When Niki arrived, her first words were “Ida’s, huh? I haven’t been here since you mailed me your badge and fell off the face of the earth.”

Picking Ida’s may have been a mistake. “You’re not gonna let that go, are you?”

“You’re right. I should be more like you and get over my past.”

Damn, she could cut to the quick.

They sat at a booth, and when Marilyn came to get their orders, she looked at them for a moment before saying, “Well, I haven’t seen you two in a coon’s age.”

Max considered mentioning his earlier visit, but thought better of it and said, “I’ve been out of town.”

“That’s one way to say it,” Niki muttered.

“Well, welcome back,” Marilyn said. “It’s the same menu, but if you need a minute…”

Niki ordered for them both. “Steak and eggs all around. Mine over easy and well done, his scrambled and medium rare.” Niki smiled at Max, showing off. She knew him in a way no other human could. And she wasn’t about to let him forget it.

“And two coffees,” Max added. “Black, no cream or sugar.” He knew her as well. He would have ordered dark roast for her if they carried it, but Ida’s Diner wasn’t that kind of place.

When Marilyn left, Niki asked, “So how’s the investigation going?” Max was relieved to see a genuine spark of interest in her eyes.

“We have some floating pieces, but I was hoping you might help me put them together. Start with the disappearance of Sandy Voight. She and her son, Pip, haven’t been heard from for a week now. Emptied out her bank account and cleaned out her closet, so on the one hand, there’s no hard evidence to support foul play.”

“But you think that there was foul play?”

“I do.”

“Do you have a suspect in mind?”

“Her ex-husband, Reed Harris, a former sheriff’s deputy. The divorce was ugly. It came to a head one night when Reed beat the boy and the mother. He did jail time for it. Lost his badge. Lost custody.”

“How long ago?”

“Three years. Reed’s off probation now and working at a bar up in Grand Rapids.”

“Where was the ex when the boy and his mom went missing?”

“At a casino with a thousand cameras capturing his every move.”

Max could almost see the wheels turning in Niki’s head. “So to do this he would have had to have an accomplice.”

“I think the person driving that Passport—the guy whose arm you saw—is that accomplice.”

“And that brings you to me because…?”

Max pulled the slip of paper from his pocket. “I have a phone number that I think belongs to the accomplice.”

“Where did you get it?”

“It’s from Reed Harris’s burner phone—or a phone that I believe is a burner. Beyond that, it’s probably best that you don’t know.”

“All these years and you still don’t trust me.” She looked at her mug as she lightly swirled the coffee inside it.