‘It’s Florida,’ Annalie said. She hefted her purse up and down as if she were working out with weights. ‘Even Mickey Mouse probably carries a piece.’

‘Well, I’m glad you came back to check on me. Thanks.’

‘No problem. I didn’t want to take any chances. That guy in the red Cutlass was watching you. I don’t know if he was connected to Macy or not, but he definitely had his eyes on you.’

Peach got up and paced. Inside the conference room, the stale cold air made her shiver. Outside, the building rocked, and the walls groaned. She wondered who the man in the Cutlass was. She was a spy, and she didn’t like being spied upon herself.

‘I talked to one of my contacts about Macy,’ Annalie added. ‘There’s not much buzz about him, but he had eight years in prison to make connections. He could be into anything.’

‘Yeah.’

‘What exactly did Diane say when you mentioned him?’

‘She got furious. She thinks Macy was the one who got Drew hooked on drugs. Though I don’t know why that would matter to Justin.’

Peach sat down again. Annalie said nothing.

‘And then there’s Alison,’ Peach went on. ‘Justin wrote her name in the poetry book. He must have wanted me to find it. She must be important, too.’

‘You don’t know who she is?’

‘Deacon thought she might be a lawyer for the foundation, but I can’t find evidence that Justin ever contacted her.’ She added after a pause: ‘You would have liked Justin. There was something deep about him that you don’t find in a lot of people.’

Annalie brushed her raven hair out of her eyes. ‘Well, if you liked him, I’m sure I would have liked him, too. You seem to be a pretty good judge of people.’

‘No, I don’t think I know people at all,’ Peach said. ‘I keep them away. Caprice says I’m too closed off.’

‘You’ve been through a lot.’

‘Yeah. It’s hard to get close to people. And even harder to trust people.’ She dragged words out of herself. ‘I mean, I don’t really know you, do I? I like you, but I don’t know anything about you.’

Annalie smiled, as if she knew it was hard for Peach to say something like that. ‘What do you want to know?’

‘I don’t know. Where’d you grow up?’

‘Near Bonita Springs.’

‘Are your parents alive?’

‘Yes.’

Peach nodded. ‘People think it’s odd when I ask that, but I don’t really know what that’s like, you know? To have parents.’

‘I know.’

‘Did you go to college?’

‘UCF.’

‘I never wanted to go to college,’ Peach said. ‘What did you do after you graduated?’

‘Partied. Ran up debt. Experienced the joys of minimum wage.’