our interaction. Trying would put you at physical risk. Even if you could pull it off, we both know that’s not really what you want. If I’m taken into custody, I won’t be sharing what I know. And what I know could be very useful to you the next time you run into your father, whose intentions toward you aren’t nearly as benevolent as mine. You have a decision to make, Miss Jessie.”

She did indeed. She could try to make a move for the gun. But every instinct she had told her that would end badly. She could continue to chat up the guy in the hopes that the cavalry would show up and get him. But he wasn’t dumb enough to stick around that long. And even if he did, that would sabotage all the work she’d done to get here and question the Jerebkos before the police interrupted. Finally, even if Crutchfield deigned to be arrested, she suspected he wasn’t bluffing. He wouldn’t say a word about her father, just to spite her.

So when it came down to it, there wasn’t really any choice at all.

“You have my word,” she said reluctantly. “I won’t go for the pistol unless you make an aggressive move. Now what do you know?”

He was just about to reply when Jessie heard a voice on the other side of the door and glanced in that direction.

“Who is it?” Gayle Jerebko called out. She must have heard them talking.