‘Report?’ Diesel asked, drawing the word out. ‘As in, file a police report?’

‘Yes.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘What kind of report are you talking about?’

‘No, no,’ Diesel said, waving his hands. ‘Police report is what you wanted to know. The answer to your question is no. I don’t think so.’

‘No, or you don’t think so?’ Scarlett asked.

‘Well, any kook can file a police report,’ Diesel said with a shrug. ‘So anything’s possible.’

She sighed. ‘What exactly did you all do? I need to know.’

Stone folded his arms over his chest. ‘A few assholes might have fallen a few times.’

‘Into doors,’ Diesel added. ‘Or asphalt. Or knuckles.’

‘How hard might they have fallen?’ Scarlett asked.

‘The worst time was when the boys beat some asshole up,’ Lisette said.

‘Which boys?’ Scarlett demanded.

Stone shook his head. ‘Not me. I got an alibi. I was covering an election in Colombia.’

Scarlett looked at Marcus. ‘You?’

Marcus nodded, unrepentant. ‘He was stupid enough to throw the first punch. Look, the SOB had tricked his daughter’s best friend into telling him where his wife and kids were hiding, and had gone to their house to drag them back once he got out of jail for molesting his own kids and a few of the neighbors’. The daughter’s friend warned them he was coming when she realized she’d been tricked. The man’s soon-to-be ex-wife called us.’

‘Why didn’t she call the cops?’ Scarlett asked, and another hush fell over the table.

‘He was a cop,’ Marcus said quietly.

Scarlett exhaled. ‘Shit. You beat up a cop?’

‘A little,’ Diesel said.

‘A lot,’ Marcus corrected. ‘And I’m not sorry. He was not going to be satisfied until they were dead. We threatened to call the cops on him, and he attacked us. So we convinced him to leave and not come back. He did leave – for that day. I worried he’d come back, so we installed a high-tech alarm system in the woman’s house and got her a very large dog. He never came back. A few weeks later he died, but not because of anything we did to him.’

Scarlett rubbed her temples, trying to recall the case. Cops going to jail for molesting children didn’t happen every day. In a rush, the man’s name and face came back to her and she blew out a breath. ‘You’re right. I knew him. He was a prick who liked to bully anyone weaker than he was. He moved to California and died there. A bar fight or road rage, wasn’t it? He was beaten up pretty severely, but I can’t remember all the details.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘Were you responsible for that?’

‘No,’ Marcus said. ‘We had our run-in with him before that. But none of us cried for him. It happened when I was in the hospital. Stone was recuperating at home. Diesel was with Cal and Lisette, keeping the paper running.’

Scarlett turned to look at Diesel and he met her gaze without flinching. ‘I didn’t do it,’ he said. ‘The asshole got drunk and got grabby with a waitress in a bar, which made her steroid-juiced bodybuilder boyfriend very unhappy. Boyfriend is sitting in jail, waiting for his trial.’ He smiled nastily. ‘I wrote the article about it, though.’

‘O-kay,’ she murmured, hoping that she never saw Diesel truly angry. That evil smile of his was enough to raise the hairs on the back of her neck. She looked at Marcus. ‘Were there any other incidents?’

‘A few. Mostly we just had Diesel pay them a visit. He rarely had to do more than raise a finger to convince them to walk away.’ He pointed to the flash drive. ‘I’ll tell you all the details when we go over the list.’

‘What about names that aren’t on this list?’ she asked. ‘People you’ve investigated that haven’t made threats? Or the targets of ongoing investigations that haven’t been closed, or who you haven’t exposed or “gently coerced” yet?’

Lisette drew a sharp breath. ‘Mr Arrogant. Phillip was asking questions in his office today.’

‘But that doesn’t explain the alley or the sniper,’ Marcus said.

Lisette’s shoulders slumped. ‘You’re right.’

‘Who is Mr Arrogant?’ Scarlett asked.

‘His real name is Rich McKay,’ Lisette said. ‘He’s a corporate attorney. Works for Wesman Peal, the department store chain. He’s a vice-president there.’

‘And attorneys know just how to slither around the law,’ Scarlett said coldly. ‘What was Phillip doing in his office?’

‘Trying to find an employee list,’ Marcus said. ‘We figured if he’s beating his wife and kid, he may have been aggressive with his office staff too. Phillip posed as a courier.’

‘Then we can use that,’ Scarlett said, thinking. ‘We can say we’re checking out all the places that Phillip’s been today as part of our investigation into his attack. Anything else? Any other ongoing cases we need to consider?’

‘No,’ Stone said. ‘Things have been very quiet since the fall.’

Since Mikhail’s murder.

‘We were just starting to gear back up,’ Marcus added.

Scarlett nodded. ‘I understand. But you’re right,’ she said to Marcus. ‘I don’t think Mr Arrogant is involved in Phillip’s attack, because of the shooting this afternoon. If we assume you were the target, the sniper had to either have been waiting at the Anders house or he followed us there.’

Marcus’s face suddenly paled. ‘Oh shit. Delores.’

Stone stiffened. ‘What about Delores?’

The brothers’ gazes locked. ‘We’d just come from her house,’ Marcus said. ‘She identified the dog that Tala had been walking in the park. That’s how we got the Anderses’ address. We drove straight from Delores’s shelter to Hyde Park.’

Stone also paled. ‘They could have hurt her. Goddammit to hell.’ His hands visibly shaking, he pulled out his cell phone and hit a number from his speed dial while the rest of them looked on in stunned surprise. After a moment, he relaxed. ‘I was just wondering about your hours,’ he said into the phone. ‘Thank you.’

Scarlett looked at Marcus, but he appeared equally confused.

‘Um . . .’ Marcus hesitated. ‘Did you have her on speed dial?’

Stone had gone from pale to bright red in a heartbeat. ‘Yes.’

‘You just asked for her hours,’ Diesel said, brows lifted.

Stone’s frown was formidable. ‘Drop it. I’m serious.’ He stared at each person around the table harshly. ‘I worry about her being all the way out in Bumfuck. I keep track of her, okay? I just wanted to be sure she was okay.’

‘Loveland isn’t Bumfuck,’ Scarlett said mildly.

He turned his fury on her. ‘She lives in the middle of nowhere all alone. Anyone could break in and she couldn’t defend herself.’

Scarlett suspected that more was going on, but knew not to push. Stone’s feelings were his own. But she could soothe his fears. ‘She has a great big dog and I’ve given her lessons on operating a firearm myself. She’s a pretty good shot. You don’t need to worry so much.’

The big man drew a deep breath. ‘Thank you,’ he muttered. ‘That’s helpful.’

‘I’ll send an officer out to her place to check on her, and I’ll recommend she find somewhere to stay for a few days,’ she said, and the glance Stone flashed her was grateful even though he made no further reply.

The brother sitting beside her squeezed her knee. ‘Thank you,’ Marcus murmured.

She covered his hand with hers. ‘It’s nothing. She’s a good person. And my friend. You should also consider adding security at the Ledger building. Maybe even at all of your personal residences. Especially your mother’s house, Marcus. Gayle’s house too. If they failed luring you with Phillip, they may try again, and your mom and Audrey are alone right now. Gayle’s safe here, but she has to go home to sleep at some point.’

Both Marcus and Stone paled. ‘We should have thought about that already, dammit,’ Stone said, then sent a quick text, talking as he typed. ‘I’m contacting the company that does security for Audrey’s fund-raisers. I’ll post guards at both houses and at the Ledger.’