She owed Gabe an answer about using Shannon as a carrier for their baby. If she said no, they’d have to start the search over. Another delay. Another reason for Gabe to decide that maybe kidless was the way to go.

For one damn minute, can you stop being a cop? That’s what Gabe had asked her when she’d expressed concern about Shannon’s husband.

No. She didn’t think she could. It was who she was.

The door opened and Melissa Wayne walked in. She poured herself a cup of coffee and held the pot in Rena’s direction. Rena shook her head. Melissa took a seat on the other side of the table.

“Thank you for letting me finish with my customer,” she said.

“No problem,” Rena said. “You were expecting me,” she said.

“I was. Candiss sent a text.”

“More than that,” Rena said, taking an educated guess. “After you got Candiss’s text, you called Alice.”

Melissa stared at her cup. “I did,” she said finally looking up. “Woke her up. She hadn’t had her coffee yet.”

So Alice knew that the police were aware she’d lied about knowing Dover.

“My sister told me about the ridiculous conversation she had at the police station.”

“I can’t talk to you about that,” Rena said. She stared at the woman across the table. “The two of you really look very much alike.”

“People used to get us mixed up when we were younger,” Melissa said. “And Alice was able to use my ID easily to get into bars when she was still underage. Although I suspect that’s not something I should be telling you.”

“Not my worry right now,” Rena said. “I’m looking for a missing five-year-old.”

“It’s a terrible thing. But thinking that Alice had anything to do with it is really just a waste of time.”

“When did you move to Dover, Ms. Wayne?” Rena asked.

“After college.”

“Did Alice ever live in Dover?”

“No.”

“You were here ten years ago when Corrine Antler disappeared?”

“I was. Had just started the salon. It was all anyone talked about for weeks, maybe even months.”

“Did you know the Antler family?”

“Not before. But some of the local businesses got together to do some fund-raising for them afterwards and we met then. Nice people.”

“Did you know Trapper Frogg or his son, Coyote Frogg?”

“No.”

“Brenda Owen?”

“No.”

“Rosemary Bracken?”

Melissa opened her mouth, closed it. “Actually, I do. I cut her hair, like once every six months.”

Rosemary Bracken’s hair had been straight to her shoulders with a middle part. Not a hint of style that she saw in Melissa’s hair or in the cut she’d been doing earlier. “That’s a long time to go between haircuts.”