“I’m scared for you, Gavin,” she said. “I just want to help.”

“I don’t want your help.” And then, for the benefit of the detectives who would be viewing this later, he said, “I didn’t do anything, so they can’t convict me of anything. Have faith. I’m innocent.”

The smile Gavin shared with his mother carried the weight of their history, a wink between conspirators, saying more than words ever could. “Is that all they asked about—my allowance?”

“No, they asked me about a bunch of names.”

This caused Gavin to twitch ever so slightly. He took a second to compose himself and asked, “What names?”

“They asked me about that girl you went to high school with, um, Eleanora what’s-her-face. And then there was a Chloe and a Virginia and…” Amy paused as she counted the names off on her fingers, stumbling to find the fourth one.

Gavin stopped breathing as each name jammed a new scrap of rusted metal into his chest. How had they made those connections? They were random bodies, floating in the river. Were they guessing? Taking a shot in the dark?

No, Vang wasn’t guessing. She must have puzzled together the thin nexus between his photography business and their disappearances. Surprisingly, the thought of those names passing through her lips brought Gavin a strange sense of accomplishment. His hard work, his art would finally be appreciated. But he had also been careful, and if that was all she had, then Gavin had nothing to worry about. Those women were all dead. There would never be a lineup. They could never sit in a courtroom and point a finger at him.

Gavin almost smiled at the thought of Vang watching him walk out of court a free man. She would know the truth of his deeds, the depth of his skill, but she would be able to prove nothing.

“Now I remember,” Amy said. “The fourth girl’s name was Lila Nash. That was the one.”

Lila Nash? Had she finally remembered him? He had seen a look in her eye on that last trip to court, but he didn’t believe it. He pictured her sitting on the witness stand, pointing a finger at him and saying his name. The image filled his chest with something cold and thick and heavy. It suffocated him. Was this what it felt like to drown?

“Are you okay?” Amy asked.

Damn it! Gavin forced a smile onto his face, took in a slow breath. They wanted him to react. That’s why they fed Amy the names. If Nash had truly remembered him, they wouldn’t have given that information to his mother. They were grasping at straws and he had fallen for their trick.

He pushed the panic from his mind and let his intellect cool the heat of those embers. He still had time to fix his mistake, put an end to the threat that was Lila Nash. He had a plan—a good one—and if he stuck to his strategy, everything would work out in the end.