A field of flowers just beginning to bloom, along with the way the trees in the background were still growing their new leaves, indicated the picture had been taken some time in the spring. Elizabeth was cradled into Hayden, smiling up at him with something akin to, yes, hero worship. In turn, he was gazing down at her, the pure joy of young love pouring from his eyes. His hand rested protectively against her stomach, so they must’ve known by then that she was pregnant. But Elizabeth was correct. The clothes she wore made it extremely difficult, if not outright impossible, to know there was another life growing inside her.

A frail-looking teenager stood off to the right, and Alyssa guessed by his sickly pallor that it was Marcel. But it was the person standing behind a tree, face shrouded in shadow, not really part of the picture, but not separate from it either that stole her attention. ‘Who’s this?’ She flipped the photo around for Rosalyn to see, holding her finger near the person in question.

‘Oh. That’s Al.’

Armed with the names of the initial investigating officers, a copy of the police report, and the picture Rosalyn Benson had given them, Alyssa waited for a tractor to pass so she could pull onto the main road, chugging oh-so-slowly behind the monstrous green farm machine.

Grinning, she cast a sideways peek at her partner. ‘You know you are sunk when the twins are born, right?’

Both hands shoveled through the hair on top of his head, leaving it uncharacteristically disheveled as he craned his neck back and stared at the ceiling of the Tahoe. ‘Man, don’t I know it.’ Without lifting his head, it was his turn to peek at her. ‘I’m freaking terrified of breaking them or scarring them for life by doing something stupid or…’

Alyssa’s insides did somersaults even as she chuckled. ‘Then you’ll be fine. I think a lot of parents go through that. You’re going to be great. I know it.’

‘What if I’m not? Also, I can’t imagine you ever feeling that way. You’re a natural.’

The laughter that bubbled out of her was so swift, Alyssa was attacked by a coughing fit. ‘You didn’t know me when I was pregnant with Holly. I hate to say it, but I was less terrified of my service weapon than I was of holding my own child.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes, really.’ As she passed in front of a small ranch that backed up to the highway, she turned serious. ‘Al Greene. Too bad—’ She stopped midsentence when Cord’s phone vibrated in his pocket. She sensed the physical change in him as he retrieved his cell, issuing an audible sigh of relief that immediately assured Alyssa the call had nothing to do with Sara or the babies.

‘Officer Falwin, what can I do for you?’