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He threw Brewster a small piece of bacon. “What gun do you prefer?”

“A SIG. It has a little kick, but it’s really well made and accurate.”

He nodded. She didn’t seem to find anything odd about describing her gun. Who was she?

“I’m sorry I endangered your boys.”

He said mildly, “You were protecting my boys, keeping them safe and distracted. I really appreciate that.”

“I know I should have been out there with you, not hiding behind a dresser. You’re very kind, Sheriff. In my experience, not a lot of sheriffs are like you.”

“You know a lot of sheriffs?”

“Well, there was this guy in North Carolina who—” She broke off, shook her head. “All I know is I wanted to smack him. Isn’t that strange? I saw a glimpse of his face—all smirky, filled with attitude—but now it’s gone.”

“What were you doing in North Carolina?”

“I haven’t the foggiest idea.”

He rose and walked to her, laid his hand on her shoulder. “Try not to be scared, Madonna. It won’t be long now until you know who you are. As for the rest of it, we’ll find out who those guys were, then we’ll figure all this out, don’t worry.”

Dix left for the sheriff’s office before the boys were up and didn’t return until the middle of the afternoon. When he walked in the door, he sloughed off his coat and gloves as he walked into the living room. “It’s finally stopped snowing. Maybe this’ll be it. The sun even came out on the way home.”

Both Rafe and Rob were on him again. He hugged them and waited for them to break away, which they did soon enough, to hurtle more questions at him.

“We heard about that live wire that could have fried Claus’s leg.”

“What about that huge burning tire that was coming right at you?”

“And those guys who tried to shoot Madonna—nothing left but burned-up skeletons!”

“So someone’s been telling you all about it, huh? I’m hearing some bits of exaggeration there. I told you the important stuff last night. You guys got your homework done?”

“Ah, Dad,” Rob said. “It’s Sunday. We’re going sledding on Breaker’s Hill again.”

Rafe said, “Don’t you remember, Dad? We finished with Othello Friday night. Madonna beat the wadding out of us at Scrabble. We learned a new word—lichen.”

Dix opened his mouth to answer when he heard a car drive up. Now what? He looked at her and called out, “Your name’s not Madonna. It’s Ruth.”

“What? What did you say? My name’s Ruth? Ruth what? Who am I?”

There was a knock on the front door. Normally Dix would let the boys answer, but the previous night was still too fresh in his mind. He picked up a barking Brewster and strode to the front entry. “Warnecki,” he shouted over his shoulder. “Your last name’s Warnecki.”

Dix held up his arm. “Just a moment, boys, stay back, okay?” They responded instantly to the tone of voice but Brewster strained to get away from him. “Calm down, Brewster, calm down.”

Dix opened the front door to see a big man in a black leather jacket, black slacks, white shirt, black boots, and black leather gloves, standing with a woman beside him, also in black.

“Sheriff Noble?”

“Yeah. Who are you?”

“I’m Dillon Savich, and this is my wife, Lacey Sherlock. We understand you have a woman staying with you who’s having trouble remembering who she is. We’d like to see her.”

“You related to her?”

“She works with us—”

“Dillon! Oh God, is it really you, Dillon? I remember you! Sherlock? Oh, thank God—you guys look wonderful. I’m Ruth Warnecki, and I remember! I can’t believe you’re actually here.”

Savich quickly stepped forward into the entry hall as Ruth leaped at him and he caught her in his arms. She was laughing, kissing his cheek, letting him hold her close, her feet off the ground. She reared back in his arms, tears in her eyes. “It was so horrible. I didn’t remember who I was and all these strange things just popped out of my mouth. This is Sheriff Dixon Noble, and he’s been taking care of me. And Rob and Rafe, who’ve been taking care of me, too. The sheriff just heard from IAFIS, just this minute told me my name is Ruth Warnecki, and then I saw you both and