Warren leaned in and dropped his voice.
“I’ll get Mark to delete the video. Just don’t take this to the cops.”
I turned my head.
“How? What are you gonna say to him?”
“I’ll say we all know each other. Don’t blow this up.”
He stepped around me to Mark and held out his hand.
“Delete the video on her phone. Do it as a favor to me.”
Mark hesitated. Then he pulled the phone out of his pocket.
I stared at it.
“You gonna delete it — or hand it right back to him?”
Warren wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Delete it. Delete it. I just want everybody to calm down.”
But his hand was curling the phone in against his chest, like it wasn’t his to hand over.
Gravel crunched at the gate.
Two cops walked into the backyard, hands resting at their belts, and stopped at the edge of the patio.
