“Yeah?” she whispered back.

“This is so sad.” It sounded like he might be crying.

“I know, buddy. Hang in there.”

A short time later, the crowd began walking slowly back to their cars. A few people stopped at other graves, brushing off some leaves or bowing their heads in prayer. A little boy, maybe four years old, ran ahead of his parents, laughing. He grabbed a pinwheel off one grave, and his mother ran up to him and put it back, then knelt down for a lecture.

Was that what Josh had been like? His mom had said he’d been full of mischief, always naughty, but with a smile that let him get away with it. From now on, Gloria Deiner would have to look at other children, and Em knew she’d always compare them to her son, her lost boy.

“Hi, Emmaline.”

Em started a little. “Hey, Jack,” she whispered around the lump in her throat. “How are you?”

He took off his sunglasses, and, though he looked tired, his eyes were clear. “I’m doing okay. Better.”

“Good. That’s...that’s good, Jack.” She paused, her hand going to her Taser. Nervous habit. God, she was as bad as Everett. “It’s nice of you to come today.”

“I got to see him,” he said.

“You did?”

He nodded. “You were right, Emmaline,” he said, his voice low. “I haven’t been...myself. I’m sorry you got caught in the middle of everything.”

“It’s okay. It’s fine.”

He looked at her a long minute, his eyes the same color as the bright March sky.

She wanted to ask him how it was, seeing Josh. What had changed Mrs. Deiner’s mind. If it had been awful. If he was sleeping at all. If he was back with Hadley, and if he was with Hadley, she hoped the other woman was taking good care of him, because Jack...Jack was one of a kind.

Her radio blipped. “I have to go,” she said, and her voice was husky. “Traffic duty.” She paused. “It was good to see you.”

“You, too.”

And then, because she didn’t want him to see her cry, when other people had much better reason to be sad today than she did, she got into the cruiser and did her job.

* * *

A WEEK AFTER Josh’s funeral, Emmaline was sitting in the police station, trying to show Everett how to correctly upload a report. It was the perfect time to teach Everett some basic computer skills. Mindless work. Levi had taken the day off, so it was just Emmaline, Ev and Carol, and no crime to keep them busy. Manningsport had been somber since Josh died—no speeders, no crime, no DUIs.

Em hadn’t seen Jack. The other night, Angela asked if she wanted to go to O’Rourke’s and Em said no, just in case Jack was there. She was glad he’d had some closure with Josh, glad he was doing better. But it didn’t change the fact that she was in love with him, and he didn’t feel the same way. You’re right, he’d said. We should be done. I wasn’t really looking for a relationship and neither were you.

Right.

“So what now?” Everett asked, dragging her back to the present.

“Just click Upload. Right there. No, not Escape! Great. Now you have to enter it again.”

“How come you know more about this than I do?” Everett asked. “I’ve been working here longer.”

“Because you have the IQ of a chicken,” Carol said.

“Now, Carol,” Em said. “Everett has many qualities.”

The phone rang, and Carol pounced. “Manningsport Police Department, is this an emergency?...Oh, hi, Levi!...Really? Finally! I thought she’d never—okay, fine, don’t yell at me. She’s right here.” Carol gave Em a long-suffering look. “Faith’s in labor and Levi wants a police escort.”

Em picked up the phone. “Faith’s in labor and I want a police escort,” Levi ordered. “Get your ass here now.”

“On my way.” She ran out to the parking lot and got into the cruiser. Lights and sirens, and it was exactly as much fun as it sounded. She sped into town, blipped at intersections and turned onto Levi and Faith’s street. Their cute little bungalow was a few blocks off the green.

But apparently, word had gotten out, because the street was mobbed. John Holland’s dilapidated red truck, Prudence’s equally abused blue truck, Honor’s white Prius, Jack’s gray pickup. Furthermore, Colleen was standing on the lawn with the Barretts, who lived next door, as well as Faith’s grandparents and nephew and Levi’s sister. “So Sarah, we should go out sometime,” Ned was saying.

“My brother will make sure your body is never found,” Sarah Cooper answered. “But if you’re willing to risk it, so am I.”

“Need some crowd control?” Emmaline asked.

“Actually, yes,” Colleen said. “There are a dozen people in there.”

Just then, the front door banged open, and Levi appeared, Faith in his arms.

“Now that’s hot,” Colleen murmured. “I want Lucas to do that for me when my time comes.”

Various and sundry Hollands streamed after them—Abby, Pru, Honor, Mrs. Johnson, Faith’s dad.

Jack.

He was smiling, and Em felt it like she’d just stepped into a patch of sunlight.

Well. He wasn’t smiling at her. She wrenched her eyes off him. She was on duty, after all. She was needed.

It didn’t stop her stomach from tightening. She tried to ignore it. “You doing okay, Faith?” she asked, trotting next to Levi as he strode to the car.

“He’s overreacting,” Faith said. “But I do kind of want to push.”

“Don’t push!” Levi barked. “Do not push, honey. Please. No pushing. We have fifteen minutes to the hospital. You can make it.”

“Have we thought about an ambulance?” Em asked.

“Gerard Chartier is not seeing my girl parts,” Faith said firmly. “I can hold it in. Oh! Wow! This hurts! Hurry up, babe. Not you, baby. You, babe.”

Jack opened the backseat of Faith’s car, and Levi lowered her in. “I’m driving,” Jack said. “Stay in the back with your wife.” He looked at Emmaline. “You ready?”

“All set.”

She got into the cruiser and let the siren rip. Glanced back from time to time to make sure Jack was behind her and slowed for intersections, making sure all was clear.

She wouldn’t think about Jack. Not that way, not now.

But it did dawn on her that Hadley hadn’t seemed to be among the crowd.

The trick was to go fast but not too fast, and basically to just clear the runway, so to speak. Jack had his hazards on, and it looked like a colorful presidential entourage, with all the Holland vehicles following him.

They made it to the hospital in twelve minutes instead of fifteen, and Em ran in to get a gurney. Crowded day, of course. Full moon. Shelayne was on duty, surveying the waiting room with a frown.

“Baby coming,” Emmaline called. “Faith and Levi’s.”

“About time!” Shelayne said. Small towns. No secrets.

Emmaline ran out with the gurney and Levi put his wife on it. She was clinging to his hand, doing that hee-hee-hoo-hoo thing that couldn’t possibly work. Probably just to distract the woman from the fact that she was in labor.