“Bring me paperwork, not feelings.”

Delaney walked out ahead of her lawyer, and out in the hallway she paused to study her nails while Ms.

Vance murmured in her ear.

The deputy stood at the foot of the porch steps at twelve thirty with his hat in his hand, and Micah came out first.

He carried the yellow cereal box crushed flat at one corner, holding it the way a man carries a briefcase, and he stopped three feet from the boards.

“Hey, pal,” I said.