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A new thought lands. “Kaz, I’ll do this—but you will submit an affidavit to Judge Colbeck. We can keep it under seal, but you will tell him how High Mesa and Jessup have been attempting to influence his court.”

Kaz shifts uncomfortably. “Well, Taya, if the case is closed by then⁠—”

“You will submit an affidavit, or there’s no deal.” I lift my chin.

He sighs. “If the federal attorneys give me the sign-off.”

“Get the sign-off,” I suggest.

“Counselor is playing hardball,” the Sheriff murmurs appreciatively.

“Whose side are you on?” Kaz snaps.

“Mine.” The Sheriff points at his own chest. “And hers, and probably the rest of the world’s, before I’d be on yours. You’ve been a thorn in my side with your covert operations. Can’t wait for you to leave the Bureau so I can arrest your ass next time you’re doing seventy in a forty.”

Kaz lets out a short bark of laughter. “Don’t believe him, Taya. He loves me.”

“Like a heart attack,” the Sheriff counters.

We talk through the details—the how, the when, the limits.

“He’ll make contact soon,” Kaz says as we wind down. “He doesn’t know we know he’s been added to the team, so he’ll think he’s getting ahead of it.”

“He always thinks he’s getting ahead of something,” I quip.

“Once he makes contact, we regroup.”

The Sheriff clears his throat. “Ah—Kaz, you need to make sure all relevant parties are informed about Taya’s involvement.”

I frown.

The Sheriff wiggles his eyebrows. “Brooks is going to⁠—”

“Mason is not part of this.” I cut him off.

The Sheriff and Kaz look at each other.

It’s a brief look—the kind two people exchange when they’ve already discussed something and arrived at a shared position.

“Taya.” Kaz uses his patient voice, which I’m convinced he deploys when someone is digging in. “He’s going to find out. He’s gonna be worried about your safety. And when he⁠—”

“He doesn’t get a vote,” I thunder. “He doesn’t get to have feelings about my safety. That’s not where we are.”

“I understand that’s how you feel. He’s not going to feel the same way.”

“Are you working with him, Kaz?”

He goes very quiet.

I look at the ceiling the way Dillon did five minutes ago, except I’m looking for patience rather than entertainment.

Serenity now, Taya.

“I’m going to tell him,” Kaz continues, ignoring my question. “And I have a feeling that as soon as I do, he’ll be forty feet away from you. I want you to know that upfront.”

Are all these people out of their minds? Mason doesn’t care about me. If he did, he wouldn’t have done what he did. If he did, he would have loved me back instead of rejecting me in my grandmother’s kitchen with his jaw set and his coward’s answer.

“Upfront can go fuck itself and so can he,” I say saccharine sweet, with a massive sprinkle of sarcasm.