“There’s a lot of blood at the house. But we don’t know who it came from yet. Your family wasn’t there.”

“You mean there were no bodies. Is that what the dogs are looking for?”

“They’re looking for a trail that will lead us to your children,” Eve said, baffled that, even now, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth. What was wrong with her? There was no hope and she wasn’t sparing him any pain by implying that there was. In the end, she would just be hurting him more. But she’d done it again anyway.

“Did you know all that this morning when we talked?”

She nodded. “There are still a lot of unanswered questions right now and I’m—”

“Going on a fucking bike ride,” he interrupted, his voice tinged with disgust. “Have fun.”

“It’s not what it looks like,” she said, feeling as if she were standing in front of him naked instead of in her cycling wear. She had this ridiculous urge to cover her chest and crotch. “I was on surveillance. But that’s not important. Here’s what I know. There was some horrible violence in that house and your children are missing. It’s unlikely that we are going to find them unharmed . . . but I’m trying to keep an open mind.”

“You believe my children are dead but you won’t know until you find their bodies,” he said. “That’s what you’re telling me.”

There it was. She’d made him say it because she couldn’t. He had more guts than she did and she was ashamed, but still not enough to do the right thing when it counted.

“I’m very sorry, Mr. Kenworth.”

He looked as disgusted with her as she was with herself.

“I’ll be at the Good Nite Inn down the street until this is over.” He turned his back on her, got into his car, and drove off.

She watched him go, then got on her bike and started riding home. It wasn’t until she got to her door that she realized she’d been crying the whole way.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Eve was awakened the next morning by insistent knocking at her front door, followed by the distinctive ringtone of her iPhone. She reached out to her nightstand, picked up her phone, and looked at the screen. It said MOM.

She answered the call as she got out of bed in her T-shirt and panties. “I can’t talk right now. There’s someone at the door.”

“It’s me. You didn’t hear my knocking so I called,” her mom said. “Do you have a man over?”

“No,” Eve said, reaching for her bathrobe.

“That’s a shame.” Her mom disconnected.