This time Louisa chose her words carefully. “I’ve learned the hard way to be careful.”

“Noted. If it helps, so have I.” His admission wiped away the reservation in his eyes and left them full of empathy. “A few years ago, I was involved with a woman who neglected to tell me she was married. We’d been together for three months when her husband showed up at the bar. Apparently, he traveled a lot, and she got bored easily. I was just her plaything when he was away.”

Betrayal thickened his voice. He’d had feelings for that woman.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“So I know all about moving slowly. Whatever you have in your past, you can tell me.”

She should. He’d shared something personal with her, but her story was long and complicated. Zoe’s disappearance and Riki’s death had left her spent. She didn’t have the energy to put the words together, let alone deal with the emotional fallout talking about that pivotal night from her past would unleash. “Not now.”

Doubt swirled in her lungs, shortening her breaths. Enough psychoanalysis. Riki was dead. Zoe was missing. “Tomorrow, I’m going to keep looking for Zoe. It seems as though the police are convinced she’s already dead, and they don’t see beyond you as a suspect.”

“No kidding.” Conor sighed. “Where are you going to start?”

Good question. “Her boyfriend, Heath, seems like the logical starting point. He was with her the night she disappeared. He claims to have gone home and passed out immediately after his encounter with you, but his alibi rests entirely on his friends’ statements. Not the most reliable, in my opinion. How intoxicated was he that night?”

Conor considered. “Drunk enough to make him stupid, but unfortunately, not drunk enough to render him incapable of acting on it.”

“Some people can’t handle any alcohol.” Discomfort welled inside her. She pushed the memory back into the dark corner of her mind where it belonged.

Conor snorted. “This wasn’t Heath’s first night out.”

“When I spoke to him this morning, I suspected he might be lying, but I couldn’t be sure over the phone.”

“I don’t like the thought of you alone with that arrogant jerk.” Conor squeezed her hand.

“Would you like to come along?” Though their mission was somber, Louisa couldn’t stem the rush of pleasure that accompanied the idea of spending time with him.

“That’d be a surprise to Heath.” Conor laughed.

“It might be interesting to see Heath thrown off guard.” In hindsight, Zoe’s boyfriend had been entirely too composed when she’d spoken with him. He’d seemed barely concerned about his girlfriend’s whereabouts. Was it because he was a self-centered, uncaring jerk or because he already knew what happened to Zoe? Or both?

“I like the way you think.” Conor’s eyes sparkled with shared mischief. “Count me in.”