Excerpt of Included!

DOWN RIVERturned flat against the house. Dolf, Jamie, and my father stood together next toDolf ’s truck. The old men looked furious; Jamie chewed on a fingernail andnodded at me. I looked for Parks Templeton and found him in his long, expensivecar. He had a cell phone to his ear, one leg hanging out of the open cardoor. He did a double take when he saw us, and hung up the phone. Wereached my father at the same time.Parks aimed a finger at Robin. “Tell me that you have not been speaking toher.”“I know what I’m doing.”“No, you do not.”“Let’s talk in a minute,” I said to Robin. She turned away and mounted thesteps to the porch. I turned back to Parks. “Can you do anything about this?” Igestured at the house.“We’ve been through that,” my father said. “The warrant is legal.”“How long have they been here?”“Twenty minutes.”I spoke to Parks. “Tell me about the warrant.”“There’s no need—”“Tell him,” my father said.Parks drew himself up. “It’s limited in scope. That’s good. It gives the policethe authority to seize any handguns and handgun ammunition on the premises.”“That’s it?” I asked.“Yes.”“That should have taken two minutes. They’re looking for a .38. It’s rightthere in the gun cabinet.”The lawyer put a finger across his lips, tapped once. “How do you knowthey’re looking for a .38?”“Because that’s what killed Danny. I learned that from her.” I gestured atthe house, held the lawyer’s eyes until he was forced to nod. It was good information.“They should have had it by now,” I said. “They should be gone.”For a moment no one spoke. I wish that it had stayed like that.“I hid it,” Dolf finally said.“What?” Jamie slipped off the hood of the truck. Sudden anger boiled offhim. “You hid it? No reason to hide a gun unless you’ve got something to hide.”147