Page 54

As Allye climbed into her car, her thoughts whirled, and she wasn’t sure which to snatch for further examination. Her mom was in love with Mayor Jennings. Was that a good thing or a tragedy waiting to happen? Was he who everyone seemed to think he was? Was he involved in something nefarious?

Her head continued to pound. Maybe she’d misunderstood her conversation with him. She needed an objective person to talk to. She glanced at the clock. It was nearing ten. Too late to call Eric?

She didn’t want to chance waking him if he was asleep. But maybe she’d text when she got home.

IT HAD BEEN A LONG,frustrating day. Eric hadn’t slept well last night after scouring the internet for information on MS. He’d tried to keep his mind from constantly straying to Allye and her test, but it had been a struggle. He’d almost texted her to ask how it had gone, but he doubted she had the results yet.

Instead, he’d thrown himself into his investigations, even returning to the station after dinner. With nearly everyone else gone for the day, he’d finally hit a rhythm, his concentration only broken when he received Allye’s text asking if he had time to talk. But he still had no new leads on any of his big cases. The labs were backed up as usual, so there’d been no confirmation on the identification of the presumed drugs he’d collected from Ashley Harrison’s house. Dion was still missing. Their John Doehad yet to be ID’d. The forensic artist he’d hoped to contract to work with Allye was out of town until next Monday.

He resisted the urge to pound on his steering wheel. Investigations took time. He knew that. Usually, he was okay with it. But these cases were different. Some of them were connected—and people he cared about were in danger. He needed these cases wrapped up yesterday.

Allye’s street loomed ahead, and he flipped on his right turn signal. Whatever had her unsettled probably could have been handled over the phone, but he sensed she needed a face-to-face, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to see her, especially after what he’d discovered about MS last night.

He’d known the disease was bad. He hadn’t realized how debilitating it could be as it progressed.

Allye had said it could be something else, but he’d heard the resignation in her voice. She knew.

He wanted to be there for her as she faced this, but something inside him shrank back. Was he really that shallow? No. Allye needed a friend to support her. He could do that—would willingly do it. But he’d have to keep his feelings in check. No matter what Bryce had said, he couldn’t allow their friendship to progress to more. She deserved better than him and all his baggage.

With that depressing thought foremost in his mind, he parked on the street across from Allye’s house. She’d turned her porch light on to welcome him, and before he reached the door, Allye had it open. “I’m so sorry to keep bothering you.”

“You’re anything but a bother.” He eyed the shiny dead bolt on her door. “How’s the new lock?”

“Good, I guess. Only took Bryce a few minutes to install it this afternoon.” She made a face. “Had to dance around why I suddenly wanted one though.” She motioned him toward what was becoming his regular seat.

“Maybe you should just tell him.”

She sighed. “I almost did. Then he started talking about Corinaand the baby. They’re finally settling into a normal life, and I don’t want to pull them into this.”

“I can guarantee you Bryce wouldn’t want you to risk your safety for his comfort.”

“Nothing’s happened in the last few days, and I have good locks now.” She frowned. “Don’t look at me like that. I’ll think about it, okay?”

Not quite okay, but he decided to let it drop for now. “Okay. So what’s going on?”

She started toward the seat beside him, then seemed to rethink her choice and dropped into the recliner instead. He almost wished she had joined him on the couch. The recliner was close, but the space it left between them felt like a barrier.

“Let me start off by saying, this may be nothing. But my head is muddled, and I need your perspective.”

He inclined his head, waiting for her to continue.

“I talked to Mayor Jennings tonight, and it was ... odd.” She paused as if searching for words, then blurted, “Something isn’t right. He tried to discourage me from pursuing answers about the attacks, said I could be putting myself in danger unnecessarily if I’m mistaken about what I saw. But I did see it. There’s evidence of that now.”

Eric blinked. Why would the mayor try to discourage a witness? That didn’t make any sense. “Could he have gotten the impression that you were personally digging for answers? Because I would strongly discourage that too.”

“No. At least, I don’t think so. I was only telling him that there is evidence now and that I’m working with you to try to identify my attacker.”

“Perhaps he misunderstood.”

“I don’t see how. He seemed to be warning me against claiming I knew anything—like he was afraid I’d make myself a target and could get hurt because the murderer might think I could identify him when I really couldn’t.”

Her words came out in rush, and Eric had to take a moment to untangle them. He thought he knew what she was saying. “Okay,” he said slowly. “Well, first off, I believe you witnessed the murder. Full stop. So your testimony isn’t an ‘unnecessary’ risk. But he isn’t wrong about the danger. Drug dealers—which is what your attacker seems to be, based on the conversation you heard in the park—can be ruthless. And if we’re correct, this guy has already murdered at least one man—with his bare hands. That’s aside from the overdose deaths that this drug ring may or may not be responsible for.”

Allye visibly swallowed. “I know. But isn’t that all the more reason to make sure he gets caught before anyone else dies?”

“Of course. I wasn’t saying you should cower from the danger, only that you should be aware of it.”

“And I am.”