Staring at my silent phone screen was driving me crazy so I picked up the remote control and clicked on the TV to distract myself. Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and Martin Short glammed up in black embroidered Mexican suits and sombreros danced across the screen. Growing up, my parents and I used to regularly watch my dad’s favorite movie, Three Amigos!, which had inspired our nickname. And even though I’d forgiven them, the images that popped into my head of us piled on the sofa with a big bowl of buttery popcorn, me tucked in between the two of them, still needled at me. Every memory seemed tainted and I wasn’t sure how to get past that. This reminder of happier times just brought up all the lies along with it and I felt saddened by the actors’ antics instead of amused.

Groaning loudly, I quickly pulled up the channel guide to find something else to watch. Before I could make up my mind on what to select my phone rang, causing my heart to stop. Adam?

I picked it up so frantically I almost dropped it. It wasn’t Adam’s number but it also wasn’t a number I recognized. Puzzled, I answered the phone, my hand shaking slightly from the adrenaline.

‘Hello?’

‘Hi, I’m sorry to call so late but is this Liz Catalano?’ A woman’s crisp voice filtered through the line.

‘Yes, this is Liz,’ I replied, both confused and intrigued by the mystery caller.

‘Oh, great. Hi Liz, this is Beccah Williams, I received your email inquiring about my work investigating The Tri-State Killer. Apologies again about the time but as you can imagine I’ve been a bit busy since the news broke on the possible link to the women from Boston.’

My heart raced. ‘Oh, no apologies necessary. Thanks so much for calling me.’

‘Yes, of course. Well, I could tell from your email you were really passionate about finding out some answers about TSK. To be honest, it reminded me of a few dogged emails I sent around in my early writing days hunting for information.’

Heat flushed my cheeks. I guessed that was a compliment but suddenly I was a bit self-conscious. Beccah was a true investigative journalist, something I always imagined being. ‘I know I didn’t go into a lot of detail in my email beyond saying I was personally connected to TSK but I’m so grateful you’ve got in touch.’

‘Yes, well that certainly caught my interest. Would you mind telling me a bit now about how you’re connected?’ I could hear a familiar need-to-know tone in her voice. I took a deep, steadying breath. Every time I spoke about it out loud the danger felt a step closer.