A text on the home screen caught his eye. The display showed only a few words of the text, but one of them was urgent.

He shouldn’t check. Don’t check. But his thumb didn’t oblige, and up popped the full text message from Agent Keller.

Urgent. Please call me.

Simple and to the point, like Keller. She wasn’t the kind of person to throw around the word urgent. He clicked on her number.

Right as Keller picked up, Jessica came out of the restroom wearing nothing but the string of pearls. Staring at her milky-white skin, he was speechless for a moment.

She looked stunning.

He was about to hang up when Keller’s voice said, “Matt, thanks for getting back to me. I’ve got some terrible news.” She waited a moment, then said, “It’s about your brother.”

CHAPTER 57

OLIVIA PINE

BEFORE

They spent another full day at the beach. Liv liked the beach as much as the next person, but it was hard going with a six-year-old. There was no relaxing. It was either worrying about drowning, incessant trips to the bathroom, or being forced into sandcastle-making hell. She shouldn’t complain; they were only little once. But Liv was glad they were back at the rental.

She also had her eye on Holmes and Watson. Evan and Maggie were doing their best to pretend they weren’t working on the case, but Liv knew better. You’d think she’d be annoyed, but it brought Maggie and her father together. Liv couldn’t think of any father-daughters as close as Evan and Mags. The entire trip was somehow related to Danny’s case, she knew. But right now she just didn’t care.

Liv studied her husband. He was sitting at the kitchen counter tapping something on his laptop, Maggie looking over his shoulder. Her daughter seemed more melancholy than usual. For the entire trip, Liv had sensed that something was bothering Maggie, that she was always on the verge of telling Liv something, but stopped short. It was probably to confess they were working leads in Danny’s case, but Liv decided they needed some mother-daughter time. After they all showered, she asked Maggie to go for a walk. “Dad got his dinner with you, so it’s my turn.”

A path to the woods lay just outside the property. Evan told them not to go too far. To bring their phones. Who knew what was in that jungle? He was nothing if not a worrier.

“Do I want to know what you and Dad have been up to?” Liv asked, walking along the footpath, surrounded on both sides by dense trees.

Maggie looked at her. She gave the blushing smile she displayed whenever she was caught in a fib. “I’ll let him tell you. He said he was going to tonight.”

Liv nodded. “I can’t wait.…”