Sandra’s hand flew to her mouth, the clap loud in the small confines of the Tahoe. Eyes wide, she pried her fingers open enough to whisper a choked apology. ‘Oh. My. God. I can’t even believe I said that. Of course, you’d know. I mean, holy hell… I heard about how Evan Bishop—Wasn’t he…’ Her words trailed off into an incomprehensible mumble.

‘Yes, he was.’ Not wanting to delve into the personal nature of the Bishop case, Alyssa turned the subject to Sandra’s family. ‘You said earlier that if Hayden had been your brother, nothing would’ve stopped you from finding him. You have siblings then?’

An awkward silence filled the space between them until Sandra, staring down at her lap, finally responded. ‘I did. My brother died from SIDS. It changed my mother. As a result, we weren’t very close while I was growing up. And I didn’t have the best relationship with my dad, either. I admit I became a bit of a wild child during my teenage years – until a high school resource officer got tired of hauling me out of class for whatever stupid thing I’d done that day and instead stepped in and pulled me to safety. She’s the reason I decided to become a police officer, actually. She was the first person to truly believe in me, you know?’

‘Yeah, I get that. We’re similar in that way. After my brother was kidnapped’ – Alyssa paused at the familiar tightening in her chest – ‘my own parents stopped paying attention to me.’ A memory of her mother as she lay in her bed day after day, ignoring Alyssa’s achievements or missteps flashed in her mind. No matter how hard she’d tried, she’d never been able to penetrate that shell her mom had placed around her fragile heart. ‘That’s why I’ve made certain that my family, especially my children, know they can always come to me for anything any time. They will always come first.’

‘Remember what I said this morning, that I’d heard a lot about you? Well, not to embarrass you or anything, but your devotion to your family – and your team, actually – are legendary.’

Alyssa was more than a little uncomfortable thinking she and her family were a frequent enough topic of conversation that they had become “legendary.”