I chewed on my lip as I reached over and grabbed the first cue stick my hand came into contact with from the holder on the wall near our table. My phone dinged and I paused, pulling it out of my pocket. While I scrolled through my alerts, Travis came back with the next round of beers, handing one to Andie and then to me.

‘Thanks,’ I mumbled, barely looking up from my phone screen.

Travis grabbed a cue stick and said in a caveman voice, ‘The big strong man against the little women.’ He flexed his muscles and kissed his forearms. Then, seeing the pathetic spread of balls on the table, he said, ‘Looks like you needed these bad boys to get a good first break.’

‘Oh, you mean the big strong man who was huddled up on the toilet this morning because he saw a mouse? That big strong man?’ Andie said, punching him in the ribs softly.

Travis feigned clutching his side. ‘That was no ordinary mouse. It was huge.’ They both laughed but I was hardly paying attention to what they were saying.

‘Oh my God. I signed up for news alerts about The Tri-State Killer when I was looking into him, and I just got a notification – look.’ I held up my phone to show the article I was reading.

MISSING BOSTON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS POSSIBLY LINKED TO THE TRI-STATE KILLER

‘Those two women who disappeared from Boston last year, Zoey Wilson and Addie Davis, are now suspected to be his latest victims. The FBI assumed he was dead or dormant because it’d been six years since another pair went missing but now that’s all out the window.’

Travis and Andie quickly scanned the article. ‘Lizzie, that’s not good,’ Andie replied before grabbing her beer and taking a swig.

I was lost in thought, disturbing images racing around my brain, taking in this new development.

‘Liz?’ Travis snapped his fingers in front of my face. I tore my gaze from my screen to look up at him. ‘You’re playing too, right?’

‘Yes. Sorry, I just can’t stop thinking about the fact that the FBI thinks it could be my uncle. And now knowing that two women are in danger … it’s just a lot.’

‘Well if they know it’s a familial match, there’s still a chance it’s someone else, right?’ Travis asked.

‘They’ve been combing through my 23andMe matches who I haven’t connected with yet but it seems like they still think it’s either Cris or Adam. They said Cris is the best fit based on what they know at this point. I’ve been trying to connect with Adam, even if it’s just to talk to him and see what he’s like, figure out if he’s a viable alternative and give me at least some peace of mind about seeing Cris and Rosie. But he still hasn’t returned any of my messages.’