“He’s nice,” Archie said. He was making an effort to be pleasant, but he also meant it. Doug was dependable, good with the kids, kind to Debbie. Doug engineered wind turbines, a profession with limited exposure to serial killers. Archie liked him. When he could force himself to forget that Doug was having sex with his ex-wife and spending quality time with his children.

“Are you seeing anybody?” Debbie asked gently.

Archie’s fingers tightened around the bullets, and for a moment he thought that Henry might have told her about Rachel. But when he looked at Debbie’s face, he saw only tentative concern. The question wasn’t loaded.

“Not really,” Archie said.

She frowned skeptically. “What does that mean?” she asked.

Archie opened his hand and let the bullets drop back to the deep corner of his pocket. “It means I’m seeing someone,” he said. “But I don’t want to talk about it yet.”

Debbie’s face brightened with pleasure. “Is it Susan?” she asked.

“No,” Archie said. “Seriously?”

Debbie narrowed her eyes. “Does Henry like her?”

Archie hesitated.

“Tell me she’s not blond,” Debbie said.

Before Archie could come up with an answer, singing filled the living room and Archie’s children appeared, faces bathed in the glow of lit birthday candles. Doug stood behind them, guiding them forward, protective hands on their shoulders. Sara held one side of the cake plate and Ben had the other. They were dark-haired and freckled, baby teeth giving way to changed smiles. Every time Archie saw them, they looked more like their mother.

They finished singing, and Archie blew out the candles.

As he stepped back from the cake, he felt his phone vibrate.

“Make a wish, Daddy,” Sara said.

He didn’t make wishes anymore. But he pretended. He closed his eyes. When he opened them, Sara was beaming at him. “What did you wish for?” she asked.

“I can’t tell you,” Archie said. He pulled a candle from the cake, and handed it to her to lick the frosting off.

The phone was still vibrating in his pocket.

Archie glanced at the caller ID. It was Henry.

He turned away from the cake, and answered the phone. “Yeah,” he said.

“I’m at the Gold Dust Meridian,” Henry said. “Homicide. You’ll want to see this.”

Archie turned back toward the cake. Sara and Ben were plucking candles off and sucking them clean. Debbie had threaded her hand into Doug’s.

Forty-two candles. Six bullets. Two kids, every other weekend.

“Okay,” Archie said.

He slid the phone back in his pocket and looked over at Debbie. He didn’t have to explain. She knew the drill.

“Do you have to leave?” she asked.

Archie nodded.

“One slice of birthday cake to go,” Debbie said. “Coming up.”

Chapter 2

CHAPTER

2