Chapter 69

“Your turn to share,” Agent Fincher tells Poppy. She’s moved to the front seat of Poppy’s car. They sit in the empty parking lot at KBI.

“Ryan Richardson was arrested in England,” Poppy says.

“England?”

“He’s a law student. On some trip for school. He was in Italy when the man with the missing pinkies tracked him down.”

The agent thinks about this. “He told Ryan Richardson what happened to Alison?” the agent asks. “The truth about O’Leary and—”

“I think he was planning to. But then he got a call and rushed back to a small English town where he’d been hiding. Ryan tracked the guy there.”

The agent is listening intently.

“When Ryan got to the guy’s house, someone had tortured and killed the man and his wife.”

Agent Fincher says, “This explains a lot.”

Poppy waits for her to continue.

“One of O’Leary’s men, one he uses for wet work, left for Heathrow a few days ago.”

“Well, that’s it—you’ve got him.”

Agent Fincher exhales like it’s not that simple.

Poppy decides to tell Fincher about the note found in Alison’s car. The cryptic message about finding her in the clouds.

“Did you crack the code?” Fincher probes. “Do you know what it means?”

“No, but I think Ryan does. I think he may be going to this place in the clouds.”

Fincher contemplates this, but says nothing.

“Why would they torture the pinky guy and his wife?” Poppy asks.

“For the same reason you’re trying to figure out Alison’s note: to find Alison and her father.”

“How would they know where they are? The missing-pinky guy was only there to do the handoff, you said.”

The agent shrugs. “Maybe they just wanted to silence them.”

“But why go to the trouble to torture them?” Poppy replies. “The UK detective said it was a horror show.”

“Like I said, maybe he knew something that would help track down Alison and her father.”

Poppy thinks of Dash saying how the sheriff and Poppy’s father arrived at Suncatcher Lake that night. Chased after the man with the missing pinkies. What if the man, like Dash, had watched what unfolded that night? What if he identified the sheriff at the lake that night and told O’Leary’s man? Poppy has a sinking feeling.

“I think the sheriff was helping Alison’s father. They have a history.” Poppy tells her about their military service, leaving out that her father was also on the bomb squad with the sheriff and Alison’s father. Then she lets Fincher know that Sheriff Walton is AWOL.

“If they knew about the sheriff and told O’Leary’s man…”

“They’ll try to get the sheriff to tell them where to find Michael and Alison Lane,” Poppy finishes the thought.

“You say the sheriff hasn’t checked in?”

“That’s right. I was planning to go do a wellness check right now.”

Agent Fincher blows out a breath.

“What?”

“Go to his house, but…”

“But what?”

“But don’t expect to ever see the sheriff again.”