“I thought youd be mad at me, he said, a little plaintively.

She grinned. “You say that like youre disappointed.

“Well, I had this great comeback all planned, and then I had a fallback position, and when you demolished that I was going to jump you.

“We could skip directly to three, she suggested.

He looked over his shoulder. “Down, girl. Im on duty.

She followed his gaze. “Yeah. Those poor people. What do you think happened?

“The moneys gone from the till. Theres a bunch of jade and ivory artwork and a gold nugget the size of a red potato missing. She was robbed, she resisted, and something went wrong. She might have known him, but she ran the only post office in miles, so she could also have not known him. You get drifters out here the same way you get them everywhere else. Its just that here you hope the Bush takes them out before they start killing people.

“And usually it does.

“And usually it does, he agreed.

“Not this time.

“No.

“Her family seemed to love her very much.

“Yes.

A brief silence. “Liam. You think youll find him?

He pulled his blue ball cap from his head and examined the cloth badge fastened to the crown. A brown bear with all of its teeth bared in a snarl held a badge between his front paws. “Alaska State Troopers, the badge read. In between the “State and “Troopers was a circle with the unsetting sun and the Alaska flag set inside it. Eight stars of gold on a field of blue.

“Ill look for him, he said finally. “We dusted for prints, and if were lucky well find some out of the hundreds that postal customers and family members have left behind that match up with some weve got on file. Ill go around to the neighbors, see if any of them saw anything, got hassled by anyone. Of course, the nearest neighbors four miles away, so chances of that are not good. When I get back to Newenham Ill call around to the other trooper posts in the area, see if theyve had anything similar happen. He put his hat back on and pulled it down over his forehead. “Ill look for him.

He got to his feet and reached for her hand and pulled her up next to him. “But unless he kills again, Im probably not going to find him.

“Not necessarily something you want to hope for.

“No.

She dusted her hands on her jeans and looked at the palms. “Liam.

She looked at him, the rising sun causing her hair to gleam with dark red secrets. Half a smile kicked up one side of his mouth, and her heart turned over. She cleared her throat. “Ford Ranger, she said.

“Uh-huh, he said, smile spreading.

“Wide tires all around.

“Okay.

“Snap-on tool chest in the bed.

“Got it.

“Hot pink paint job.

“Oh man, oh no, he said, his head shaking in disgust, “no way, girl truck trying to look like a boy truck. Paint jobs a dead giveaway.