She shook her head and kept walking, smiling despite herself. She stopped, a couple hundred yards farther, and pointed to the dune line. “If I remember correctly, that’s actually where the first kiss occurred.”

He caught her hand in his and laughed. “And things went downhill from there, in a hurry.”

“I thought I told you none of that ever happened,” she said, giving him a stern look.

“How could I forget those golden hours in your arms?” Jonah teased.

“And how could I forget the sight of you doing the walk of shame the next morning,” she retorted.

They walked on and paused again, when they saw the mass of the Gulf Vista up ahead.

Drue shuddered involuntarily, thinking of Jazmin Mayes’s sad fate there.

“You know,” Jonah said, “I saw an article in the business section of the Tampa Bay Times this week. It said they’re going to rebrand the place, and knock down the original part of the hotel that dates from the 1970s. They’re going to build a fancy state-of-the-art spa and fitness center in its place.”

“That explains why that wing was almost totally vacant Friday night,” Drue said thoughtfully. “I guess it’s a good sign that they’ve got the money to expand. Hopefully, Dad is going to sue the living daylights out of them on behalf of Jazmin’s mom, now that we know the truth about how and when she was killed.”

He put his arm around her shoulders. “Did I tell you yet that I think it’s pretty cool what you did? Figuring everything out? Maybe you should think about going to law school and following in your old man’s footsteps.”

“Never,” she said quickly. “The thought of three more years of school is more than I can bear. Sitting at a desk all day? Like I do in that damned cubicle of mine? No thanks.”

“What about becoming an investigator? Like Zee. You never see him sitting at a desk.”

“It’s crossed my mind,” she admitted. “I always liked puzzles. And mysteries.”

“That’s how you got so wrapped up in that missing woman thing?”

“You heard?”

“Yeah. I only pretended to be asleep, to save Brice’s pride. But you don’t actually still believe that Zee or your dad had anything to do with that, right? I mean, Brice flat-out denied it.”

“And I want to believe him. I really do. But he lied to me about it from the beginning, and so did Zee. And the other thing is, which I didn’t bring up with my dad tonight, I actually went and talked to the last woman who ever saw Colleen Boardman Hicks. Her name is Vera Rennick. She worked at a dentist’s office with her. On the day Colleen disappeared, back in 1976, they went shopping and had dinner together. Colleen told her, ‘I’ll see you Monday.’ And then she vanished.”