Now it was Gavin’s turn. It all came down to this—his life, his freedom…everything rested on her inability to remember him. Would she see past his ruse? A lesser man would have been praying that she not recognize him, but Gavin wasn’t a lesser man. Besides, what god would a murderer pray to? What god protects men such as him?

“Number five, step forward.”

Gavin took a step and counted. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi, five Mississippi, six Mississippi, seven…

“Number five, you can return.”

Seven! She didn’t recognize him. Gavin’s heart hammered, and his chest rose and fell harder than it should have. He concentrated on slowing his breathing. Look bored. This has nothing to do with you.

They went down the line again, this time asking each man to turn to the left and right before stepping back. Again, number two and number four spent additional seconds being scrutinized by the woman behind the glass. When his turn came, Gavin barely got his feet planted before being asked to return. It took all of his self-control to keep his elation from spilling out. He had won. Gavin wanted to crow, but he remained rock-still. No smiling, no twitching—nothing.

Without a positive identification, they had nothing: no DNA, no hair, no Bronco—no evidence. If he walked out that door, unrecognized, it would be impossible to resurrect a case against him. The detectives would see his cunning but remain powerless to touch him. Gavin exhaled his relief in slow, calm breaths as he waited for the voice from the speaker to excuse them from the room—but it didn’t.

“Number one, please step forward and repeat the following words: ‘All you had to do was be nice.’”

And just like that, it felt as though someone had reached into Gavin’s chest and ripped his lungs out. Those words—he remembered them now. He’d said them to Sadie on the bank of the river. Gavin wanted to scream and punch the wall. He had forgotten all about that brief moment of hubris. He’d felt such a deep need to teach Sadie her lesson, explain the sin she had committed, the one that condemned her. He’d thought he was being benevolent—but he’d really just been shortsighted. No good deed goes unpunished.

Of course, Gavin had already planned for the possibility that she might recognize him. He had worked out every detail of that contingency. But while he had absolute confidence in his backup plan, the thought of actually spending time in jail during its execution shook him. He needed to walk out of that room a free man.

Number one stepped forward and repeated the line in a fake lisp. Of course he would use a lisp—the decoys would have to. If Gavin were the only one in line to talk with a lisp, it would taint the lineup and get it thrown out of court. This was what Detective Vang had been up to while he sat in the waiting room with brain-dead Lopez. Gavin felt strangely thrilled. She was smart—she was worthy.