I didn’t wait long.

He raised his head. “I’m here for the girl.”

Jake and Cavers both saw me, both saw I was waiting.

I wanted Jake to talk to him, get information out of him.

Jake frowned, but took a step forward. He kept his voice friendly. “It’s my birthday tonight, and we were doing some celebratin’, so you’ll have to be more specific. What girl are you talking about?”

Barking erupted inside the house. Gus had gotten to the garage door and was clawing to get outside.

The cop straightened and almost took a step back, but instead he raised his gun. “I got a notice that a girl matching a missing person was seen in town. Got another tip that the same girl was shopping in the grocery store earlier this evening. And I’m standing here telling you I’m not leaving until I clear this girl.”

Just then, the screen door opened.

Ash stepped out, her face like stone as she came forward. “That girl looks like me?”

The cop’s shoulders sagged, and he nodded a couple times. “Yeah. She looks like you.”

Jake and Cavers exchanged a frown, and Ash moved past Jake.

“Hey.” He held a hand out, warning.

She only had eyes for the cop. “You got a poster or something?”

Jake and Cavers shared a look.

I knew who was on that poster. And I knew it would send Ash into a tailspin.

Determination flashed in her eyes and she rolled her shoulders back. Her voice got hard. “Show me.”

I could see it on the passenger seat, and after scrutinizing her, the cop holstered his gun and reached for the paper. He offered it to her.

She stared at it, her head bent down.

She was so still.

Jake had locked on her. Cavers frowned in his direction, but to no avail.

Jake moved forward a step. “That someone you know?”

Ash didn’t answer him.

She looked up, her eyes flicking past the cop to me before returning. “Can I keep this? Do you have copies?”

“Ma’am.” The cop was being all gentle now. He nodded to the paper. “Is that you?”

She looked at it again, and I didn’t like the look in her eyes, or the way her jaw seemed to be jerking around. She shook her head. “No.”

“Beg your pardon, ma’am, but…” If he could’ve lowered a hat out of respect, folded it to his chest, he would’ve. His hand moved to the top of his car door, and his fingers curled around it. “You could be the girl’s doppelganger. I’ll need to ask for your identification.”

Ash reached for her pocket and handed over a license. It would’ve been a fake. I watched as the cop added a sticker to the front before handing it back. His move was smooth and practiced. He’d been prepared—that sticker was on the inside of his wrist. Jake and Cavers wouldn’t have noticed anything.

Ash looked at the sticker and without a beat said, “I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t have any water here.”

The cop’s shoulders tensed. He grasped the car door tightly. His voice dropped low. “Are you sure, ma’am?”

She raised the poster again. “Can I keep this?”

He scratched the back of his head. “Don’t know why you’d want it if it’s not you.”

She started to backtrack, but paused and looked at the paper again. Her words were muffled because she wouldn’t look up, away from the poster. “She’s my sister.” Then she did look up, her eyes shining with unshed tears. Her voice was strong. “I didn’t know these went out, but I know who took my sister. I’m trying to find him.” Her eyes got hard. “There’s nothing for you here, officer. I’d suggest you leave.”

Jake’s gaze moved to me, his eyes narrowed.

Cavers watched Ash go back to the house, open the screen door, and slip inside. A second later, Gus moved away from the garage door and a second door closed inside.

The cop reached for his radio. “Now, I don’t know what’s all going on here, but I think—”

Now it was my move, and I did it by cocking my gun.

The sound was clear, distinct.

The officer stopped talking, his hands in the air, and at that moment, I moved in, placing my gun at the back of his head.

“This is the time where you get into your car, Officer Martinez. You call in that you’re off-shift and instead of stopping to see your partner for the usual dip you do with her, I suggest you head straight to your wife and your two sons. I suggest you appreciate what you have because tomorrow, your wife may not get to her shift at the local cafe and your sister may not get to your house where she watches your children.” I let the silence settle a moment. “But if you do as I say, nothing will happen to anyone. In the morning, you can call in a house fire at Mrs. Rominsciez’s home because it will be long burned to the ground by then.”

I moved in closer and reached around him, taking hold of his gun. He tensed, but didn’t stop me as I eased the gun from his grasp. “But I’d like a guarantee, and I think you’d hate to have your gun used in a murder, especially that of your own loved ones, so I’m going to keep this gun. When you return in the morning, it will be wrapped up.” I tapped his left shoulder. “I need you to see where I’ll put it.”

He looked, and his hands flexed in the air where he’d been holding them.

“See the clump of white birch down there?”

He had to swallow before he grated out, “Yeah.”

“It’ll be behind the second tree, so no one else finds it before you get here.”

He couldn’t see me, but his eyes were down. He was trying to see my shoes. I’m sure he was trying to memorize every detail of me that he could get.

“You’re cartel?” he asked.

“Something like that.” I nodded to Jake and Cavers, signaling them to head back inside.

They did, but slowly, grudgingly.

“I know your job is about doing the right thing, and I get that. I do. But you came alone, and you didn’t call for backup, and you knew you had to figure out what to do when you saw my men waiting for you with guns in their hands, because if you backed up, they might’ve started shooting. You knew that, too. So, I’m not saying any of this to stroke your ego, but I am saying you did the best you could in a situation without enough cops to police all the territory.You were smart about it.”

I cleared my throat. “Here’s my very real warning to you, though. In a week, maybe two, you’re going to start rethinking who we are, and you’re going to remember what that girl told you—that she’s the sister of the missing girl. Because of that, I’m telling you right now that you won’t remember her. Ever. Not any of us—not the dog, not the men, not me who you won’t even get a glimpse of. Because if you do, I won’t send men for you. I will come myself. If you disregard this warning, you and your entire family will go to bed one night and none of you will wake up. I’m that kind of killer.”

I waited, letting him process that, and then I gave my last instructions. “You’re going to get in your car, you’re going to wait three seconds, and then you’re going to reverse and go home to your family. No calls except to say you’re ending your shift.”