To me, Mason’s non-response looked like an actor in a play who’d forgotten his lines. But I was fairly sure Mick would read it differently—interpreting his gape-eyed expression as horror.

I narrowed my eyes, deciding to up the ante. “And I smelled your office chair.”

Mick shook his head as though he was trying to clear it. “What?”

Mason lifted his eyebrow. “You are batshit crazy if you think I’m ever gonna fall for you.”

“You would,” I said. “All you need to do is eat my lemon pound cake!”

“What is going on here?” Mick shouted. “Can we focus?”

“I am!” I insisted. “I don’t think I could be any more focused on Mason Van de Camp Deveraux III if I tried.” I gave Mason an exaggerated look of longing.

“Hey!” Lowry grunted. “What about me?”

I gave him a sympathetic look. “Don’t worry, darlin’. Since Mr. Deveraux hasn’t come to his senses yet, you can fill in until he does. What do you think about wearing a tie and shouting out legal terms while we’re in the throes of passion?”

Lowry’s eyes widened in shock.

“Enough!” Mick slammed his hand on the table, and I jumped. “Are you telling me that you don’t really know anything useful?”

And here we were again. Where was Jed? “I know that Mr. Deveraux puts his shoes on left then right.”

“What a creeper,” Lowry muttered under his breath.

“Damn, Lowry.” Mud shook his head. “You dodged a bullet with that nutcase.”

“Who cares?” Mick growled. “Why would something like that matter at all, let alone in the situation at hand?”

“I’ll tell you why!” I shrieked. “Puttin’ on your shoes like that is backwards. Everyone else puts their shoes on right, then left.” He gave me a confused stare. “It means I have to switch up the lemon pound cake love spell if I’m gonna make it work.”

“Okay, Nutso Baker,” Mick said with a cringe. “I’m gonna grant your wish. You’re gonna get to spend plenty of quality time with the ADA. How does eternity sound?” He nodded to the bouncer. “Take them both to the shed and then take care of them.”

“Wait!” I said. “Was I right? Were you the one trying to kill Mason?”

“So now you’re Veronica Mars, trying to solve a case?”

“No,” I snorted. “I just want to know if I was right. I have this thing about bein’ right.”

He rolled his eyes. “No, I had no reason to kill him. Not until tonight. It wasn’t me.” He flicked his hand.

The bouncer took a step forward and grabbed my arm again, his fingers twisting my skin. When I gasped, Mason jumped to his feet, his hands clenched into fists.

Mick laughed. “Settle down, Deveraux.”

“Don’t hurt her. She’s obviously not part of this. Just let her go.”

“No can do.” Mick’s voice lowered to a growl, and he nodded to the bouncer. “Take care of it. Lowry, you help them.”

Lowry stood and strode over to me. “I want her.”

“You can’t have her, you idiot,” Mick grunted. “She’s a risk, and she’s crazy town. Just take care of her.”

Lowry jerked me free from the bouncer. “Then I’m at least going to take her out back first.”

“I really don’t want to go out back,” I said, looking up at Lowry. “It’s cold out there, and I’m not wearing a coat.”

He leered at me. “You won’t have to worry about bein’ cold.”

I cringed. Disgusting.

Mason had finally been pushed over the line. He lunged for Lowry, pulling him away from me. But Lowry and the bulky bouncer soon wrestled Mason into control.

“Deveraux,” Mick said as though deep in thought. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d guess that you actually care about Psycho Bitch here.”

Mason’s only answer was trying to jerk free from the bouncer’s hold.

The sound of gunshots outside the door echoed through the room, and everyone froze for a half-second. If I could just get these guys to hold off shooting us, we had a chance at being saved.

Mick’s eyes hardened. “Mud, go check it out.” He pointed his gun at Mason. “How about you take a seat until we sort this out?”

Mason lowered himself into a chair, his hard eyes on the gun, but I saw him give a quick glance to my arm where Lowry was holding me.

“I’m takin’ her out back,” Lowry said.

“The hell you are,” Mick said. “We’re waiting here until we find out what’s goin’ on out there.”

“We’re business partners, Gentry. Despite what you think, you’re not in charge. If I want to take her out back, I’ll do it.”

Mason’s eyes shot to mine, and I could tell that he was thinking about doing something desperate to stop Lowry.

There were more muffled gunshots and yelling. The three men looked toward the door, and Mason took advantage of the distraction to jump out of his chair and grab Mick’s arm. The gun clattered to the floor as Mason swung a punch at Mick’s face. The bouncer jumped Mason and tried to pull him loose from Mick. Despite the bouncer having fifty pounds more muscle, Mason had determination on his side.

Lowry tugged me out of the way, and I watched in horror as the two men continued to attack Mason, who was holding his own while trying to get to the gun.