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“You’re very smart.”

Piper shrugged. “I know.”

Beside her, Josie heard Turner stifle a laugh.

“But Daddy,” Piper continued. “We shouldn’t be too sad that Grandma’s in heaven because that’s where she always wanted to go. She told me that if she went to heaven and we missed her, we should pray on it.”

Carter huffed and shook his head. “That was her answer for everything.”

Piper wrapped her arms around his neck and burrowed into him. “I do miss her hugs, though.”

Pain flashed through Carter’s eyes, sharp and electric. Josie felt it all the way to her toes. He recovered quickly, his expression morphing back to sympathetic dad. “Me too.”

“We’re not going over this again, Dean.” Kirstie West’s voice pierced the air again.

Carter kissed the top of Piper’s head. “Let’s get out of here.” He froze when he registered Josie and Turner’s presence. “What are you doing here?”

“Just getting the lay of the land,” Turner replied.

“They’re here to talk to people, Daddy,” Piper said into Carter’s neck.

“I’m Detective Turner, by the way.” Turner nodded toward Josie. “This is Detective Quinn.”

Carter’s brow furrowed as he regarded Josie. “We met already, I think.”

“The day of the fire,” Josie confirmed.

“Chief told me it was…” He looked down at Piper, carefully considering his words. “On purpose. You’re getting the lay of the land, you said, so I’m guessing you want to talk to anyone who knew her.”

“That’s correct,” Turner said.

“You want to go outside?” Carter asked.

With a pointed look at Piper, Josie said, “We can talk later.”

Carter rubbed his daughter’s back. “Right, yeah, okay. I’ll be at home if you want to stop by. Let me give you my number.”

As he rattled it off, Josie typed it into her phone. Carter walked off, holding his daughter tightly against him.

Later, they’d ask him about Louis Fisher. Right now, they needed to find the man himself.

Seventeen

There was always a way in. This particular woman just needed a shoulder to cry on. Work was so stressful. Her coworkers weren’t pulling their weight. She wasn’t getting any younger. Her last date had been a disaster. A good friend had just met someone and moved across the country to be with him.

He’d strategically run into her in a parking lot well after midnight, pretending his car had broken down and then pretending to wait for an Uber that never arrived. It hadn’t taken long to get her to start spilling her guts. Soon she was offering him a ride. Then she was asking him to come home with her for a drink.

They’d never gotten to the drinks portion of the evening. By the time they entered her home, his hands vibrated with the need to slip the garrote over her head. She’d struggled less than the last two. It was disappointing but not enough to ruin his high.

Now she sagged against him, her body slack. Once he lowered her to the floor, he took a moment to admire the way her eyes bulged, bloodshot and vacant. The way her face had swelled and turned almost purple. The cord was embedded deeply in the skin of her throat. The pressure under his sternum eased, the ugly thing inside him nearly satisfied. There was more to do.

So much more.

Eighteen

They found the room where that evening’s AA meeting was supposed to be held. A handwritten sign taped to the door informed them that the meeting had been canceled due to a personal emergency. When they turned back, they saw the rest of the West family filing out of the room Carter had emerged from, heading in the opposite direction to Josie and Turner. Dean led the way, hand in hand with who Josie assumed was his wife, Kirstie. Josie recognized Carter’s wife, Erin, from Sylvia’s photos. She followed behind them, holding a sleeping Molly. A short, stocky man emerged next, checking his watch as he walked toward them. Dressed in slacks and a blue button-down shirt with his thinning salt-and-pepper hair combed neatly to one side, he gave off an air of quiet authority. He pulled up short when he reached Josie and Turner and quickly pasted on a bland smile. It tightened as his gaze roved over Josie’s Denton PD polo shirt and the gun at her waist.

Extending his hand, he said, “I’m Pastor Deegan. Can I help you?”