So this is your friend, huh?” Lexie asked.

She gestured discreetly to the holding cell. Although Lexie had lived in Boone Creek all her life, she’d never had the privilege of visiting the county jail—until today.

Jeremy nodded. “He’s not normally like this,” he whispered back.

Earlier in the morning, they had packed their belongings and closed up the beach cottage, each reluctant to leave it behind. But when they drove off the ferry in Swan Quarter, Jeremy’s cell phone picked up enough signal strength to retrieve his messages. Nate had left four of them about the upcoming meeting; Alvin, on the other hand, had left a frantic one saying that he’d been arrested.

Lexie had dropped Jeremy off at his car, and he’d followed her back to Boone Creek, worried about Alvin, but worried about Lexie as well. Lexie’s disconcerting mood, which had started in the predawn darkness, had continued for the next few hours. Though she hadn’t pulled away when he slipped his arm around her on the ferry, she’d been quiet, gazing at the waters of the Pamlico Sound. When she smiled, it was only a flicker, and when he took her hand, she didn’t squeeze his. Nor would she talk about what she’d said to him earlier; strangely, she spoke instead about the numerous shipwrecks off the coast, and when he did try to steer the conversation toward more serious issues, she either changed the subject or didn’t answer at all.

Meanwhile, Alvin was languishing in the county jail, looking—to Lexie’s eyes, at least—like he belonged there. Dressed in a black Metallica T-shirt, leather pants and jacket, and a studded wristband, Alvin was staring at them with wild eyes, his face flushed. “I mean, what the hell kind of a cracker town is this? Does anything normal ever happen here?” He’d been going on in this vein from the moment Lexie and Jeremy arrived, and his knuckles were white as he squeezed the iron bars. “Now, can you please get me out of here?”

Behind them, Rodney stood scowling, his arms crossed, ignoring Alvin as he had been for the last eight hours. The guy whined way too much, and besides, Rodney was far more interested in Jeremy and Lexie. According to Jed, Jeremy hadn’t come back to his room last night, and Lexie hadn’t been at home, either. It could have been a coincidence, but he strongly doubted that, which meant they’d most likely spent the night together. Which wasn’t good at all.

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out,” Jeremy said, not wanting to rile Rodney any further. He’d seemed downright angry when Jeremy and Lexie showed up. “Tell me what happened.”

“What happened?” Alvin repeated, his voice rising. His eyes took on a crazed look. “You want to know what happened? I’ll tell you what happened! This whole place is nuts, that’s what happened! First, I get lost trying to find this stupid town. I mean, I’m driving down the highway, pass a couple of gas stations, and keep going, right? Since there doesn’t seem to be a town? And the next thing you know, I’m lost in the middle of a swamp for hours. I don’t find the town until almost nine o’clock. And then you’d think someone could give me directions to Greenleaf, right? I mean, how hard could it be? Small town, the only place to stay?

Well, I get lost again! And that’s after some guy at the gas station

talks my ear off for half an hour—”

“Tully,” Jeremy said, nodding.

“What?”

“The guy you talked to.”

“Yeah, whatever . . . so I finally get to Greenleaf, right? And the gigantic hairy guy there isn’t exactly friendly and sort of gives me the evil eye, hands me your note, and sticks me in this room with all these dead animals—”

“All the rooms are like that.”

“Whatever!” Alvin grunted. “And, of course, you’re not even around—”

“Sorry about that.”

“Would you let me finish?” Alvin hollered. “So, okay, I got your note and follow your directions to the cemetery, right? And I get there just in time to see the lights, and it’s fantastic, you know. Like for the first time in hours, I’m not pissed, right? So I head down to this place called Lookilu for a nightcap, which seems to be the only place in town open at that hour. And there’s only a couple of people in the whole place, so I get to talking to this gal named Rachel. And it’s going great. We’re really hitting it off, and then this guy walks in, looking like he just swallowed a porcupine . . .” He nodded toward Rodney. Rodney smiled without showing his teeth.

“So, anyway, a little while later, I go out to my car, and the next thing I know this guy is tapping on my window with his flashlight and asking me to step out of the car. So I ask why, and he tells me again to get out. And then he starts asking me how much I’ve had to drink and that maybe I shouldn’t be driving. So I tell him I’m fine and that I’m here working with you, and the next thing I know I’m locked up for the night! Now, get me out of here!”

Lexie looked over her shoulder. “Is that what happened, Rodney?”

Rodney cleared his throat. “To a point. But he forgot the part where he called me a big dumb Barney Fife and said that he’d have me brought up on charges for harassment if I didn’t let him go. He seemed so irrational that I thought he might be on drugs or get violent, so I brought him in for his own safety. Oh, and he called me a stupid musclehead, too.”

“You were harassing me! I didn’t do anything!”

“You were drinking and driving.”

“Two beers! I had two beers!” Alvin was looking maniacal again. “Check with the bartender! He’ll tell you!”

“I already did,” Rodney said, “and he told me you had seven drinks.”

