“Okay, go,” Sanchez said. “And Gary,” he added, picking at something in the corner of his eye. “Use a pseudonym instead of Detective Sheridan’s name, okay?”

Gary nodded. He stood there for a moment in uncomfortable silence and then said, “Well…” The word tapered off. He looked around the room and then cleared his throat and made a beeline for his coat. He was still pulling it on as he went through the front door.

They all swiveled to look at Susan now. She was chewing. The room smelled like peanut butter. “What did you tell them exactly?” Henry asked.

Susan made them wait until she swallowed. “That there was security footage of Gretchen in Lake Oswego last night,” she said. “I left Archie out of it.”

“Good,” Henry said. He turned back to the room. “We keep the content to ourselves. As far as anyone else is concerned, the footage shows Gretchen Lowell alone.”

“We have to respond,” Sanchez said. “Roadblocks. Helicopters. We should send out a statement advising the public to remain calm. Get all the patrol units on the roads. What’s the reward at?”

“Half a million,” Archie said.

Sanchez raised an eyebrow at him.

“I saw a billboard,” Archie said.

“Anything you need, you let me know,” Eaton told Sanchez. “The mayor has your back.” He jabbed a finger at Susan. “You, lady, are banned from all my press conferences.”

“Oh,” Susan said, drawing her face into a frown. “I’m heartbroken.” She winked at Archie.

Archie couldn’t quite believe it, but Susan had done it. She had forced the issue. If he’d been standing next to her, he would have actually kissed her. He moved his eyes away from her. On the forehead.

Henry scratched his neck. “What about that thing earlier?” he asked Sanchez.

“About Casanova, here?” Sanchez said with a glance at Archie. “Obviously Gretchen’s got a hard-on for him. She let him live, which was certainly a romantic gesture. So he fucked her,” he said with a shrug. “She’s a world-class piece of ass. I think that Claire made a good point.”

“Men are ruled by their dicks,” Claire said.

“That’s another way of putting it,” Sanchez said. “What I mean is, it doesn’t change anything as far as I’m concerned.” He looked at Archie. “You remember any pillow talk that might help us locate her?”

“No,” Archie said.

Sanchez sat back and stretched one arm along the back of the couch. “Then it stays in this room,” he announced.

Archie couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. Was Sanchez really going to let this go?

“Good,” Henry said. “So, we’re all agreed?” His eyes landed on Eaton.

Eaton’s head was down. He was looking at his hands, twisting the gold band on his ring finger. He glanced over at Archie and nodded.

“I’m in,” Claire said, laying a hand on Henry’s shoulder.