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“But still, why not at least threatenme? Why go straight to my family?”

“What would you do if the threat had been aimed at you? Would you even consider asking us to drop the investigation, as far as it concerns the events you experienced?”

She barely had to think about it. “No.”

“And somebody knows that. Someone involved knows you and knows you well enough to predict that a threat to your family would be much more effective than one to yourself.”

“Mayor Jennings?” She could hardly picture it, but he was the only one she could think of. Even with his apparent slipup last night at Zhan’s, it was still hard to wrap her mind around the possibility that he could be involved in something like this.

“We need more evidence before we throw accusations around.” He paused. “But he seems the most likely suspect so far. Whoever it is already went to a lot of trouble to try to gaslight you. Now they know that isn’t going to work, and more drastic measures are necessary.”

“What should I do?”

His pen clicked again. “You can’t give them what they want. But we can play this smart.”

“How? I don’t think I have the capacity for smart right now.” Her head hurt, and it wasn’t just from tonight’s earlier events.

“We’ll start with warning your family, like we already planned. Bryce knows how to watch his back.”

Corina too, after all she’d been through last year. Allye wasn’t so sure about her mom. Her head pounded harder as another realization hit.

“My mom and Mayor Jennings are dating.” The words tasted like acid. If her teapot weren’t already empty, she’d be pouring another cup to rinse her mouth out.

“I’ve heard that.”Click, click.“Is their relationship serious?”

“Mom seems to think so.”

He blew out a breath. “That’s another complication we didn’t need.”

“Could that possibly play into things? He doesn’t want me dead because of how it would affect her?”

“But now she’s being threatened.”

“Maybe it’s an empty threat.”

“Maybe. But we can’t bank on that.”

“I know.” She sighed. “And Mom’s a straight shooter. If I tell her we suspect the mayor, she’s going to want to confront him directly.”

“That would be a really bad idea. We don’t want to tip him off.”

Allye couldn’t agree more. “But if I don’t tell her we suspect him, she’ll probably end up confiding in him about whatever I do tell her. But I can’tnottell her. She needs to know she’s in danger—especially if the mayor’s involved. She trusts him, Eric.”

He thought for a moment. “Okay. We’re agreed nothing is to be done tonight, right?”

“Yes, if you think that’s best.”

“I do. Let me do some research while you get some rest.”

“But—”

“Really, Allye. I know you got some good news today, but tonight has been rough, and you’re probably still running on adrenaline. Rest now so you don’t crash later.”

It was probably already too late for that, but he was right. “I’ll try.”

“Please do. I’ll see what I can uncover tonight.” His pen clicked once again. “Listen, I have to testify in court tomorrow afternoon, and in the morning, there’s a meeting I have to attend at the station. But there should be plenty of time in between for us to handle talking to your family. How about I come pick you up after my meeting, and we’ll warn Bryce and Corina first? Maybe they’ll have some insight on how to best handle telling your mom.”

“Okay.” She didn’t know what else to say.