“Best of all worlds,” she said. Peaceful. Beautiful. Now that she was back she didn’t know if she would leave again.

“Only thing I don’t like about this area is the snow,” he said.

“It doesn’t snow that much.”

“More than enough.”

“I hope you don’t have to miss a class,” she said. “I know the last semester can be demanding.”

“I only have two classes this semester, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and they’re both pretty easy, to be honest. My capstone is taking most of my time.”

The capstone for a Criminology and Criminal Justice degree didn’t involve any physical classes, but a lot of research, writing, and regular meetings with an advisor were required. If you didn’t do it, or slacked off, it could mean the difference between graduating or not. But most advisors worked hard with their seniors to ensure they at least passed.

“I can’t believe you convinced Annie to speak to us.”

“To me,” Regan corrected. “I appealed to her desire for justice, but she made it clear that she was irritated that you’d repeatedly called her. She mentioned harassment.”

“I called too many times, I know, but I really wanted to talk to her. She was Candace’s roommate. I had Chrissy on board, and the Sunrise director, and even the campus police talked to me. I thought that having that support would convince her. Every time I got another interview, I called her. I shouldn’t have.”

“Live and learn,” she said.

They went into her dad’s office—a room he’d built on after she had moved to the East Coast. A wall of windows, built-in bookshelves, a potbellied stove in the corner, and her grandfather’s antique desk that her dad had refinished. A couple of leather chairs and a small table completed the comfortable room. Lucas looked around and his eyes widened when he saw the stuffed black bear in the corner. “Is that real?”

“It is.” In addition to the bear, there was the head of a pronghorn mounted on one wall, and the largest fish her dad had ever caught, a forty-two-pound rainbow trout, above his desk. Not world-record size, but close. A mountain lion head, a javelina head—they were nasty creatures. “Don’t let them intimidate you. There’s a story behind each one. My brother and dad go hunting every year, if they can get tags. I prefer pheasant to big game, but I was with my dad when he caught that fish. I don’t know if I ever saw him more excited in my life.”

She sat at the desk and motioned for Lucas to take one of the chairs. “I’ll put her on speaker, but don’t talk, okay?” she said. “If you have anything you want me to ask, write it down. I think we’ll get more information this way.”

Lucas agreed.