I looked at my watch and was shocked to see it was almost 7:30 p.m. A press conference. I pictured Mr. and Mrs. Hayes huddled in front of the news cameras, begging for the safe return of their son, and sensed that Tim was doing the same. A look of understanding passed between us. Criminals can’t resist keeping tabs on investigations into their misdeeds. I imagine it’s like eavesdropping on a teacher-parent meeting after you’ve willfully broken a school rule: a preview of what’s to come.

I bounced a pen off my teeth. “A press conference could help us flush him out, and I can help with surveillance.”

“If you’re right about this being an abduction, then yeah,” Tim said. “That all sounds great. But if the guy we’re trying to expose is the same man who imprisoned you for eight days in a filthy basement where he killed three other women, you can’t be there, Shane.”

It was weeks ago now, but I still remembered the fury in Tim’s voice when I told him what Bram had done. That, and his appeal for me to let it lie. “I have to be there,” I said. “If it’s him, nobody stands a better chance of making a positive ID.”

“What if he approaches you? What if he tries to—”

“He won’t. Not in public. You don’t know him, Tim.”

“And you do? You were with him for a week, a couple hours a day, and you only heard what he wanted you to. It might be enough to get a sense of his personality, but you’re not a criminal psychologist. You were drugged, traumatized, probably in a state of shock. You weren’t in any position to psychoanalyze him. No one would expect you to be.” Tim tugged a breath through his teeth. “You think you have some kind of connection with him, but all that bullshit Carson fed you about Stockholm syndrome messed with your head. I know you blame yourself for not detaining him when you had the chance, but here’s the thing: you’re right. Whatever sick act he planned to carry out down there was interrupted. That means there’s a chance he wants to finish it. We don’t need you in the open, in the middle of a crowd where this lunatic can make a move and slip away unseen. We’ve already got one missing person on our hands.”

I couldn’t blame Tim for seeing it that way, or for feeling the way he did. He didn’t know Bram’s message on the photo was decades in the making. “How about a compromise?” I said. “You hold the press conference tonight.”

“Tonight? You’re crazy. And how is that a compromise?”

“Just listen. It’ll up the media coverage and expose the neighboring towns to Trey’s photograph sooner, maybe even bring in more tips. It’ll also show our guy how serious we are about getting Trey back. And it will be dark. Pitch-black, like you said. I can blend in.”

But your scar. Tim was thinking it, I knew he was, and I didn’t want to hear him say it aloud. “I’ll cover my face,” I said preemptively. “It’s cold out; everyone will be bundled up. He won’t even know I’m there, but I’ll be scanning the crowd the whole time.”