While she tried dissecting the case, Ghost – so named because, according to her son, the pup blended into the darkness, rendering him invisible – leaned against her left calf with one paw pressed on her foot as if holding her in place. When he dropped his head onto her lap and whined, she reached down, absently rubbing his ears. Technically, Ghost was Isaac’s Black German Shepherd – his therapist had suggested it would help with his healing after the trauma of being kidnapped – but there was no denying the dog had decidedly attached itself to her, becoming her shadow whenever she was home.

In fact, the only time he preferred Isaac to her was at bedtime. With Ghost curled protectively around him every night, Isaac’s nightmares had all but ceased entirely, allowing him to sleep more peacefully throughout the night.

She’d just read through Barbara Carpenter’s statement for the third time, trying to decipher what about it made the back of her neck itch, when Ghost’s head popped up, ears perked forward, with his tail thwapping against the floor. She didn’t have to turn around to know Holly had arrived for dinner.

Knowing she’d be bringing them back out later when the house was quiet again, Alyssa swept the Kensington case notes into a folder and moved them off to the side. ‘Hi sweetie.’ She tilted her face to the side so her daughter could peck her cheek.

‘Hi.’ Holly nodded to the abandoned vegetables. ‘Were you hoping those veggies would chop themselves?’

‘Yes, but they obviously refuse to cooperate.’

Holly moved to the sink, rolled up her sleeves, and washed her hands. ‘Where’s Dad?’

‘In the living room with Grandma.’

‘Speaking of which, when can Grandma start driving again? Next week?’

‘Two.’ Alyssa’s mother-in-law, Mabel, had had foot surgery four weeks ago, and so Brock had been escorting her everywhere she needed to go while still keeping on top of his own job.

Holly changed subjects. ‘So, Nick sold his sports car.’

Isaac, who had exited the cave known as his bedroom, skated into the kitchen with his best friend Trevor behind him. Overhearing his sister’s comment, he swung around so fast, he tripped and fell into a barstool, nearly toppling it over. ‘But, but… but why? Why would he do that?’ he sputtered. He had the look of a teenager who’d just been informed he’d only be allowed to ride a bicycle for the rest of his life.

Since he was a mere three months away from that magical moment in a teen’s life when he’d be allowed to get his permit, placing him one step closer to that little slip of freedom called a driver’s license, Alyssa knew he’d been pondering the best way to broach the subject of Holly’s boyfriend allowing him the use of his car for the driver’s test. Now that dream was inexorably crushed.