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“You’ll make us start thinking you have something to hide.”
    â€œGo get your warrant,” Ali challenged.
    â€œWhat’s your name?” Collins asked.
    â€œMalcolm X.”
    â€œVery funny. We’ll be back—with a warrant,” Collins said.
    â€œYou do that.” Ron watched them leave before kicking his chair clear across the room. It slammed against the wall and flipped over. He threw his hands up in the air and began turning in a slow circle. “What the hell was that?” He stuck his arm out toward the door then ran his hands across his head. “I don’t believe this crap. The Panthers, I was seventeen damned years old.” He looked toward the ceiling. “I know they’ve never stopped watching and listening. I’ve seen the ‘unmarked’ cars from time to time, the clicks on my phone line. But they’ve never approached me—accused me of something.”
    â€œLook, man, you have nothing to hide.”
    â€œI know I don’t,” he snapped. He blew out a breath.
    â€œIf they are really investigating and not just trying to give you a hard time, my name is eventually going to come up.”
    Ron looked at him. “And?”
    â€œHey, man, you know my slate ain’t clean, especially from back in the day.”
    Ron waved off his concern. “We’ll deal with it.” He lowered himself into an upright chair. “We need to go through our records. Check our Philly supplier.”
    â€œYeah, and, in the meantime, I suggest you get a lawyer. Just in case.”
    â€œYou’re right. Everybody is so paranoid, these days, there’s no telling what those fools might cook up.” He slammed his fist down on the desk. “Dammit!”
    â€œDo you have an attorney?”
    â€œDo I look like the kind of guy that keeps an attorney at the end of a phone…just in case?”
    â€œAll right, all right, look, we need to find someone.”
    â€œYeah. Hey, Ellie’s friend, Ann Marie, her guy is an attorney.”
    â€œCan you call him?”
    â€œI’m sure Ellie can get a number for me.”
    He got up and went to the phone. He dialed the spa, expecting Elizabeth to pick up, but he got Barbara, instead.
    â€œ Pause for Men, how can I help you? Barbara speaking.”
    â€œHi, Barbara, it’s Ron. Can I speak to Ellie?”
    Barbara winced. “She’s not here right now. Can I give her a message?”
    Ron checked his watch. It was barely eleven. “Did she say where she was going or how long she was going to be?”
    Barbara started to respond but divine intervention let her off the hook.
    â€œUh, never mind, I’ll call her on her cell. Thanks, Barbara.” He hung up and dialed Elizabeth’s cell phone. It rang and rang until it went into voice mail. Ron frowned. “Hey, Ell, it’s me. Listen, can you give me a call as soon as possible. It’s important. Thanks.”
    Ali returned from the back storage room. “Did you get her?”
    â€œNaw,” he said absently, his mind turning in a direction he didn’t want to go in. “Left a message for her on her cell.”
    Ali angled his head to the side. “You cool?”
    Ron looked up. “Yeah, yeah. Look, we need to head on over to the construction site.”
    â€œRight. Ready when you are.”
    Ron got his bag, turned off the lights and set the alarm.
    Where was Elizabeth?
    Â 
    Elizabeth pulled her car to a stop in front of Matt’s apartment, after stopping at the pharmacy to drop off his prescription for antibiotics and pain killers. She’d never been to his new place, and sitting in front of where he now called home was a rude awakening.
    During the months of their separation, she’d initially remained in the home, which they’d lived in for more than a decade. After the sale of the house, she’d moved into the apartment above the spa, leaving her life with