So nobody kept track of them, Harley said, feeling her neck prickle at the idea. They were just shelved and forgotten.

Santiago leaned his back against the counter and sighed. Listen, Im gonna level with you. I know youre John Coles girl.

I stopped being his little girl a long time ago, Harley answered, her voice more edgy than she had intended. She had worked hard to distance herself from her father, and the association rankled her.

Santiago raised his hands defensively. Its not my business, sticking my nose in family affairs, least of all with whats going on with your dad right now. He paused, choosing his next words carefully. But if this is about your sister Kelly, I should tell you myself: Youre not going to dig up anything I havent turned over a thousand times.

Harley felt conflicting emotions: pain at the mention of her sister, gratitude that he still knew her name after all these years.

Im surprised you remember her, she said.

She was my first major case. I had just made deputy a few months before, so I was still naive enough to think I could right every wrong. He paused. Lost a lot of sleep over your sister, I did. I have a daughter of my own about that age now, and it haunts me to this day that we never figured out what happened to her.

It felt surreal, suddenly talking about Kellys disappearance. Harley had quizzed her father and Greg numerous times over the years (without much success), but she had never spoken with Santiago. By the time shed been able to set her emotions aside enough to know which questions to ask, shed been on the east coast investing in a full-time job and a full-time marriage. As heartless as it felt to admit, she had moved onnot forgetting her sister, certainly, but compartmentalizing the pain so she could live her own life.

The excitement she felt at Santiagos words, however, told her she would never fully move on, not while the case was still unsolved.

What do you think happened? she asked. Any theories?

The sheriff sucked air against his teeth with a hesitant expression, as if knowing a few careless words could do more harm than good. Hard to say. It was a long time ago.

Please, sheriff. Youre one of the few people in the world who can tell me something I dont already know. Whatever you say will stay between us.

Santiago gave her a wary glance before finally nodding. It was always too neat to meher disappearance. Benson he was sheriff at the time, you remember Benson thought she had run off to Arizona, used the camping trip as an excuse to pack her things. Shed told her friends about her plans to see the Grand Canyon, and since her parents your folks, I mean since they wouldnt let her go, or even get a car until she was seventeen