“I won’t say a word. I promise.”

“The baby who was taken from the Rollings family thirty years ago was raised as Josh Hamilton.”

She shook her head, horror stamped into her expression. “No. That’s not possible. There’s no way Troy Hamilton could’ve been involved in something like that. He was heartbroken for the Rollings family. He spent hours with them, consoling them and offering whatever comfort he could. It’s just not possible.”

“I’m afraid the DNA has confirmed it.”

She shook her head and blinked back tears. “I can’t believe this,” she whispered. “Why would Troy have done something like that to those poor people?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

“If there’s anything you remember from the weeks before and after the kidnapping that you could share with us, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem, it could help us get to the bottom of this,” Sam said.

The other woman seemed to think hard about that, and they gave her the time and the silence she needed.

“There was one thing that stands out in my memory,” she said haltingly.

It was all Sam could do not to pounce, to tell her to spit it out already, and she sensed similar tension coming from Avery.

“Something wasn’t right between Troy and Dustin. They were arguing a lot. At the time, I assumed it was because everyone was upset about the baby being kidnapped, but now... Now I’m not so sure.”

“Is there anyone else in the office who was here when they worked here?”

“One other person. Dale Owens. He’s one of the agents.”

“Is he here?” Avery asked. “Could we speak to him?”

“Yes, let me get him.”

“Remember,” Avery said, “not a word about Josh to anyone.”

Nodding, she left the room.

“What’s your take?” Sam asked.

“I have no fucking idea what the hell is going on here. I can’t get a read on this case.”

“Me either. It’s been a mind bender from the first second I met Josh.”

“I feel the same way she does about the possibility of Troy having been involved in something so sinister. It flies in the face of everything I knew about him, the things he believed in as a leader and law enforcement officer. All I can think is that if he was involved, someone had something huge on him, and he had no choice but to go along with it.”

“Could that someone have been Dustin?”

“I can’t imagine that either.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

DANIELLE RETURNED WITH a man with white hair, blue eyes and a kind face. He wore a cheap-looking lilac dress shirt with a matching tie, the kind discount department stores sold as a set. Danielle introduced him to Sam and Avery.

“What can I do for you?” Dale asked as he took a seat next to Danielle.