Alyssa nodded. ‘Yes, that’s right. I arrest the bad guys. And I have a whole team of police officers who help me. But sometimes it makes our job harder when someone else – even if it’s Thor – tries to do our job for us. And I know you wouldn’t want that to happen because you want us to catch the person who hurt your mom, right?’

Still looking suspicious, Brandon jerked his head down once in agreement.

Leaning in just a fraction of an inch, she lowered her voice into a conspiratorial whisper. ‘So, I’m wondering if I could ask you a pretty big favor. Would you mind giving me and my team a chance to find the bad guy first?’

Brandon turned to Nate. For several seconds, neither blinked nor spoke as they stood there staring at each other. Whatever silent communication passed between the two of them must’ve been clearly understood because when he faced Alyssa once more, his head dipped up and down decisively. ‘Okay. I have a magnifying glass. You can borrow it for when you need to look for clues.’

The urge to wrap him in a hug was powerful. ‘I tell you what. I’ll keep that very generous offer in mind, and I’ll let you know if I need it, okay?’ Alyssa waited for Brandon’s nod before she rose back to her full height. ‘Now, I need to speak with Nate’s mom if that’s okay with you.’

Instead of answering Alyssa, he twisted around to Nate’s mom. ‘Do you promise not to keep any secrets from me?’

Tessa offered a broken smile as she curled her hand into a fist, pinky extended. ‘Pinky swear. Now, you and Nate run back to the kitchen and finish your cookies. I’m just going to sit outside so I can speak to Detective Wyatt.’ She waited for the boys to disappear before stepping onto the porch and closing the door behind her.

Instead of doing as instructed, both boys poked their heads through the sun-stained blinds. Tessa shook her head and pointed to one of three Adirondack chairs with small tables placed in between each. ‘Please sit,’ she offered. ‘That Brandon’s like a forty-year-old man in a seven-year-old body. Elizabeth has always said he reminds her so much of his father whenever he was in one of his serious moods, which she claimed was rather rare.’

‘About that, did Elizabeth speak to you a lot about Hayden? About what might’ve happened that night?’