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for long periods. But since she couldn’t leave without walking right past him, Jacob wasn’t worried about where she might be. When she and her friend broke off from the group and returned to their car, he did the same.

He’d gathered from the conversation that the two girls would go together to the Bowards Arena tonight and meet more of their friends there. That was okay with him. The bigger the group got, the easier it’d be to see them in the crowd.

They drove from the McDonald’s to a nearby mall. Jacob kept his distance, watching them as they went into Forever 21, Charlotte Russe, and H&M. The girls seemed like good kids. He wondered if he might have a daughter like Alice someday.

When they stopped by Urban Outfitters, which was more Jacob’s speed, he followed them in. He was some fifteen years older than Alice, but looked half that and hoped to use it to his advantage. He browsed through stacks of tee shirts while the girls selected items to try on.

Finally, Alice’s friend disappeared down a hall leading to the dressing rooms with a large stack of clothes draped over one arm.

Jacob’s plan for Alice involved two steps. This was his opportunity to implement the first one. He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and held it to his ear, pretending he’d received a call. He meandered across the store, getting ever closer to Alice, keeping his attention on the clothes. Just a shopper talking to a friend. Once he believed she couldn’t help but overhear him, Jacob provided his imaginary caller a glowing review of Fresh Sync. “Best band out there. No, really. Without a doubt. I saw them in Denver last year. Man, I can’t even begin to tell you what a good show that was.”

He bumped into Alice and, feigning surprise, dropped his phone. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said with a smile as he scooped it up. “I didn’t see you there.”

“It’s okay,” she said, and he noticed she was smiling too, or at least half-smiling.

He kept his eyes fixed on hers for a couple of seconds. He wanted to make sure she remembered his face. “I was—” He pointed to the phone. “I should’ve been paying attention to where I was going.”

“It’s fine.”

“All right, well, thanks.” Jacob grinned and waved. Another seemingly innocuous gesture that helped to ensure she’d remember this exchange later. Then he pressed his phone to his ear, started talking about Fresh Sync again, and walked away.

Jacob worked his way toward the exit at the same slow pace. He returned to his rental in the parking garage and watched the Volvo. An hour passed. He pulled the photo of Chris and his girlfriend out of his back pocket. He imagined himself in Chris’s place, the woman a little less sleazy. He imagined a pair of kids just outside the frame, family dinners, Chris helping his son with homework.

An engine started up, and he looked over to see the Volvo pulling out of its spot.

Jacob followed the girls to Alice’s home and parked at the end of the block. Here, with only residential traffic, he couldn’t get too close.

Alice got out of the car. She grabbed her backpack from the rear seat and slung it over both shoulders. Her friend drove off. Jacob put his car in park and waited.

Alice Parker

Alice had received three phone calls and two texts from Catherine asking where she was. She hadn’t answered any of them. She was out having fun and wasn’t going to be bothered. At the front door, she hunched forward a little. It was uncomfortable, but she loved to get under Catherine’s skin. She hadn’t called Catherine “Mom” since the divorce.

She entered the house, heard Catherine’s voice before she saw her.

“Where have you been?” Catherine bellowed, stepping from the living room into the foyer. Her hair was pinned up like it usually was and in a way that Alice thought must take hours. Her wrinkle-free blouse was tucked into wrinkle-free pants. Everything was perfect. Alice didn’t know why she bothered. It wasn’t like Catherine had a job. She lived on Liam’s money.

“Chill out, Catherine.”

“Don’t call me that!” Catherine snapped. “I’m your mother.”

Alice rolled her eyes and headed toward the stairs. Tommy was sitting on the landing halfway up, holding onto the balusters and looking down at her.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To my room. Where do you think?”

“Get back here.”

Ugh. What now? Alice didn’t have any interest in what Catherine wanted, but since she knew Catherine would follow her upstairs, her voice getting increasingly shrill as she demanded her daughter’s attention, Alice decided it was best to get the conversation over with. She stopped, one foot on the bottom stair and a hand on the banister. “What do you want?”

“Could you come into the living room, please?”

“Fine.” Alice shrugged out of her backpack and followed Catherine into the living room, where she saw David standing by the fireplace.

“You look good,” David said.

If Alice had given any thought to David’s comment, she would have decided it was a lie. She most definitely did not look good. In fact, she made a point of not looking good. But Alice hadn’t seen much of David since her parents’ divorce, and the only thought she could manage was, Something’s wrong. There was also the look on his face, a kind of worry and exhaustion that would have alarmed her in any environment. But here, where he did not belong, it troubled her even more.

“Your mom tells me you talked to Liam last night,” David continued.

“Yeah. So what?”

“What did he say to you?”

If Catherine had been the one asking, Alice would’ve told her it was none of her business. But since it was David, and since David wouldn’t be here looking like he did without a good reason, she tried to remember. The truth was, “Not much.” They’d talked about school, mostly. Alice had asked Liam about the murder, but all he told her was that