Chapter 14: The Lease

Cal's POV

The sheriff wanted this done quietly, and the lawn would not let him.

Forty people with cameras had followed the cruiser up the drive, and they stood in a loose ring on the grass, pretending to drink coffee.

I stood in the middle of it with a brown envelope in my good hand.

My other hand throbbed under the gauze, which was a thing I could think about instead of my brother.

Graham stood ten feet away in his good suit, saying nothing.

Nora had come up the drive behind me and stopped at my shoulder, close enough that I felt her.

Delphine hung back by the porch with the boy, and she did not meet my eyes.

"Mr. Rowntree," the sheriff said. "Mrs. Rowntree has asked that you be removed from this property."

"Which Mrs. Rowntree?" Nora said.

"The one who owns it."

"On paper."

"On paper is what I've got, Ms. Kittredge."

I held out the envelope.

"My lease," I said. "Signed by Edith Kittredge, witnessed, three years remaining. Rent paid to the day."

He read it slowly, with his lips moving a little.

The cameras leaned in.

Graham shifted his weight and said nothing.

"A tenant isn't a trespasser," the sheriff said at last. He sounded relieved. "This is a civil matter, folks. Whoever wants him out needs a court."

A young deputy looked at his shoes.

Somewhere in the crowd a camera shutter clicked, and then four more.

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