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She sits in the corner. “What’s the matter?”

There’s a war inside me. “I feel terrible for all these poor women and, at the same time, excited to be near Jake. It’s like being on an emotional roller coaster.”

She pats my calf. “Well, look at it this way. You’re helping him and helping the missing women, too.”

I grab a pillow and hold it to my chest. “I’m so attracted to him. I feel guilty. I shouldn’t be having all these thoughts about him. This is serious stuff, yet my mind goes there.”

Lynn shakes her head. “You’re not a robot. You can’t turn off how you feel about him.”

“But there should be a more appropriate time to feel this way, right? One second, I’m in the mind of this poor murdered woman, and the next he’s kneeling in front of me. And he’s so close—all I want to do is lean in and kiss him.”

“Next time, do it. Kiss him.”

I throw the pillow at her.

Lynn catches the pillow and sits on the other end of the sofa. “Tell me what happened?”

“Well, we ate lunch and talked a little. Then Jake showed me the evidence for the first missing girl—her name was Lena. She was just twenty-five.” I take a deep breath and close my eyes. “The images are so fresh in my mind.” I shake my head and open my eyes again. “This is harder than I thought it would be.”

Lynn reaches out to me and squeezes my hand.

I squeeze back, thankful for her reassurance. “I know I’ve done this stuff a million times before, but it was never like this.”

I need to move. I get up and pace. “I’ve seen people die, and I’ve seen people do horrible things, but they have all been in the past. Hundreds of years ago, sometimes even more, but this is different. It’s too fresh, too close, and it feels like I should be able to stop it, but I can’t because it already happened.”

Lynn tracks my back-and-forth. “I can’t say I know how you feel because I don’t, and I never will. You know there’s nothing you can do to change what already happened, but what you’re doing right now—it makes a difference, Ava.”

She waits until I stop moving and look at her again.

“With your help, the cops can stop this guy. They’ll catch him. And you’ll help bring closure to those women and their families. You’ll be their Avenging Guardian Angel.” She says the last three words with a smile on her face. Lynn can never stay serious for too long.

She pats the sofa. “Come sit down and tell me what you found out.”

I do as she asks. “He took this girl from her job. She worked in a bowling alley. I think I want to go there, check it out, get a feel for the place, see if I can find anything else.”

“That might be a good idea. Did you plan that with the detective?”

“No, I think having a cop walk into the place will automatically put people on the defensive. I was thinking . . . Maybe you’ll come with me. Tomorrow? And then we can be just two girls for a night out. It’s been six months since she disappeared, but I want to see the place myself. Maybe find a clue the police didn’t.”

Lynn puts both her hands up. “You mean, you want me to go with you to a place where somebody was kidnapped and murdered, hoping to see if the killer’s back there?”

I wince. “Well . . . when you put it like that, it sounds terrible, but yeah, that’s kind of what I was thinking.”

“Okay, I’ll do it for you”—she sighs exaggeratedly and loudly—“but in exchange, you have to go out to a pub with me this Friday. We need to shake this whole dead people thing off. You’re buying, and I’m planning on drinking and eating a lot.”

“A pub?”

“Yes, I found this place in town, down Main Street. It has pool tables and live music. We are going to have fun, fun, fun.”

“God knows I need some fun after this last week.” I put my hand up, and she high-fives me. “Deal.”

“That’s what you’ve been doing when I’m with Jake? Walking around town?”

“Yes, this town is adorable. All these colorful little stores and the locals are so friendly and welcoming. I guess it’s easy to see how someone could have been taken. None of the distrust we get in New York.”

“I feel less guilty knowing you’re at least enjoying yourself.”

“I am. Did you find any new clues about the guy?”