I folded my hands over the green ledger, then made myself let go of it.

I set the bond under the light and traced my real signature once more, slowly, the way I’d signed the deed.

Those loops matched the deed.

They didn’t match what Kurt had described.

At seven thirty the next morning a squad car pulled into the driveway, its tires crunching the frozen gravel.

Vance Fiske climbed out of the passenger seat, his dark leather boots gleaming even in the dull gray morning.

A Dunn County deputy got out after him, staring down at the clipboard in his hands as if he’d rather be anywhere else in the county.