Ms. Stokes’s article had helped them battle back in the arena of public opinion, but Amarok hadn’t been happy that he’d been spotlighted in her final piece. She’d painted him as a lone, rugged lawman, raised by a man who was never the same after his wife abandoned him and headed for gentler climes, who turned out to be some sort of Alaskan superhero, standing guard over the whole town.

In a way, it had been flattering. He had to admit that. But it had been even more embarrassing, something his friends made the most of by teasing him mercilessly the first several weeks after that issue hit newsstands.

After it was all over, he’d shoved it out of his mind. But he should’ve connected the dots immediately. Of course Bishop would keep an eye out for Evelyn’s name in the press and read everything about her he could get his hands on. Chloe Stokes had handed him a golden ticket to kidnap Evelyn when she’d revealed so much about Amarok and his personal situation.

“You’re right,” he said. “It was the article.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Try like hell to get hold of the widow of a guy by the name of Terry Lovett. It’s three hours later in Minnesota, which puts it right smack in the middle of the afternoon for her, but she isn’t picking up.”

Phil scratched his head. “Apparently, I missed a lot while I was sleeping. Who’s Terry Lovett?”

“A janitor at Beacon Point who was recently murdered.”

“How does that tie into anything?”

“I’m not sure it does, but I plan on finding out if he helped Lyman Bishop escape—or had something to do with it.”

Phil opened his mouth to say more. No doubt he was curious to learn how Amarok had learned about Terry. But Amarok raised his hand; he had to get back to work. “I’ll tell you all about it if it amounts to anything. There’s no need wasting the time if it doesn’t.”

“Okay.” He started to walk over to his desk, only to turn back. “Amarok?”

Amarok glanced up from his computer, where he was rereading everything he’d found on Terry Lovett. He’d thought maybe the funeral was today and that was why he couldn’t reach Bridget. They’d certainly rushed the autopsy. But since Terry was a murder victim, Amarok doubted his body would’ve been released so soon. “What?”

“Are you sure Bishop didn’t involve your mother in the kidnap plot? That she wasn’t the one who contacted Evelyn? I’d hate to think he held a gun to her head and made her place that call, but if he thought Evelyn might recognize your mother’s voice, it’s a possibility he went that far. He had eighteen months to plan her abduction, and he doesn’t seem prone to making mistakes.”

“The article mentioned that she moved to Seattle when she left my father, but it didn’t give her address. How would Bishop find her?”

“It’s not hard to find someone with such an unusual name. How many Alistair Wingates can there be?”