“A warrant for what?”

“Fraud.

Child endangerment.

I’m not going to explain it twice.”

She stood there with her mouth half open, and I could see it happening behind her eyes: the math she was doing, the questions she was afraid to ask because she might be part of the answer.

“Don’t ever set foot on my property again,” I said.

I closed the door and threw the deadbolt.

The click was heavy and solid, a sound that went all the way through the frame and into the floorboards.