He pulled a face. “Ummm…”

“Shut it. Not usually. And never to this extent,” she said with a guffaw.

Ryker grinned, his point made. “Listen, all I’m saying is that our experiences bleed over into everything. We can’t help it. That’s just part of the human condition. You thought you’d found a kindred soul in Layla and she got to you. You wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and there’s nothing wrong—”

“But as a cop, I can’t afford to give people the benefit of the doubt. I should be able to maintain my objectivity, which I obviously failed at with Layla. Failed spectacularly. My God, Johansen and Ricci are going to eviscerate me with this. They are going to absolutely gut me.”

“First of all, screw Johansen and Ricci. They’re irrelevant little peons not worth your time or thought. Second, one of the many reasons you’re such a good cop and have connected with the people in this town as much as you have is because of your humanity,” Ryker said. “You’re authentic with your emotions and you do give people the benefit of the doubt. And people love that about you. Believe me, I hear it all the time.”

She thought about her conversation with Mrs. Belton earlier today and heard everything the woman said echoing through her mind. It brought a small smile to her lips, but it quickly fell away under the suffocating weight of her failure with Layla.

“I mean it,” he said softly. “Even after that fiasco at the town hall, I hear people in the coffee house talking about how much they admire you and how much good you’ve done here.”

They walked through the fledgling orchard in silence for a few minutes as Spenser soaked in the peaceful evening all around them. She closed her eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath. Spenser savored the scent of the soil and the trees that surrounded them, letting the silence of the land settle into her bones, bringing with it a sense of peace that had eluded her for a long time. Between the peace out there in the orchard and the company—human and canine, of course—Spenser was more grounded than she’d been in a while. She felt almost… good.

“Thank you,” she said.

“For what?”

“For letting me get it all out of my system then helping me reset a bit. I needed this.”

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “Anytime.”

They stood in silence, watching the sun disappear below the horizon, bringing another day to a close while ushering in the night. Spenser closed her eyes again and tipped her head back, turning her face up to the sky, and let the soft breeze soothe her skin. She loved the silence. It was something she never had back east where the nighttime air was always filled with people screaming, horns blaring, engines revving, and all sorts of noise. Out there, though, there was nothing but the chorus of frogs and crickets and the occasional dog barking. It was the definition of peace. And it was a balm to her often turbulent and chaotic soul.

“So, is your pity party over?” Ryker asked, his voice tinged with a smile.

“For the moment,” she replied. “Though, I reserve the right to throw myself another one at any time, without prior notice.”

“Of course you do,” he said. “Are you okay?”

Spenser nodded. “Better than I was thanks to you and the pups here.”

“Good. So, what’s your game plan?”

“I hate to admit it, but Layla is a step ahead of me. Three steps ahead of me.”

“And how are you going to catch up?”

“I’m not sure just yet.”

“Well, I can already tell you that you’re not going to give up,” he said. “That’s not the Spenser Song I know.”

She scrubbed her face with her hands, trying to solve the problem she’d been working in her mind all night. But it was like the most complex Rubik’s Cube she’d ever seen. Every which way she turned it, the colors never lined up exactly right. And what was killing her the most was that Layla wasn’t some criminal mastermind. She seemed to be making it up as she went along. And despite that, it seemed like she was outwitting Spenser at every turn.

But then, that could have been the problem. Spenser was so used to dealing with criminals who thought in relatively complex terms that she thought in three dimensions by default. Layla wasn’t like those criminals. She didn’t see the board in three dimensional terms. She just did things.

“The needle she used to lace Hamill’s steroids would help the case. But by this point, Layla probably destroyed it already. At least, she would have if she was smart.”

“You’ve said a hundred times that she’s not a criminal. That she doesn’t think like them,” he offered. “So, maybe if she doesn’t think like them, she hasn’t disposed of it yet?”

“I mean, it’s possible. But I wouldn’t even have an idea where to start looking. She would probably want it someplace she controlled but I doubt she’d have left it in her house. I didn’t find it in her bathroom, anyway.”

“The list of places she can control has got to be really small.”

Spenser’s mind flitted back to the information they had on hand. Specifically, she thought back to the dots on the map Jacob had put up that day in the conference room that detailed the movements chronicled by her phone—where she was and where she wasn’t on the fourteenth. And as that image came into focus in her mind, the idea hit her like a freight train.

“Oh my God, that’s it,” she said. “If she still has it, I think I have a notion where it’s going to be.”

Ryker smiled. “See? I was right to think you’d come up with it.”

Spenser turned and threw her arms around Ryker, giving him a big kiss.

“You are the best,” she said.

“Yeah. I’m aware.”

Laughing together, they walked back toward the house. It was too late to get anything going, but Spenser was eager to get to the office in the morning and start putting the nails in Layla Li’s coffin. The woman was laughing now, but Spenser was going to have the final laugh.

“Oh good, you’re both already here,” Spenser said as she stepped into the conference room.

“We are,” Amanda replied slowly and glanced at her watch. “But… what are you doing here so early?”

“Couldn’t sleep so I figured I’d get an early start on the day.”

Amanda glanced at her brother as Spenser set the tray with the coffee down then slid the box of pastries across the table. She gave them both a minute to fortify themselves with some caffeine and sugar. At the moment, they were unaware, but it was going to be a long day, so she figured they were going to need the energy coffee and donuts provided.

Spenser dropped her bag to the floor and turned to Amanda. It had been a largely sleepless night as she’d played with her theory like a kid with a new toy on Christmas morning.

“Has Bustos checked in?” Spenser asked.

“He did. He said there was nothing to report. Said that after work, she came home and stayed in all night,” Amanda said. “I got your email this morning, so I sent Kruger out to replace him at shift change.”

“Good. That’s good.”

Spenser stood up and folded her arms over her chest as she began pacing the room. The only thing she’d been able to do last night was assign a deputy to sit on Layla’s house and keep tabs on her movements.

“What’s going on, boss?”

“Are you okay, Sheriff?” Amanda asked. “You seem a little… wired.”

“I am. And that’s because we are going to nail Layla Li. Today.”

“And how are we going to do that?” Amanda asked. “If memory serves, she cooked us pretty hard yesterday.”