Danny followed Jed to the back of the house, and Jed used his key to open the door marked PRIVATE. They walked into the dated but clean and spacious kitchen. Notebook and pen in hand, Mandy turned away from the open pantry. Her eyes locked onto him and filled with regret. Danny could imagine what it would be like to be greeted by a smile on her beautiful face, and the fact that it would never happen was a big empty space in the center of his chest.

He fought the urge to apologize and back out of the room. Jed was right. Ignoring the possibility that Nathan was still around could be deadly.

“Hey, Mandy.” Jed went to the fridge He walked right past Mandy and did not stop to kiss her. Strange. That’s the first thing Danny would have done. In fact, he wanted to do it right now, and she wasn’t even his girlfriend. His gaze dropped to her lips. What would they taste like? Jed selected an orange sports drink and offered one to Danny.

“Thanks.” Danny took it.

Jed twisted off his cap. “Danny stopped by to tell us about his meeting with the state cop.”

Mandy gave Jed a what-the-hell look, but behind the laser glare was a whole lot of scared she couldn’t conceal. So why was she so against digging the case up again? Danny had seen her courage. She had plenty to spare. Was she really unable to deal with the strain, or was there another reason she refused to acknowledge the possibility that Nathan was still a threat?

Mandy said, “I told you both that I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“You did,” Danny answered, “but I thought you still might like to know what Detective Rossi said. Do you?”

“Not really,” she said.

“Well, I sure as hell do.” Jed pointed to Mandy with the bottle. “You’re not the only one at risk here. Nathan gutted me like a brook trout. I won’t rest easy until he’s in the ground.”

Mandy paled. She clutched her notebook to her chest for a few seconds. She focused on Danny, as if she was turning away from Jed and the memory of Nathan’s attack. “Detective Rossi already told us he thinks Nathan is dead.”

“That’s just the official line he’s toeing.” Danny told them about the waterlogged SUV and the missing girlfriend, then summed up the rest of his meeting with Rossi.

Jed whistled softly. “Nathan ditched his wheels awfully close to home.”

“That’s because every police agency in the state was looking for his truck.” Mandy shook her head. “He’s not stupid. He knew his best chance was going out on foot. There’s still no reason to think he stayed around here,” Mandy reasoned. “Why wouldn’t he have gone as far as possible from Huntsville?”

“Because he’s nuts,” Jed answered.