“Let’s all just calm down for a second,” Micah says. “Let’s think this through. As far as I know, the manhunt for Jax is still full steam ahead. There’s an APB out in three states and volunteer agents from Macon, Haywood, Transylvania and Swain counties beefing up the search. Even if Chet’s DNA was found inside Sienna, and I’m not saying that it was, consensual sex is not a crime. And if he’s telling the truth about seeing her last on Tuesday morning, that means he wasn’t the last person to see her alive. There were multiple sightings of both her and Jax in town all that day and into the evening.”

Micah’s words do the trick. I blow out a sigh, and my shoulders relax a good inch.

And then I think of something else. I saw Jax in town on Tuesday, too, when he stepped out of the shadows of the terrace. I am a witness.

Tell Paul I need to talk to him.

I whirl around to Paul. “Jax was looking for you. He wanted to talk to you. Why?”

Paul frowns. “I don’t... What are you talking about? When was he looking for me?”

“On Tuesday when I came to pick you up, Jax was waiting outside your office. He said, ‘Tell Paul I need to talk to him.’ The next thing I know, Sienna turns up dead and you run off to find him, and he shows up here wearing her scarf. Now it’s looking like all those things are somehow connected, and I want to know how.”

The blood drains from Paul’s face. “What exactly are you asking me?”

“I just want to understand, Paul. What is happening?”

Micah pushes to a stand, moving around the island, coming closer. “Back up a second. Jax was here?”

I nod. “Wednesday night. In Sienna’s scarf and Paul’s boots.”

Micah cuts his gaze to Paul, shaking his head in disgust. “Why am I not surprised? What other handouts have you been sliding his way? Wait, wait—let me guess. Food, for sure. Money, too, probably.”

Paul doesn’t deny either. He casts a pointed look at Diana, a silent communication like the ones we sometimes share, our married couple’s telepathy. Only this is a message I can’t quite read. I study her expression, trying to identify the emotion smothering her face. Worry looks like fear looks like disapproval. Or maybe all three.

But of course Paul has been taking care of Jax all this time. Why else would Jax be waiting for Paul on that terrace? Why else would Jax show up here?