The question rattles me anew. I look at Tomasetti, struggle to get a grip. “She fits the profile of these victims,” I tell him. “Troubled. Rebellious. The age is right.”

“The timing is off,” Tomasetti says. “This is too close to the previous disappearance.”

I think of the pool of blood on the road, of Annie King’s body tangled in those roots, and I can barely bring myself to answer. “I have to go back.” I stride to the table, close my laptop without shutting it down, and slide it into its sleeve. “I need the Tahoe.”

Tomasetti reaches into his pocket and retrieves the keys, hands them to me. “I’ll ride with Goddard to Sharon. Pick up another vehicle later.”

I take the keys. Tomasetti frowns when he sees my hand shaking.

Goddard comes up beside me. His hand on my shoulder is unexpectedly reassuring. “Let us know if you find something that links this one to the others, Chief.”

Tomasetti unplugs the power cord of my laptop and hands it to me. “Be careful.”

I stop what I’m doing and look at him. More than anything at that moment, I want to feel his arms around me. I want to know he’s going to be there—not only in terms of the case but for me, too.

I loop the strap of my laptop case over my shoulder. “I’ll call you when I know something.”

And then I’m through the door and rushing toward the Tahoe.

There are a thousand reasons why a cop should never work a case in which he or she has a personal connection. Ask any veteran and they will tell you that a cop who is personally motivated will fuck things up faster and more thoroughly than any rookie. When the stakes are high—when someone you care about is at risk—everything changes. I want to believe I can handle it, muscle my way through, conventional wisdom be damned. But already I can feel the gnarly beast of emotional involvement riding my back, goading me into territory in which I have no business venturing. I know going into this that I’m at a disadvantage. I’m vulnerable to making snap decisions and taking risks I might not normally take. It would be smarter to hand this case off to someone else. Only there is no one else.