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“You knohat else?” Trent continued “I bet Dad is right now looking at blood splatter on a wall next to a dead body I ht? He’s a cop So whenever they find a dead guy with bullet holes in hi out of his neck, they call Dad in to the scene Isn’t he lucky? Isn’t that so cool?”

Mary Catherine winced, waiting for Chrissy to start screa came out

“Actually,” Chrissy said calross, like you”

Yes! Mary Catherine thought Chrissy was learning to defend herself One good thing about being athe ability to use the occasional sharp elbow Excellent job, young lass, Mary Catherine thought Offense was always the best defense

“Mary Catherine!” Trent yelled down the cellar stairs a second later “Chrissy called me stupid!”

“Stupid?” Mary Catherine said, winking at Chrissy as she made it back into the kitchen “I believe the terross”

CHAPTER 56

THE COFFEE MACHINE’S BEEPER went off as half the sleepy Bennett clan fed on flapjacks Mary Catherine took a porcelain cup out of the cabinet over the sink and filled it, carefully pouring in some half-and-half before she took it out the front door, onto the porch

She always loved going out in the ht before sunrise The creak of the old screen door The cold of the wind co down from the mountains, the feel of old porch floorboards under her bare feet

The deputy US marshal on watch, Leo Piccini, stood abruptly fro in and placed a copy of Ja of the porch, beside a Toughbook field laptop

The other ht smartphones to while away the hours on watch, but Leo always had a book with him Mary Catherine wondered how he read in the dark until one tiht-vision goggles

After Mike had left, the marshals had come and beefed up security even more than usual In addition to the now round-the-clock watch, yesterday they had co the property’s periht-vision video cameras She didn’t knoould be next Trip wires, maybe, and mines

She glanced at his weapon, an M4 auto on the floor of the porch in its open case, with a towel covering it It was scary to have to receive rade protection now But Mike had called the day before and told her about the raid About how they thought Perrine was in the US now There really was no choice but to put up with it

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that,” Leo said as Mary Catherine handed him the coffee

Oh, yes, I did, Mary Catherine thought