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“If you’re sure. But let me know if you change your mind or think of anything I can do, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Well, I’ll let you go, then.” She sounded reluctant to hang up. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Mom. Talk to you later.”

She set her phone aside. Exhaustion pummeled her again. She could probably head to bed right now and take another nap, but she was afraid she wouldn’t sleep tonight if she did. And she had to sleep tonight—the festival started tomorrow.

Going to her studio wasn’t going to happen either though, at least not right now. She sighed again. Since she’d promised her mom to research mold issues, she could run a quick internet search while she was thinking about it. Might as well get it over with.

Grabbing another of Shannon’s cookies, she moved to the living room and powered up her laptop. As soon as the search browser loaded, she typed inmold illnessand hit enter. Her screen filled with results. She scrolled down and saw that more pages were available.

Oof. She wasn’t expecting that. Where to even start? She scrolled back up and clicked on one that looked promising.

Forty-five minutes later, she emerged from research into mold allergies and toxicity. Maybe the possibility wasn’t as far a reachas she’d assumed. While not all of her symptoms fit neatly within the mold-toxicity box and there were a few common ones she didn’t have, the similarity between what she read and her experience was striking.

Were they grasping at straws? Maybe. But it was worth looking into—if for nothing else than to rule it out. Still, she quashed the hope attempting to rise inside her. She’d wait for the results from whatever test her neighbors were running. If it came back negative, maybe she’d test her studio. But if it was positive? She eyed the screen. If it was positive, she’d need to look further into this.

33

After testifying about his investigationinto a string of local robberies, Eric returned to the police station and beelined for his desk. He needed to sort his thoughts and come up with a strategy to put a stop to the drug flow in this town before anyone else died. And at some point, he’d have to figure out what to do about Allye. She was still in danger ... and still ignoring his calls. He couldn’t blame her for not wanting to talk to him, but he needed to apologize and, perhaps more importantly, make sure she wasn’t throwing caution to the wind because she’d lost faith in him.

The two problems were intertwined. Unless Allye was totally mistaken about the things she’d seen and heard, they had to be. Which meant Dion’s continued disappearance was likely related as well. If he could just figure out how, maybe, just maybe, things would break wide open.

As he passed through the receptionist area, the door to Chief McHenry’s office opened. The chief stuck his head out and spotted him. “Thornton, I need to talk to you.”

Eric redirected his steps to join the chief in his office. McHenry didn’t immediately offer him a seat. The hair on the back of his neck prickled. That wasn’t a good sign.

The chief flipped through a pad of paper bearing his scrawled writing. “I had several personal calls this morning, asking where we are in various investigations. Darla says she’s routed inquiries to your office number, but these people don’t seem to have received a callback.”

“I just returned from court and haven’t had a chance to check my messages today.”

“It’s not just today. It’s been all week.”

He grimaced. “I have been in the field a lot this week. I suppose I let the calls slip.”

The chief gave a noncommittal grunt and set the notepad on top of a stack of files contributing to the clutter of his desk. “Make that a priority this afternoon.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Speaking of priorities, you’ve been spending a lot of time on Allye Jessup’s situation.”

“With several incidents in a week’s time, I’m rather concerned about her.”

Doubt flickered in the chief’s eyes. “Her claims are concerning, but she’s always been a bit ... dramatic.” Eric stiffened, and the chief waved his hand. “I’m not calling her a liar. Just making an observation. I’d never want anything to happen to the girl, but we can’t waste limited resources on outlandish claims.”

He tried to word his response carefully. “With all due respect, sir, there’s good reason to believe that at least some of those claims are true. I witnessed one of them myself, though that incident didn’t fall under our jurisdiction. I suspect the attacks on her might be connected with a local drug ring. If we can track down her attacker, maybe we can shut his operation down.”

Sweat dripped down his back as he watched for a telltale reaction. Making the assertion was a gamble—he knew that. If McHenry told him to stand down on the investigation because he didn’t see the value in it, things could become extremely difficult. But if McHenry was in any way involved, he could stilltell him to stand down or choose to do away with Allye before anything came of the investigation.

The chief held his gaze, his eyes giving nothing away. Finally, he scrubbed a hand down his face. “All right. If you think it’s a valid lead, I’m not going to call you off. Yet. But don’t let the important things slide.”

“I believe this is important. People are dying because of these drugs. There was a new victim this morning.”

“I know this matter is personal to you, Thornton. You’re driven. I appreciate that. And I agree, these deaths need to end.” He steepled his fingers. “But the hard truth is we’re never going to stop the drug flow completely. Addicts are going to find a way to get what they want, and if we cut off one supply, they’ll either find a new one or create a new synthetic.”

Heat crept up his neck. “Are you suggesting we give up?”