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S adie touched Diana lightly on her upper arm.

“Could I have a word with you?”

Diana nodded and jerked her head toward the corner of the shop by the dressing rooms while the others packed up the gear Aaron passed out.

“What is it, Sadie?”

“I know I said this was a bad idea. I misspoke. This is a terrible idea.”

Diana smiled. She appreciated bluntness. She didn’t have time for women—and in her experience, it was almost always women—who sugar-coated what they had to say, worried about hurt feelings or how they’d be perceived. Apparently neither did Sadie.

“It’s a terrible idea because we’ve got a group of untrained searchers who are going to wander out into the woods in the middle in the dark?” Diana guessed.

“Well, yes. But also, you don’t know any of these men.” She waved a hand toward Tripp, Lucas, and Bodhi.

She was right about the fake hikers. But Diana tried to ease her worry about Bodhi. “You weren’t at Vines & Vibes, so you didn’t meet him, but Bodhi is a forensic pathology consultant based out of Pittsburgh.”

“So he says.”

“I’ve actually heard of him.” Diana hadn’t mentioned this fact to Dr. King, but she shared it now with Sadie. “When I was still the chief, I used to go to a conference of small town police chiefs every year. The chief from a parish in Louisiana and the chief of a rural town in Illinois were talking about him at dinner. He’s somewhat famous in law enforcement circles for determining the cause of unexplained deaths.”

Bodhi’s credentials didn’t have the effect Diana had hoped.

Sadie’s voice went shrill. “He wanders around the country solving puzzling deaths? That’s a great cover for a serial killer. Maybe he’s the cause of all these deaths. Did you ever think of that?”

Diana gestured toward Bodhi, who was helping Julie fit a silver emergency blanket into her pack.

“You think he’s a serial killer?”

Sadie shrugged. “I’m just saying it’s awfully convenient that he shows up in small towns where there are deaths and solves them.”

“I say this with love: you have got to stop listening to true crime podcasts.”

The store manager snorted. “Okay. Forget about him. What about those other two?”

Diana couldn’t vouch for Tripp and Lucas, but she said, “You’re right. We don’t know what their agenda is. Under ideal circumstances, I wouldn’t bring them along. But we need the help. And let’s not pretend everyone else has the purest of motives for joining the search. Julie can’t be thrilled that Rory documented the demolition of the Hudson house. She’s probably coming along to do damage control. And it’s an open secret that there’s bad blood between you and Rory.”

“It’s not bad blood,” Sadie protested. “I have nothing against her.”

Diana snorted. “Please.”

“I’m serious. My beef isn’t with her.” Sadie’s eyes flicked to Aaron.

As a rule, Diana didn’t give unsolicited advice. But she’d been where Sadie was, so she made an exception. “Look, Aaron’s charming. Everyone loves him. He’s friendly, a great guy. You know who else everyone says is a great guy? Ron. They appointed him as police chief because, and I quote, he’s the kind of man you’d want to have a beer with. That may be so, but it didn’t make him a great partner. And I mean that both as someone who worked with him for twenty-odd years and as someone who was married to him for even longer.”

“Aaron’s not Ron.” Sadie’s nostrils flared. She clearly didn’t appreciate the comparison.

“I’m not saying he is. I’m only trying?—”

“—Let’s focus.” She gestured toward the men.

Diana shook her head. She’d tried. Some people had to learn the hard way.

“I was the chief of police for a long time, Sadie. Turning in the badge doesn’t mean I turned in my instincts.”

Sadie opened her mouth and then closed it.

“Listen, my vision may be poor, but I go to the firing range every weekend. Center mass on an adult man is a pretty big target. Hard to miss, even for me.”

“Do you have your gun with you?” Sadie asked in an undertone.

“Of course.”

Sadie blew out a breath. “I’d still feel better if we were doing this in the daylight.”

“We can’t wait. If Rory’s seriously injured, she could be dead by morning.”