Page 35

LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS

Poppy pulls into the driveway of her house. She’s called her brother repeatedly, but he’s ignoring her. Dash knows something about Alison’s abduction. Or worse. She can’t let herself deny it anymore. It’s been there the whole time. Buckman, so angry that his investigation was being stifled, believing he’d been wrongfully terminated: Look in your own house. Alison’s friend Ruby Quinn: Ask your brother. Now the podcast’s witness who saw a motorcycle and sidecar—like the ridiculous and rare one of Dash’s—at Lovers’ Lane that night.

But that’s not what’s making her skin crawl. It’s the question she asked Ziggy: Why would someone want to blame MRK for Alison’s murder? And Ziggy’s response: To protect whoever really took her.

Who would want to protect Dash if he’d done something horrific? The answer strikes a lightning bolt to her core. Their father. Helped by his closest friend in the world, the man who helped him survive in Iraq, Sheriff Ken Walton.

Poppy marches to the front door. It’s time to confront her father. She pushes through the front door, steeling herself. She hears the television still on.

Charging into the living room, she’s stopped in her tracks.

In the blue light, she sees her father spread out on the floor. He’s not moving.

“Dad!”