“No, it happens to me, too,” Stride said. “But Cindy’s gone. So is Laura. So are their parents. It’s almost as if the whole family never existed.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s just the way it is.”

“I understand how you feel,” Tish said. “I lost my mother. I lost Laura. In a strange way, when Cindy died, I felt orphaned again. Like she was the last link to my past and my family. But I’m not comparing my loss to yours.”

Stride said nothing.

“There’s something I need to tell you about my book,” Tish said. “I’ve written the early chapters in Cindy’s voice. I tell the story through her eyes.”

Stride’s face tensed with dismay. “Why did you do that?”

“She was there. She was the witness.”

“You don’t have a free pass into her life,” he snapped, his voice getting louder. “Or mine.”

Tish looked flustered. “I’m sorry. She’s part of the story. So are you.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to walk on her grave.”

“I’m not doing that at all. I swear.”

Stride shrugged. There was a weight on his chest.

“I didn’t realize this would make you so uncomfortable,” she said.

“It’s not just that.”

“Then what is it?” she asked.

“Nothing. Forget it. This isn’t about you or your book.”

He wanted to say something more, but he didn’t. He wanted to tell her how angry he was that his grief came alive every time he saw her. He wanted to confess to someone that he felt guilty, because he had allowed Cindy to slip back into the daily beating of his heart, where Serena belonged now. Instead, he pushed away his emotions and changed the subject.

“After what happened to your car, I’d like to keep an officer outside your condo overnight,” he told her.

Tish blinked. He knew she could hear the sudden coolness in his voice. “So this time you don’t think it’s just kids.”

“I don’t know, but I’d rather not take any chances.”

“Okay, sure, whatever you want.”

Tish took the bag on her lap and passed it across to him silently. Stride looked inside and saw a white dress, neatly folded. “This is for you,” she said. “I’m not sure you’ll understand what I did. Or why I did it.”

He grew concerned. “What is this?”

“You’ll find a sample of Peter Stanhope’s DNA in a bloodstain on the dress,” Tish said.

Stride closed the bag and stared at the sky. “What the hell did you do?”

“What I had to.”

“Son of a bitch, Tish, are you out of your mind?”

“Look, Peter is guilty, and you told me flat out that there’s no way the courts can force him to give us a sample. So I took it. I hope I left a scar, too.”

“You just confessed to battery.”

“He started it when he tried to kiss me, the bastard. I know what you think, but I got us something we never had before. A way to confirm whether Peter was stalking Laura.”