Page 113 of D for Dead

The other photo was of the two girls in the picture: one wore a wedding dress and they were hugging and smiling for the camera. Had to be sisters. Amy recognised the smile.

‘That’s Julianne and Peyton.’

Amy jumped, hearing him behind her, feeling a little guilty snooping at his stuff.

‘Sisters?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, it was taken on Julianne’s wedding day. Peyton, she’s the baby of the family, she was her maid of honour.’

‘Is that your mom and dad in the other pic?’

Sullivan nodded, picked up the frame.

‘And the bozo on the end is my brother, Kenny. That picture was taken back home at a family barbecue.’

Amy looked at the picture, at the smiling faces. As an only child she couldn’t imagine what it was like to have one sibling, let alone three.

‘Where’s home?’ she asked.

‘Arden, Georgia. It’s just south of Atlanta.’

Ah, that explains the accent.

‘They look like nice people. You’re lucky. And I like your dad’s cowboy hat.’ She turned to face him, a half smile on her face. ‘Have you got one of those?’

‘Yeah.’ His lips curved. ‘I’ve got one around somewhere.’

For a moment he was silent as he studied her. Amy’s heartbeat quickened and the loop of Peterson’s murder stopped playing in her head.

‘Is all of your family back in Georgia?’ she asked quietly.

‘Yeah, my parents have a farm and my brother and sisters all live nearby.’

‘You’re close to them?’

‘Very.’

‘So why did you move away? What brought you to Oregon?’ She wanted to understand him, know why he had left a home he clearly loved. Immediately she felt him backing off.

‘Work: I got a transfer.’

‘How come?’

He was still looking at her, but the smile had gone, replaced with a look of irritation.

‘It’s not important.’ And then he was stepping away, the moment broken. ‘Give me a couple more minutes. I need to feed Roxy, see if my neighbour will take her out, then we can go.’

Amy watched him disappear into the kitchen, the dog hot on his heels, feeling a mixture of disappointment and frustration.

What was his story she wondered and why was he so damn cagey about his past?

* * *

The mood within Juniper Police Department was sombre. Peterson had been a popular cop and his fellow officers were in shock over his death, particularly the cruel manner in which he had been killed. A few of his colleagues had approached Joel, asking if they could help, making it clear they would be prepared to put in unpaid overtime to help catch the cop killer.

After taking his statement, Joel gave Rivers the rest of the day off, telling him to lie low at the hotel and avoid any reporters who might come snooping around. Word spread quickly that a cop had been murdered and the last thing Joel needed was for them to find out the driver had been an FBI agent who’d been brought in to help work a murder case. They would have a field day.

Until Leon Pruitt, the case had been flying fairly low on the press radar. Sure, there had been a few reporters at each of the murder scenes, but they hadn’t made any connection, until