“Them finding nothing means fuck all,” Keenan said. “I sure as hell don’t believe Kate slipped. And Celine—”

“Who are Kate and Celine?” Ash said.

Keenan whipped his head around, taking a step in Ash’s direction, his balled fists moving up to his chest, locked and loaded. “You don’t get to say their names, asshole.”

“Enough.” I pushed Keenan toward the door, an almost impossible feat given our size difference. “Get out and don’t come back. Stay away or I’ll have a restraining order slapped on your sorry ass.”

Keenan’s jaw made tiny sinewy movements, and I was about to order him out of the house once more when he glared at the both of us and marched to the front door. I followed, slamming it shut and locking it behind him, and moments later heard the tires of his prized possession spinning on the gravel as he sped off down the road. When I walked back into the kitchen, Ash had slumped down at the table. I went to him and put my hands on his shoulders.

“You shouldn’t have let him in,” I said.

“He kept banging on the door, I figured I could calm him down.” Ash looked up at me. “Who was he talking about? Celine, and...Kate? What happened to them? Where are they?”

“Listen, Ash, I really think we should go to the doctor—”

He smacked his palm on the table, bellowed, “I’m not a child. Tell me. Now.”

I took a step back, blinked hard and tried to keep my face neutral as the harshness of his voice rang in my ears. My hopes he’d left his temper somewhere in Maryland along with his memory faded a little. I’d hated how angry he’d become in the run-up to his abrupt departure from Newdale. I didn’t want that Ash back, but the one from before, the one who was always gentle and kind, the one who always made me feel I was at home.

“It’s all right, I’ll tell you,” I said, slowly pulling out a chair, observing Ash for the smallest of reactions, wondering if any of it might act as a trigger, as my research had indicated things could, and trying to plan how I’d handle the situation if it did. “Celine lived in a house farther up the street. The first on the right, the run-down one with the red shutters. Keenan lives there alone now.”

Ash raised his eyebrows. “That dickhead’s our neighbor?”

“Technically, yeah. But he’s almost a mile away.” I didn’t want to continue, but could tell Ash wouldn’t let this go, and I couldn’t blame him. He had no recollection of Celine or Kate, and Keenan had rattled him twice. If I didn’t give Ash something, he’d try to get information elsewhere and, depending on the source, it would do more harm than good.