Which seemed like a lifetime ago, now. Thoughts of Dana, images of her in the arms of another man, used to make his heart physically hurt. Now, nothing.

Time did heal wounds. And sometimes it revealed that what a man thought he wanted so desperately wasn’t necessarily the thing he should have.

His mother had her arm around Evie’s shoulders. “Glenn, this is Evie. I told you about her. And this is Noah, her boyfriend. Evie, this is Glenn. He rents from David.”

Glenn had extricated himself from the backseat of the truck and shook Evie’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you, young lady.” He then lifted her hand higher, a broad smile on his grizzled face. “Is this rock what tonight’s all about?”

Evie met David’s eyes. “We were going to tell you first, but you’ve been busy.”

He had to swallow the lump in his throat as he grabbed Evie up in a bear hug. “Congratulations,” he managed gruffly. “I couldn’t be happier. Really.”

“Thank you,” she whispered fiercely. “Really.”

He put her down, the grin still on his face. “Congratulations, Noah.”

His mother was crying, hugging Evie so hard he thought she might break her. Because this wasn’t simple joy over an engagement. His friend had suffered so much, surviving attacks on her life, brought back from the edge of death twice. She’d almost given up. But not quite. Here she was, beaming like a star. David felt his own eyes sting.

“So when’s the date?” he asked Noah whose eyes were also suspiciously bright.

“We don’t know yet,” Noah said. “Eve just wants to be passed around and fussed over for a while, which is fine with me.” Noah shifted his weight so that he leaned closer to David while the women chattered happily. “Why did you drive Phoebe?”

Noah was no fool, as David had quickly realized seven months before when the dark, brooding detective had led the investigation against the serial killer who’d murdered so many. He’d trusted Noah almost immediately and they’d become friends. That Noah and Olivia were also friends was damn convenient, too. Noah had been one of David’s best sources on Olivia over the last seven months.

“Glenn and I were talking about Lincoln, the guy who broke into the cabin.”

“I heard about him.”

“He did some complex thinking to find me. We’re wondering if he was alone.”

“I wondered the same thing as I was driving home. You want me to drop Phoebe off at your place later?”

“She’s going to stay with you tonight, if that’s okay.” David took her bag from the backseat. “I’m going to be a little late tonight and I’m on shift tomorrow at eight. I keep thinking that if Lincoln had gone up to the loft first…”

“Well, he didn’t,” Noah said practically. “Do you or Glenn have any thoughts on who might have been helping this guy?”

“No. Do you?”

“Not yet. I’ll make sure Olivia knows about this.”

David hesitated, then shrugged. “I’m supposed to see her tonight. I’ll tell her then.”

Noah gave him an impatient glance. “It’s about damn time, Hunter.”

“I know, I know. I’ve gotta go. Just keep an eye out for Ma.”

“You know I will.”

David started to go, but Evie stopped him. “Wait.” She wrapped her arms around his neck in a big hug, then whispered in his ear, “You pushed me to take a chance on Noah and on myself. Told me the chance might not come again. Do you remember?”

He did. She’d challenged him to stop watching his own life go by that same night seven months ago. “Yes. It was my fee for fixing your roof.”

“You fixed my life instead. Now I’m returning the favor. Do not let this opportunity get away. Promise me you will tell Olivia how you feel. And soon.”

He started, surprised. “How did you know?”

“Noah made me sign up for another self-defense class. Rudy told me.”

David laughed. “That guy’s a damn weasel.”

“No, he’s not. He’s a sweetheart, and the best source of gossip in town.” She sobered. “Promise me, David.”

“I promise.” He let her go and waved to Glenn. “Let’s go. I’ve got an appointment to get my ass kicked at the dojo and I’m going to be late.”

Tuesday, September 21, 6:20 p.m.

He’d decided how to get Kenny out of the well-secured residential dormitory. Except the timing was wrong. If he could have set his plan for Kenny in motion later, say around midnight when the cops and rescue teams would be busy at the fire Albert was planning, success would be virtually guaranteed.

But Sutherland and Kane were due back at the deaf school at 7:00 p.m. He needed to get his hands on Kenny before the cops got him to talk. Even though the timing was wrong, he didn’t have a choice.

Make the call. He’d dialed the first few digits of the school’s main phone number, wondering who would pick up this time of the evening. Campus security, most likely.

And then the interpreter’s phone jingled a little tune. Detective Olivia Sutherland, once again. Abruptly he canceled the call he was about to make. Sutherland wasn’t at the school yet, because he was, sitting down the street in his van. Why was she calling?

He held his breath, waiting for the call to go to voice mail. He gave it a minute, then dialed the interpreter’s voice mail and listened.

He let out the breath he held in a whoosh of relief. Something else had come up. They wanted Val back here tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Everything would be totally fine now.

Smiling, he typed a text. 10 is fine. will see you then.

He needed to get back to his shop. This was the third Tuesday of the month, when the local book club met. Luckily they talked more about their own lives than the books they’d read. He’d managed to snag quite a few new clients based on their gossip alone.

Tuesday, September 21, 6:30 p.m.

“That was nice,” Glenn said quietly.

David glanced over at him before returning his gaze to the highway, where traffic was stop-and-go. He’d been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn’t realized the older man had been as well. “Yes, it was.”

“Your mother just took that girl under her wing. Evie, I mean.”

“That’s how it is back there, in Chicago. Our family is bigger than just blood relatives. And we take care of each other.”

“And yet you left.”

“Yeah. I did.”

“Because of the name you said during… you know.” Glenn cleared his throat. “The unrequited thing.”

David found himself smiling at Glenn’s embarrassment. His own father would have been the same way. “You ready to talk about Lincoln Jefferson?”

“I think that’s wise,” Glenn said, relief in his voice. “Your cop friend back there didn’t have any ideas?”

“No. But I was wondering why someone would want to help Lincoln. What would they get out of it? Lincoln said he broke into your place to find proof I’d been paid or commanded to lie, to set Moss up.”

“Which is crazy.”

“It is, because Lincoln is. Who else would be upset that we’d sullied Moss’s name?”

“Moss, for one. If he’s still alive. Or one of his other followers. There were a hell of a lot of them,” Glenn said. “You’d have to find the one who had contact with the schizo.”

“One might have that,” David said slowly, “if one had checked Lincoln’s cell phone.”

Glenn’s brows shot up. “And who might have done a thing like that?”

“Me. I checked his pockets after I tied him up. I was making sure he didn’t have any other weapons while I waited for the cops.”

“Prudent.”

“I thought so. I found Lincoln’s cell, checked the log, and wrote the numbers down.”

Glenn laughed. “I stand corrected, boy. You did good.”

“We’ll see if the numbers yield anything. The other thing I was thinking about was the Moss Web site.”

“That piece of trash,” Glenn muttered.

“True, but somebody put hours and hours into building and maintaining that site. Somebody who treasured Moss and wouldn’t want to see him linked to two gunshot murders. I’m wondering how to track ownership of that site.”