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“Good. You need to watch your back until this guy is caught and we have everything figured out.” He paused and leaned toward her. “Do me a favor. Promise me you won’t go anywhere alone for a while—try not tobealone if you can help it.”

She tilted her head, a half smile curling her lips. “You do realize I live alone, right?”

“I’m being serious.”

Her smile drooped. In fact, her whole body seemed to droop from the weight of their discussion. “So am I. I know it’s not ideal, but I don’t have much choice. All my friends and extended family members have jobs or other commitments. And between all the normal things that keep me running, I’m slipping in doctor appointments and tests right and left.”

He really didn’t like it, but she had a point. “At least do what you can. Keep your doors locked, even when you’re at home. Try not to go out alone, but if you have to, tell someone where you’re going and be extra aware of your surroundings.”

“All right. I can do that.”

She sounded calm, but he noticed the trembling in her handwhen she tucked her hair behind her ear. Was that from nerves, or was it due to her illness?

“But back to Mayor Jennings. Should I be concerned about him, or am I overthinking things?”

He leaned back. “I wouldn’t think too much of the mayor trying to encourage you to be cautious. From his point of view, it very much looked like you suffered an accidental head injury. I can see why he’d have doubts.”

“There’s more though.” Allye’s tone put him on alert. “When he was listing the reasons why I needed to rethink whether my memory could be trusted, he mentioned the green glow.”

His brow crinkled. “From your break-in?”

She nodded. “How did he know about that? I certainly didn’t tell him.”

“Are you sure you didn’t mention it to him? Or to your mom?”

“Positive. I had just told him about the break-in, and he acted like that’s the first he’d heard about it—but I didn’t say anything about the green glow. And Mom doesn’t know about any of this. The only people who should know that detail are me, you, Officer Moore, and my attacker.” She paused. “If you didn’t tell and Officer Moore didn’t...” She left the rest unsaid.

Eric clicked his pen a few times. Her insistence on still keeping all this a secret from her family was not good, but that wasn’t his call. “Okay,” he said finally. “I’ll check with Moore if I can get ahold of him. Sometimes he’s a bit of a gossip around the station, but your break-in happened on the last shift before he left for vacation. If I know him, he was in a hurry to get everything logged and get home as soon as he clocked out. I doubt he told anyone.”

“And if he didn’t?” Allye’s words were soft.

He blew out a breath. “If he didn’t, then we may have a major problem.”

25

Eric strode into the morgueearly the next morning. Starting his day with witnessing a set of autopsies wasn’t at the top of his list of favorite things. But maybe it would shake something loose regarding John Doe’s and Ashley Harrison’s cases.

Maybe. Maybe not. If they were correct about their John Doe being one and the same with the victim behind Allye’s studio, then the examination might not reveal much new information. But the confirmation would be helpful, even if it only established that the estimated time of death matched.

He expected the same would be the case with Ashley’s—providing confirmation of his current theory rather than new information to run with. Unfortunately, the most helpful information on Ms. Harrison’s cause of death would likely be found in the toxicology report, which could take weeks to get through the state labs and back to him. It would probably be in a race for last place with the other results he was waiting for. Sometimes he hated how the system worked.

Several hours later, he was on his way back to the police station. As he’d thought, the autopsies had revealed little new information. He’d get the official report, minus the toxicology results, within a few days. But the ME had verbally confirmedthat the physical examinations did indicate that John Doe had been beaten to death and Ashley Harrison had overdosed.

Now he just needed to find the responsible parties. And Dion. He still hadn’t been able to find a trace of him. Yesterday he’d made another round of calls to the boy’s friends. As before, they claimed not to have any idea where he might be.

He was tempted to go back to Kincaid Lake and comb the park for him. He’d do it in a heartbeat if there was any indication that’s where the teen had gone, but there was none. Still, he had put the park service on alert. They now had Dion’s photo and would detain him if he was spotted. For the moment, he’d have to rely on them doing their jobs while he did his.

As he neared the station, his thoughts turned to his last conversation with Allye. He didn’t like the thought of the mayor being wrapped up in something shady, but he had a responsibility to investigate. He’d left a message for Moore after leaving her house last night. He was half hoping the man would admit to having run his mouth to someone. That might be enough to explain things and put their minds at ease, but he had no idea if Moore would ignore his calls while on his California vacation. They might have to wait for that answer until he returned next week.

Eric could just outright ask the mayor how he knew. If he had somehow come across the information innocently, he could set their minds at ease with a simple explanation. But if he was guilty of something, he’d just lie. And Mayor Jennings was cool under pressure. That quality had served him well during his political career, but it could make it a lot more difficult for Eric to detect deceit.

Plus, if he was somehow involved with whatever this was, a confrontation would tip him off that they suspected him.

An incoming call disrupted his thoughts as he pulled into a parking space. The display showed Moore’s number. He quickly punched the button to answer. “Thornton.”

“It’s Moore. Sorry I’m just getting back to you. Forgot my phone in the hotel last night, and it was dead when I got back. Didn’t turn it back on until this morning.”

“No need to apologize. I’m the one interrupting your vacation, and I’m sorry about that. I’ll try to keep this quick. Did you tell anyone about the incident at Allye Jessup’s home the other night?”