“Okay, I’m not sure what’s going on,” he said. “But we’ll figure this out, okay? Have you talked to your mom about your sister? Her friends?”

Deven didn’t even have the strength to verbalize a response, so she merely shook her head. Truth was, what friends? Outside of Benji, who else did Kennedy have? The fact that she didn’t know had her pursing her lips in shame. She already felt bad as it was, and she refused to give Paul another reason to color his perception of her failures.

Instead of pushing the issue, he merely patted her arms as if he understood. “Okay, I can ask my friends to see if they know her.”

“What about Amber? Has she ever mentioned anything about Kennedy?”

“Nope.” Paul’s tone was clipped. Then, realizing his attitude was more abrasive than he intended, he offered a small smile. “We’re not together anymore.”

If there was a record for the number of times a person could feel like shit in one sitting, Deven sure as hell was reigning as the champion. Shame stung her face, and she cursed her insensitivity. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t even think to—”

“No, don’t worry about it.” Paul shrugged as if he didn’t care, though the lingering pain was more than evident. “But, to answer your question, no. She never mentioned a friend named Kennedy.” To Deven’s dismay, he looked to be telling the truth, not that he would have a reason to lie. Unless he was trying to cover up something. Deven had to roll her eyes at her own paranoia. This whole situation was clearly playing with her psyche. Her therapist would have a field day. “Where did your sister work?” Paul asked suddenly.

Deven frowned. “She was a marketing consultant, why?”

“No reason. I just thought maybe she had to watch me for some reason.”

“A private investigator?”

Paul averted his eyes, but the motion was enough to indicate that wasn’t what he meant. Deven’s eyes widened at the realization. “A stalker?” she asked incredulously. “You think my sister was stalking you?”

He held up his hands, palms out, to signal his peaceable intentions. “Hey, I don’t know,” he said. “I’m searching for answers here, too. All of this has me baffled like you.”

“Kennedy’s not a stalker.” Was she? She wished her tone could have held more conviction, even if she didn’t entirely believe it.

“Okay, let’s forget all that,” Paul said, gentler this time. “I’ll tell you what. You got a picture of her? I may have seen her around with Amber or one of my friends and maybe they called her a nickname or something. I’m better with faces anyway.”