He edged away from her as she began to rearrange her hair. “Don’t do this. You’re giving the guy exactly what he wants if you go public with what happened here tonight.” He patted her hand, wanting her to think like a cop and not a reporter for once, even as he knew that wasn’t fair. “Don’t give this jerk what he wants.”

She pushed the blanket off. “This is what I want. Either you stay for the interview, or I’ll grab somebody else.”

“Grab somebody else and leave me out of it. I’ll respond with a full story on another channel, with your competition, if you use me or the FBI this time.” He stood and exited the apartment, jogging through the crisp air to his truck. On the way back home, he called Laurel.

“Hi, Huck,” she said, her voice clear.

He pulled onto a main thoroughfare. “You sound wide awake.”

“I am. More nightmares.”

“About what?” He passed a slow-moving shipping truck.

She sighed. “I’m walking in a snowy field and people I’ve helped to catch, all killers, are pelting me with frozen black dahlias. I can’t get away. I’m sure it’s because we’re running in circles on this case. The symbols fit.”

“Well, it’s going to get worse.” He updated her on Rachel and her attacker. “This time it isn’t my fault.”

“No, you’re right.” Laurel groaned. “If she goes public, that puts the spotlight on me. Not on the case or on the killer, but me. I’m the subject now.”

“I couldn’t stop her. Do you think that was the killer’s goal? Are we closer to somebody than we think?” The move didn’t make sense to him, but right now, he was just pissed. All over, from every direction, plain old pissed.

“It could be, or it could be something else.” Clothing rustled. “I have a bad feeling I know what this is.”

So did he. The hair on the back of his neck rose. “Tell me.”

“I angered Abigail yesterday, and this is something she might do in retaliation. It screws up our case, puts you back into protector mode with your ex-fiancée, and shoots me into the limelight. All the actions of a narcissist who thinks she’s been wronged.”

Huck tilted his head. “I don’t know. I do believe your sister could be dangerous, in the right circumstances, but this would be a huge risk. She’s a successful professor and entrepreneur, and she wants a relationship with you. What if she got caught? Rachel does know some self-defense and could’ve gotten a chance to fight back but didn’t. Somebody could’ve seen the attacker. The police are canvassing now and checking any CCTV from the area. This is too much of a risk for Abigail. Do you actually think she would’ve done something like this?”