“My family . . . ,” she says, but I can tell I’ve overstepped my bounds in her mind and am sounding too much like an ex-boyfriend who’s trying to drop the “ex” part. “Plus, if John came back looking for me, he’d be heartbroken if I wasn’t here.”

“He’d be an idiot if he came back to Paradise,” I mutter. The words come out before I can stop them, so I try to explain. “I mean, with all the suits running around here.”

As if she overheard this as her cue, the red-haired woman gets up and walks over. She slides into the booth beside Sarah. Before I can react, there’s another dark-suited person sliding in beside me—a man who looks like he’s in his late twenties, with olive skin and close-cropped black hair.

We’re trapped in the booth.

“What the—,” I start.

“You’re Mark James,” the red-haired woman says. “The sheriff’s son. And you’re Sarah Hart.”

“What do you—,” Sarah says.

“My name is Agent Walker, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and this is my associate, Agent Noto. I hope you don’t mind if we join you.”

“We do,” I say, narrowing my eyes.

Agent Walker smiles. Noto hasn’t said a word or done anything but stare back and forth between Sarah and me. I wonder how close he was to us. Did he hear me talking about the blog earlier? Does he know what we’ve been talking about?

“We’re just trying to get an idea of what happened with John Smith here in town. As you probably know, he’s a person of high interest. There are several incredibly generous rewards that are being offered for any information on his whereabouts.” She turns her attention to me. “I was sorry to hear about what happened to your home, by the way. But I’m sure the reward money could go far in rebuilding.”

Is this woman really trying to bribe me into telling her about John?

“After all, I’m told the blaze started at a party you were throwing,” she continues. “I’m sure you’ve been wondering how you can make things up to your parents after something like that.”

My mouth drops open a little, and I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut.

“You’ve been watching me,” Sarah says, changing the subject. “I’ve seen you.”

“Of course you’ve seen me,” the woman says. “We wanted you to know that we’re here, keeping the town safe.”

“You’re following me,” Sarah says, gritting her teeth a little.

“I’m simply doing my job by ensuring that we follow up on every lead.”

“And you think Sarah is a lead?” I ask.