“He’s lying!” Alvin shouted, his eyes swiveling to Jeremy. He looked through the bars, his face panicked between his hands. “I had two drinks! I swear, Jeremy! I would never drive if I had too much. I swear on my mother’s Bible!”

Jeremy and Lexie looked over at Rodney. He shrugged. “I was just doing my job. “

“Your job! Your job!” Alvin shouted. “Arresting innocent people! This is America and you can’t do that here! And this isn’t ending! When I get through with you, you won’t even be able to work security at Wal-Mart! Do you hear me, Barney! Wal-Mart!”

It was clear that the two of them had been going on like this most of the night.

“Let me talk to Rodney,” Lexie finally whispered.

When she left with the deputy, Alvin fell silent.

“We’ll get you out of here,” Jeremy reassured him.

“I don’t belong in here in the first place!”

“I know that. But you’re not helping yourself.”

“He’s harassing me!”

“I know that. But let Lexie handle it. She’ll take care of it.”

Out in the hallway, Lexie looked up at Rodney. “What’s really going on?” she asked.

Rodney wouldn’t meet her eyes; instead, he continued to look in the direction of the holding cell.

“Where were you last night?” he asked.

She crossed her arms. “I was at the cottage at the beach.”

“With him?”

Lexie hesitated, wondering about the best way to answer. “I didn’t go with him, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Rodney nodded, knowing she hadn’t answered completely, but suddenly realizing he didn’t want to know any more.

“Why did you arrest him? Honestly.”

“I wasn’t planning to. He brought it on himself.”

“Rodney . . .”

He turned around, lowering his head to his chest.

“He was hitting on Rachel, and you know how she can get when she drinks: all flirty and without a speck of common sense. I mean, I know it’s none of my business, but someone has to watch out for her.” He paused. “Anyway, when he was leaving, I went over to talk to this guy to see if he was planning to head over to her place and what kind of guy he was and he starts insulting me. And I wasn’t in the best of moods, anyway . . .”

Lexie knew the reason for that, and when Rodney trailed off, she said nothing. In time, Rodney shook his head, as if he were still trying to justify it to himself. “But the fact is, he was drinking and planning on driving. And that’s illegal.”

“Was he over the legal limit?”

“I don’t know. I never bothered to check.”

“Rodney!” she whispered loudly.

“He made me angry, Lexie. He’s rude and weird-looking and hitting on Rachel and calling me names, then he says he’s working with this guy . . .” He motioned with his head toward Jeremy.

Lexie laid a hand on his shoulder. “Listen to me, okay? You know that you will get in trouble if you keep him in here for no reason. Especially with the mayor. If he finds out what you did to the cameraman—especially after he’s gone through all this trouble to make sure the story turns out okay—he’ll cause trouble for you.” She let that sink in for a moment before going on. “And besides, you and I both know that the sooner you let him out, the sooner the both of them can leave.”

“You really think he’ll leave?”

Lexie looked Rodney in the eye. “His flight is tomorrow.”

For the first time, Rodney held her gaze. “Are you going with him?”

It took a moment for her to answer the question she’d been asking herself all morning. “No,” she whispered. “Boone Creek is my home. And this is where I’m staying.”

Ten minutes later, Alvin was walking out to the parking lot beside Jeremy and Lexie. Rodney was standing in the doorway of the county jail, watching them go.

“Don’t say anything,” Jeremy warned again, keeping hold of Alvin’s arm. “Just keep walking.”

“He’s a hick with a gun and a badge!”

“No, he isn’t,” Lexie said, her voice firm. “He’s a good guy no matter what you might think.”

“He arrested me for no reason!”

“And he also watches out for people who live here.”

They reached the car, and Jeremy motioned for Alvin to get in the backseat.

“This isn’t the end of this,” Alvin grumbled, crawling in. “I’m calling the D.A. That guy should be fired.”

“The best thing you can do is forget about it,” Lexie said, looking through the open car door at him.

“Forget about it? Are you insane? He was wrong and you know it!”

“Yes, he was. But since no charges were filed, you’ll let it go, anyway.”

“Who are you to tell me what to do?”

“I’m Lexie Darnell,” she said, drawling out her name. “And not only am I a friend of Jeremy’s, but I have to live here with Rodney, and I’m not lying when I say that I feel a lot safer with him around. Everyone in town feels safer because of him. You, on the other hand, are leaving tomorrow, and he’s not going to bother you again.” She smiled. “And c’mon, you have to admit that this will make one heck of a story when you get back to New York.”

He stared at her in disbelief before glancing at Jeremy. “She’s the one?” he asked.

Jeremy nodded.

“She’s pretty,” Alvin commented. “Maybe a little on the pushy side, but pretty.”

“Better yet, she cooks like an Italian.”

“As good as your mom?”

“Maybe better.”

Alvin nodded, silent for a moment. “I take it you think she’s right about dropping this whole thing.”

“I do. She understands this place better than you or me, and she hasn’t led me wrong yet.”

“So she’s smart, too, huh?”

“Very,” Jeremy said.

Alvin broke into a wolfish grin. “I take it you two were together last night.”

Jeremy said nothing.

“............