For the second time in a few minutes, Dania grabbed the counter to keep from falling off her stool. Next to her, Jake slid to his feet. In the living room Machairi leapt over the back of the couch, pulling his knives as he landed in a fighting crouch.

Once again, the person outside pounded on the heavy wooden door.

"Is anyone home?" The voice was muffled. "I saw the light on. I might be lost. I'm looking for a Dania Ellis?"

"Fuck," Dania whispered. She looked at the cards spread on the counter, and swept them into a pile that she shoved back into the kangaroo pocket of her sweatshirt.

"Go get your gun, pull your deck, and stand by the back door," she whispered to Jake. "Machairi, go with him."

Jake nodded and ran quietly up the stairs as Machairi moved to cover his back. Dania took a deep breath, ready to play the mantle that had luckily come up again, and moved to open the door a crack.

A thin, pale man who looked no more than thirty but already sported a receding hairline stood shivering on the front steps. His blue tie hung slightly askew, thanks to the messenger bag strap across his chest. His wrinkled gray suit clearly provided little protection from the brisk breeze ruffling the leaves and skimming the top layer of snow from the drifts nearby.

"Can I help you?" Dania asked.

"Are you Dania Ellis?"

"Who's asking?"

The shivering man reached inside his jacket and withdrew a business card, which he handed to Dania.

"Kyle Wooten," he said, echoing the information on the card. "Attorney-at-law. I represent the estate of Roberto Almonte. Are you Dania Ellis? May I come in and speak with you?" The man bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, and rubbed his hands over his arms.

The estate…No. Focus.

"Got some ID?" Dania asked. She held her face and body still, head cocked to listen to the sound of Jake padding down the stairs. Wooten fumbled in his jacket pocket again and pulled out a bifold wallet. From this he produced a driver's license with his name and a Noimoire City address on it. Dania glanced over at Jake in position, and then slowly opened the door wider.

"You should have brought a coat," she said mildly as he stepped in. Outside, a few snow flurries started to drift down. She closed the door behind him and locked the deadbolt out of habit.

"I didn't realize I'd be coming out this far," Wooten said. "Thank you, Ms. Ellis. It is Dania Ellis, right?"

"Yep."

He leaned around her to peer at Jake and Machairi. "Then you must be Jacob. And you are…?"

"None of your business," Dania said.

"My best friend Mac," Jake supplied at the same time.

"What do you want, Mr. Wooten?" Dania asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I have some legal matters to discuss with you, Ms. Ellis, concerning the estate of my late client, Roberto Almonte."

"Late client."

Wooten nodded, then glanced at the sofa. "This may take a few minutes. May we sit?"

Dania swallowed, and then dropped her crossed-arms stance. "Fine. Do you want something to drink? We have coffee and a few sodas. No booze, I'm afraid."

"Coffee sounds great. It's chilly up here."

"Yep," Dania agreed, and went to the kitchen to pour two mugs. As she did so, she beckoned Jake close.

"You two go hang out upstairs, but be ready to come in with guns and cards blazing if I pull my deck, okay?"

Jake nodded solemnly, and he and Machairi headed back up the stairs, leaving Dania alone with Kyle Wooten, Attorney-at-Law. She asked over her shoulder how he liked his coffee, and upon receiving his answer of "black", she refreshed her own mug and returned to the couch.

"Thank you." He took the mug in both hands, lifted it to his face, closed his eyes and inhaled the steam. "Ohhh," he breathed. "This smells amazing."

"Thanks," Dania said. "My kid made it."

Wooten took a deep sip, and then set the mug down on the coffee table. Then he pulled his messenger bag around and dug inside for a folder.

"I should have mentioned this earlier," Wooten said as he met her eyes. "But it's going to be my turn to check your ID."

Dania stared at him for a second, and then shrugged and reached in her back pocket for her own little card sleeve that held her driver's license, a credit card, and a debit card. She pulled out the license and showed it to the man, and then tucked it back away at his satisfied nod.

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"Dania Ellis," he said, pulling his spine straight. "I'm sorry to tell you that Roberto Almonte has passed away. Before he died, he named you as the sole beneficiary in his will."

Dania blinked. "He…he did?"

"He did," Wooten said. He handed Dania a sealed envelope. Dania turned it over in her hands, pressure squeezing in her chest as she recognized her name scrawled across the front in Berto's handwriting.

"That is a letter that Mr. Almonte directed be given to you after his death. In addition, I'm to deliver this list of assets that he has bequeathed to you. It includes the deed to this property, as well as all of the contents within."

This second piece of paper rattled slightly as Dania accepted it with trembling fingers.

"In addition—"

"Mr. Wooten," Dania cut him off, leaning forward on the couch. "Wait—just wait a minute. Berto was my friend, but that's it. Why would he—and what do you mean he 'passed away'? Berto wasn't sick or anything, was he?"

Wooten froze, his eyes fixed on Dania's. After a moment, he laid his next piece of paper down on the coffee table, and folded his hands in his lap.

"Ms. Ellis," he said. "I must apologize. I haven't gone about this well. You said that Mr. Almonte was your friend. I am sorry for your loss. But, forgive me… were you aware of his criminal connections?"

Oh, fuck, Berto. What did you get yourself into?

