Out of the shower, he toweled off and stepped up to the steamed mirror. As he stared at his distorted, nearly invisible reflection, he tried to imagine what Jordan saw all the time. He wiped his towel over the mirror until his reflection reappeared. How many times had she done the same in the last week and a half, only to find that no amount of wiping brought her vision back?

Twenty minutes later he was shaved, dressed, and ready to leave. Out the door, he drove to a favorite coffee shop, ordered a bag of bagels and three cups: one for him, Avery, and Jordan. Back in his vehicle he called Jordan.

“Spencer.” Her voice rumbled with sleep.

“Did I wake you?”

“No, just got up.”

“I can bring coffee and bagels, and we can go over what’s been found so far at the Rawlings scene.”

“That’s music to my ears,” she said.

“See you in fifteen?”

“I’ll be ready-ish. The wheels of progress still don’t move fast. But I’ll be decent.”

For a flash, he imagined her indecent, and the image triggered a bolt of desire. “See you soon.”

When he arrived, there was only Avery’s car in the driveway. He crossed to the front door and rang the bell. Footsteps mingled with the steady tap of a cane. The door opened to Jordan.

“Spencer,” she said.

“What gave me away? The soap?”

“And the large shadow you cast. You take up all the space directly in front of me.”

“Interesting.”

“Come on inside. I smell coffee and bagels.”

“I brought three coffees,” he said. “I thought Avery was going to be here.”

“She took an early shift at the café. We’re trying to get back to the new normal.”

“And what about you? If this case is truly solved as we thought, then what?”

“Then I work with Sally and the eye doctors and try to make the best of what I have.” She led him to the kitchen island. “Did you find any trace of Casey Andrews at Rawlings’s house?”

“We found her driver’s license. But nothing to tell us where she might be.”

She frowned. “A souvenir is not a good sign. Men like him keep the collectibles so they can relive it all.”

“I’m afraid that one day we’ll find her body in an old house, a shallow grave, or in the woods.”

“I thought I could save her.”

“You did more than most.”

“But not enough.”

He set the cup in front of her along with two creams and a sugar. “Coffee, sugar, and cream at three o’clock.”

“Thanks.” She carefully pried off the lid and poured in both creams and the sugar. “I’m going to have to call on her mother this morning and tell her what was found.”