“I know,” Paz said. “But you’ll get something. Just keep him talking. We can hold him for two more days.”

“Wait, what?” Izabel said.

“I’m filing for an extension, but without more evidence, I can’t hold him past that, and he knows it. That’s the clock he’s playing out.”

“Does Andy come in with me?”

“She doesn’t need to. He’s lawyered up so you won’t be in the room alone with him. And Officer Evans will be in there, too, standing by the door.”

“Do you want me to come in?” Andy said. “I might know his lawyer.”

Izabel nodded.

“One more thing,” Paz said. “Don’t ask a question you don’t feel comfortable having him ask back. It’s the most common instinct he’ll have, to flip the question instead of answering. And if you don’t answer, he won’t either.”

“Okay,” Izabel said.

“Wait, this is the last thing. I’m bringing Opa in. You might hear her in your ear.”

“Doesn’t she specialize in children?”

“Yeah, but I like her, and I don’t like many psychs. Fine with you?”

“Yeah, fine with me.”

“Turn your head,” Paz said. Izabel did, and Paz put an earbud in her ear. Then she pulled her hair toward the front of her face, tugging it a bit. “Do you tuck your hair behind your ears?”

“I won’t.”

“Good,” Paz said.

    Chapter Thirty-Three

“Hi, Patrick,” Izabel said.

“Hello, Izabel. Do you really prefer íz-abel? Or would ee-sa-bél be better?”

“Either is fine.”

“I’ll go with ee-sa-bél then,” he said.

She shouldn’t have let him pick. It reminded her of how her mother said her name. No one said it like that anymore. She said, “I heard you wanted to talk to me.”

“It’s not so much that. But they are so insistent on talking to me. And if I’m going to sit here listening to someone, I’d rather it be you.” He smiled.

She smiled back. “How did you sleep?”

“Okay. They have decent cots back there. How about you?”

“I slept well,” Izabel said, but she didn’t know what to say next.

“What is it?” he said.

“Honestly? I can’t believe we know each other. That I’ve known you for weeks.”

“Just a little,” he said.

“My college was like that. I’d keep running into people.”

“Where’d you go to school?” he asked.

“Villanova. How about you?”

He didn’t answer.

“It’s okay, if you didn’t go to college—”

“I went to college.” He looked uncomfortable at having lost control of the conversation already.

“Oh. Didn’t like it?”

“I didn’t get to finish.”

“Me neither.”

“Not many people your age did,” he said.

“Yeah, that’s true. But that’s not why I didn’t finish. I had to leave to take care of my mother.”