Blane paused mid-chew to glance at Kade, then rolled his eyes. “Let me guess,” he said, his irritation obvious. “He met up with you in a dark alley.”

“Mugging gone bad,” Kade replied. “Don’t you read the papers?” He shot Blane a look and I wasn’t sure who to believe, not that I cared much. My hatred for Keaston seemed to overshadow any qualms or ethics I had.

“Are you going to eat your pickle?” I interrupted, eyeing said pickle on Kade’s plate.

Kade looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Really? Pickles?”

I ignored his sarcasm. “Are you or not?”

Kade picked up the pickle spear and handed it to me. “You’re such a cliché,” he said, but he said it in a fond sort of way and the corner of his mouth twitched upward, so I didn’t think he really minded.

I chewed on the pickle while they talked.

“If not George, then I don’t know who,” Blane said. He finished off his burger. “It’s not like Robert lets anyone else get close enough.”

They both fell silent, thinking. I finished off the pickle, which had made me thirsty, so I copped a sip of Kade’s Coke.

“What about the wife?” I asked.

They both looked at me.

“Whose wife?” Kade asked.

“George’s,” I explained. “If Keaston had George into all kinds of bad stuff, which ended up getting him killed, she’s going to be angry. Resentful. And chances are she knows what’s up with Keaston, or could point us in the direction of where to look.”

“Us?” Blane asked.

I raised my eyebrows. “Surely you don’t think you two can go after Keaston and leave me behind?”

“Thought we could stash her with Mona,” Kade said to Blane. “Or maybe Clarice.”

“Clarice might be better,” Blane replied. “There’s no tie between the two of them anymore. They won’t think to look there.”

“Huh-uh, no way,” I interrupted. They both turned to look at me. “I am not going to sit this one out, nor am I going to bring danger to a friend’s doorstep. I either stay in my home, by myself, or I’m coming with you.”

Neither man looked pleased by my assertion, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to be sidelined.

“If she comes, we gotta drive,” Kade said to Blane. “The flight lists will be tagged to alert for her name.”

“Could you please stop talking about me as though I weren’t standing right here?” I said, irritated. I went to take their plates away, but saw Blane hadn’t eaten his pickle. I hesitated, then snagged it, holding it in my teeth while I carried the plates away. A ghost of a smile flitted across Blane’s lips.

Kade and Blane’s continued presence didn’t go unnoticed. More than a few glances were sent their way as the evening progressed, though the brothers didn’t seem to notice or care. Or if they did, I couldn’t tell. They were deep in conversation while I worked, and it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, especially since they didn’t seem to be arguing. I even caught Blane laughing once or twice and Kade grinned.

“Hey, Kathleen.”

I recognized Matt’s voice and turned to see that he and Steve had popped in and taken seats at the bar.

“Hey, guys,” I said with a warm smile. “No practice tonight?”

“Got rained out,” Steve said, jerking a thumb toward the windows. Sure enough, it was pouring outside.

I got them both draft beers, catching Matt looking across the bar at Kade and Blane.

“You going to tell us who the guys are?” Matt asked me.

I hesitated, but it wasn’t like it was a secret. “I met them in Indy,” I said. “Just some friends of mine. Thought they’d drop in for a visit, that’s all.”

“That one looks familiar,” Steve said, his face creasing in a frown. “Yeah, I know. He’s that guy running for governor, right? The one who dropped out?”

“Um, yeah, that’s him,” I confirmed, unsure what else to say.

“And you’re friends with him?” Steve asked, a bit of admiration creeping into his voice. “Wow. That’s cool.”

If Matt had been cranky before due to the presence of Blane and Kade, he was downright surly now. He finished his beer quickly and ordered another. As I delivered it, he started chatting with me.

“Remember old Mr. Tyler?” he asked.

“The basketball coach?”

“Yeah, that’s him. Well, he retired, but his son’s the coach now, you know Andy. And he married Betty McCarthy. They have two kids.”

“Really?” I said. “How ’bout that.” I was pulled down memory lane as Matt started reeling off names I knew and telling me what had happened to various high school friends. Even while I’d still lived in town when my mom was sick, I’d been so focused on paying the bills and caring for her that my social life had been nonexistent. I’d fallen out of touch with so many people.

The dinner rush was over, so I stood in front of Matt for a while as he continued to bring me up to speed on old friends and where-were-they-now. He had me laughing at a tale of how the geekiest kid had hit it big, and as a result, married the homecoming queen and moved to LA.

“And don’t get me started on Theresa Honeycutt,” Matt said with a laugh.

“What did she do?” I asked, grinning. Even I knew that Theresa had been dubbed Tiny Tits Theresa in high school.

“She decided she wanted a boob job,” Matt said, “so she went someplace in Indy, came back, I shit you not, like a double F or some shit like that. I thought Sal’s eyes were gonna pop right out when he saw her.”

“Oh my God!” I giggled, shaking my head. Theresa had always struck me as having more ambition than sense. Why someone would want boobs that big was beyond me. I was pushing a C cup and definitely wouldn’t want to be any bigger.

Steve had been laughing with us, but suddenly stopped. He took a nervous swig of his beer, then said, “Kathleen, I think your, uh, friends need a refill . . . or something.”

I glanced over my shoulder to Blane and Kade, then sucked in a breath.

Blane had always been on the possessive side, so it shouldn’t have surprised me to see the hard glare he was sending Matt’s way. But considering our new “friends” status, I wasn’t expecting him to still display that streak toward me, yet that’s exactly what he appeared to be doing. And as for Kade . . . Well, he’d apparently left the notion of possessive way behind, and by the look in his eyes, had already moved on to contemplating Matt’s untimely demise.

“Um, yeah, I’d better go see what they want,” I said uneasily.

“And they’re just friends?” Matt scoffed, bitterness edging his words.

I cleared my throat. “Maybe a little more than friends,” I admitted.

I thought Steve’s eyes were going to bug out of his head. “Both of them?” he asked.

My face felt on fire at the look Matt gave me. I didn’t bother answering Steve—it wasn’t any of their business anyway—and I scurried back to Blane and Kade.

“Will you two stop with the glaring at Matt?” I hissed at them. “Now he thinks I’m sleeping with both of you!”

Kade just raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“At the same time,” I clarified, my embarrassment reaching new heights, or lows, depending on how you looked at it.

Kade’s smirk got bigger. “That would be—”

“Awkward,” Blane cut him off.

I covered my burning face with my hands, moaning, “Oh my God . . .”

“Yeah, on that note, I’m gonna bug out,” Blane said, getting to his feet.

I dropped my hands. “Wait, where are you going?”

“Since it looks like we’re driving to DC, he’s heading home to pack a bag,” Kade answered.

I let out a breath, not sure why I was relieved. “Oh. Okay then.”

“I’ll grab Tigger and see if Mona will watch him,” Blane said. “I’m sure she will.”

My hand rested on the bar and Blane reached out, giving it a light squeeze. “I’ll be back in the morning,” he said reassuringly, then he clapped a hard hand to Kade’s shoulder. “Kade’ll pick up my tab, won’t you, Kade.”

Kade grimaced. “Why do I think I’ll be picking up your tab for the foreseeable future?”