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Crossing back to her side of the car, Johnny said, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, really.” She looked away so she wouldn’t glare at him.

“He’s a stranger. You can’t blame me for being suspicious.”

“It’s a wonder anyone leaves home anymore.”

“Will you vouch for him? I’m going to have to report this. If I have a contact for him, it won’t look suspicious. As suspicious.”

Alex looked at her across the roof of the car. She could say the word right now, and Johnny would arrest him on suspicion of—of being a stranger in a small town. She still didn’t know anything about him. For all she knew, he really was a terrorist bent on the destruction of Hopes Fort.

Like anyone would notice the destruction of Hopes Fort.

“Yes. Sure.”

“Okay. I’m still going to keep an eye on him.”

She and Alex were allowed to return to the car. They had to wait for the police cars to pull out of the way before they could continue on.

They were well out of town, on the prairie road to the Walker house, before either of them said anything.

“That could have gone badly,” she said.

“They were more scared than we were, I think.”

“You weren’t scared at all.” He certainly acted like he was immune to bullets.

He laughed, shaking his head. The expression quickly turned somber again. “You didn’t have to stand up for me back there. You could have gotten rid of me.”

And she may yet regret that decision, she thought. Evie pulled into the driveway and shut off the engine. “Let me see that wallet.”

She was surprised that he didn’t argue. He pulled the wallet out of the same pocket and handed it to her. Inside, she found a Georgia driver’s license with his photo on it, alongside the name Simon Philips. Hometown, Athens.

“Not Alex?” He only glanced at her out the corner of his eye. “Johnny’s check came up clean. How’d you hide your wallet from them?”

He swiped the wallet out of her hand and deliberately opened his coat to drop it in the inside pocket. “Magic,” he said. He opened the coat again. The pocket showed no obvious bulge. She resisted an urge to pat down his coat. “Also, letting people draw their own conclusions is not the same as lying.”

Her sigh probably sounded excessively annoyed. She felt suddenly exhausted. Getting stopped at a police roadblock did that to a person.

Mab was on the front porch, her head lifted, watching them approach the house. She didn’t leap forward, tail wagging, to greet Evie as she did with the elder Walker—Evie guessed she was still too new for the dog to feel protective. This time, Mab watched Alex.

Evie walked ahead. “Hey, Mab. Hey, girl.” She hadn’t been around dogs since she moved away and felt awkward talking to this one, like she was as much a stranger here as Alex. She didn’t have a right to be talking to Mab this way.

Mab glanced at her, twitched her tail slightly, then turned back to Alex, riveting him with her stare.

Alex stopped. “She doesn’t like me, I think.”

“She just doesn’t know you.” As she reached the first step of the porch, she noticed just how big Mab was. She must have weighed two hundred pounds. Evie offered her hand to the beast. Mab sniffed it, flattening her ears in a contrite gesture.

When Alex put his foot on the first step, Mab growled.

Evie almost jumped back. Instead, she forced herself to scratch the silky fur on Mab’s head. Mab looked back and forth between them, her brown eyes earnest, by turns beseeching when they looked at Evie, threatening when they came to Alex. He stood with his hands at his sides, his face calm.

What would he do if Mab attacked him?

Alex took a second step onto the porch. Mab’s growling doubled.

Evie took the dog’s head in her hands and forced her to break eye contact with Alex.