"Not specifically aware, no," Dania said. "We were close, and I'd do anything to help him, but Berto kept a large part of his life private, and I didn't ask questions." But I knew he had unlicensed medical facilities in his basement, so I figured something was up.

Wooten nodded, his eyes sad, and the corners of his mouth pulled down in a frown. "Well, it turns out that your friend was involved in some gang activity to some extent. I can't really say more, because his death is the subject of an open homicide investigation."

Dania pressed her lips together, feeling her eyes narrow. "I see," she said. Her fingers tightened of their own volition, her knuckles turning white.

Wooten nodded again, like one of those funky bobblehead dolls Jake had collected for a little while a year or so ago. "Yes, well, in order to claim your property, you'll need to come to my office in Noimoire next week and sign some paperwork."

"You couldn't have brought it with you?" Dania lifted an eyebrow. Wooten shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but it's the kind of thing that has to be done officially, in the presence of witnesses, and then filed with the clerk of court. I was just trying to find you. We tried to contact you at your home, at the hospital where you were employed, by phone…coming out here was a last-ditch effort."

"I see," Dania said again. She held her body still and forced herself to inhale and exhale slowly. "Is there anything else?"

"Uh… no. Unless you want to ride back to Noimoire with me right now."

"I do not."

"Then no, there isn't. Do—do you intend to claim the property?"

Dania stared at the man and didn't move. He shifted uneasily in his seat, but didn't say anything. Finally, she swallowed and nodded, once.

"Okay," Wooten said. "You can stop by the office at any time next week. The address is on the card. Ask for Marjorie. She's my paralegal. She'll know what all needs to be done." He glanced at Dania, and then looked away.

"Again," he said as he scooted toward the edge of the couch. "I am sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," Dania said.

"If…once the investigation is finished, if we receive any information from Noimoire PD…would you like me to give you a call? I know closure can be helpful when a loved one is lost in this way."

"Berto wasn't my 'loved one'," Dania said before she could stop the words. "Not like you're implying."

"Oh, I—"

"I wasn't his wife, or his girlfriend."

"I—I just meant—"

"I was his battle buddy." She stood up in one quick movement, her tone flat. "We saved each other's asses in the 'Stan and we stayed in touch and helped each other out as we could when we got home. Judge his actions or criminal connections or whatever, but Berto was a good man when it counted."

"I wasn't trying to judge, Ms—" Wooten got slowly to his feet, eyeing her as if she were a snarling lioness.

"You were doing a damn good job of it." Dania turned her back on Wooten before she punched him between his widening eyes. She stalked over to the closet next to the base of the stairs and yanked the door open, then grabbed the heavy men's ski jacket that had been hanging there when they'd arrived.

"Take this," she said, turning back and tossing it. It arced through the air and smacked Wooten in the face before he juggled his messenger bag out of the way enough to grab the insulated sleeve. "I'll pick it up at your office next week."

"Oh, you don't have—okay. Thank you." Wooten shrugged into the coat, which looked ridiculous over his suit and messenger bag, but would at least keep him from freezing to death on the way to his car.

Dania walked over to the door and put her hand on the latch. "One more thing," she said. "I don't answer phone numbers I don't recognize, so if you need to get in touch with me again, make sure you're calling from the one of the numbers listed on your card."

"I—how can you—all right." Wooten hunched his shoulders and shoved his hands into the ski jacket pockets while Dania yanked the door open. A flurry of snow blew in on a gust, and he shivered with his whole body.

Dania didn't move.

"Th-thank you again, Ms. Ellis," Wooten said, turning and sticking out his hand to shake. Dania held the door and simply nodded. After a moment, Wooten shrugged and put his hand back into his pocket, zipped the half-closed jacket all the way up to his chin, and headed out toward the car she saw parked not far from the garage on the other side of the clearing.

She closed the door behind him, then leaned back against it, blowing out a gusty sigh. Jake clattered down the stairs, followed by a much quieter Machairi.

"Is he gone?" Jake asked.

"Yeah," Dania said. Then she turned and glanced out the front window to verify. Sure enough, the car she'd seen—a relatively shitty inexpensive foreign sedan—had backed up, and she watched it spin its wheels for a second in the deepening snow before it lurched forward and headed out to the road. "Yeah," she repeated. "He's gone. Did you hear?"

"Berto's dead?" Sympathy soaked Jake's tone. He walked up, opening his arms for a hug, which Dani gladly took.

"Sounds like it," Dania said, closing her burning eyes. "I'm going to miss him."

Jake squeezed her, and hung on until she let out another sigh and stepped away. "He left me a letter, at least," she said, swiping her cheeks while Jake pretended not to notice. She walked back to the couch and flopped down in her former seat, then picked up the envelope and opened it.

"Holy shit…" she breathed after a second.

"What is it?" Jake asked.

Dania lifted her head, meeting Jake's eyes with her own. "I—I knew Berto was into some shady shit but…"

"Perhaps if you read the letter to us, Guardian," Machairi suggested.

Dania knew she probably shouldn't. Her job was to protect Jake, not to burden him. But grief and anger and loss swirled within her until she hardly knew which side was up.

"Whatever it is, I can handle it," Jake said, sitting down next to her. "We're a team, right? And it sounds like whatever is in that letter is something we might all need to know. Machairi's right, Dani. Read Berto's letter to us."

Dania licked her lips, picked up the paper in shaking hands, and started to read.