AnnaLise moved onto the next. 'So you'll do a few paragraphs about the mountain. Some story from the past, but linked to current time in the lead paragraph. You know, "I was driving up Sutherton Mountain today, remembering "'

'You sure have a lot of rules,' Daisy grumbled, guillotining the potato with a small cleaver. 'Why don't you write it?'

'That, my dear mother, would defeat the purpose. Tell you what?'

'What?' Another vicious chop.

'I'll set you up on the computer after dinner and do the introduction. You know: new blog celebrating an area steeped in history, blah, blah, bla What?'

Her mother had stopped slicing and was looking at her. 'You just pulled that out of thin air?'

'I am a college graduate and professional writer, you know?' She dumped another potato in the kettle.

Daisy sighed and skimmed out the potato. 'Good thing. If I'd sent you to cooking school, you'd have starved to death by now.'

Dinner, as predicted, was wonderful. AnnaLise filled Daisy in on Josh and her conversation with Fred Eames as they ate.

'You just can't stay out of these things, can you?' Daisy said. 'If you're right, this friend of yours has killed his wife and daughter. Why would you think that's possible? Does he have a history of violence?'

AnnaLise, of course, still hadn't told her mother about the affair and had no intention of doing so if she didn't have to. 'Not that I'm aware of, but he is fairly ruthless in his dealings. Granted, his job allows him to do it under the guise of justice, but . . .'

'All the more reason to stay away from this man, AnnaLise.' Her mother leveled blue eyes at her. 'This isn't in any way your responsibility.'

Oh, but it was, AnnaLise thought. Much as she wanted to spill her guts to Daisy in hopes of having her say otherwise, AnnaLise kept her thoughts bottled up, except for, 'I guess I just feel like if I hadn't talked up the area to Katie, Rosewood's paralegal . . .'

Daisy held her eye for two, three beats, seeming to will her daughter to say more. When AnnaLise didn't, the older woman sighed and stood up. 'We'd best put this food away.'

Many beef birds had been consumed but, despite the two women's best efforts, three-quarters of them and about a gallon of mashed potatoes remained toward leftovers.

'The beef birds I can freeze or maybe take them over to Fred Eames,' Daisy said, sliding the leftovers into the refrigerator. 'What should we do with the potatoes?'

'You'll be eating patties and croquettes until next spring,' AnnaLise said. 'Why do we always make too much?'

'It's the Kuchenbacher way,' Daisy said, adding soap to the dishwasher and closing the door. 'As it was, as it is, as it will always be.'

The Rule of 3 even her mother used it. 'Speaking of things as they were, I'm going to get you set up on a page and write a quick opening, then you can start the blog.'

'Well, if you really want me to write what people want to read, plunging off the mountain roads has a long history in Sutherton. I can pin it to recent events, like you said.'

'Please don't mention the Rosewood woman's death,' AnnaLise begged. Then she had an idea. 'You know, Chuck was scolding me about our taking that dead-end shortcut.'

'I'm not surprised,' Daisy said. 'The police have been trying to keep people from using it since even I was young.'

'He says it's dangerous.'

'That's what was claimed when they put up the signs after the bridge opened, but I think the major danger was to the preservation of the local kids' virginity.'

'So why don't you write about that and the lore that surrounds it?' AnnaLise suggested. 'We were just up there, so the lead-in can talk about how that was a reminder of your own misspent youth.'

'I didn't say my crowd hung out there,' Daisy said. Her tone was indignant, but a smile played around the edges of her mouth. 'At least, not that much.'

'See?' AnnaLise said. 'It's already bringing back nostalgic moments. Just don't give driving directions or Chuck will have our heads.'

Sitting down at the computer, the daughter worked up a quick intro to the new blog in general and her mother, the first blogger. When AnnaLise was ready to show it to the older woman, however, she was nowhere to be found.

'Daisy?'

'Upstairs. I'm getting dressed to go over to Torch. You want to come?'

It was sad to be a twenty-something whose mom had a better social life than you did. 'No, but I thought you wanted to work on the blog?'

'I need to let the ideas percolate,' Daisy said, coming down the steps. She was wearing straight-leg jeans and a sparkly shirt that AnnaLise wouldn't mind borrowing. Her mother, truth to tell, also had sexier underwear than she did.

'You look nice,' AnnaLise said. 'Meeting someone?'

'Who knows,' Daisy said. 'The night is young and so I am. Sure you don't want to come?'

'To be my mother's wing man? I think not.'

'Don't worry, dear,' Daisy said, parting a curtain at the front window to look out. 'I'm not prowling for a new daddy for you. Just socializing.'

'Good thing,' AnnaLise said. 'I already have one more than I want.'

Now, though, she glanced out the window as Daisy moved to the door. 'What were you looking at?'

'I just thought I saw a car.' Daisy put her hand on the knob, then said over her shoulder, 'Have I mentioned I'm sorry about that?'

'About what? Dickens Hart being my biological father? You have, but I'm sorry it just doesn't ring true.'

'Water over the bridge, dear.' Daisy picked up her purse with her free hand. 'You can't change yesterday by regretting it today. You just have to move '

A combination of sounds and sensations: Shattering, splintering, spraying.

When AnnaLise opened her eyes, a window pane was gone.

The first police officer was there within minutes, probably because AnnaLise told Coy Pitchford, who was manning the desk, about the bullet hole in the wall.

That officer was soon followed by Chuck and a crime scene technician.

'Daisy was just looking out that window, Chuck,' AnnaLise said, keeping her voice down, partly because she was afraid it, too, would crack if she raised it.

'I think she knows that, AnnaLise,' Chuck said. 'Why are you whispering?'

'I don't want to upset her.'

'Heavens, I'm not upset.' Daisy had come up behind them. 'In fact, it's rather . . . exhilarating?'

'Think how "exhilarating" it would have been if you'd been hit,' AnnaLise scolded.

'You're all right, Daisy?' Chuck asked. 'You don't think we should transport you to the hospital?'

'No, no I'm fine. Is there anything else I can do for you?' Daisy was picking up her handbag from the floor where she'd dropped it when the window exploded.

'Where are you going?' AnnaLise demanded.

'Torch, as I told you. Honestly, AnnaLise,' she said, swinging open the door. 'You really should have your own memory checked.'

The door closed behind her.

AnnaLise looked at Chuck. 'So what do you think?'

'Me? I think your memory's passable, but you do tend to nag.'

AnnaLise rolled her eyes. 'I meant about our window being shot out.'

'Could have been a drive-by.'

'In Sutherton?'

'Not exactly big-city kind of drive-by. More like good ol' boys on Main Street shooting into the air. You never know where the bullets are going to come down.'

'But usually not by making a ninety-degree horizontal turn through a vertical pane of glass.'

'Maybe not, but it could have been a ricochet. Or some other odd, unpredictable thing. We're just going to have to wait on the crime scene guys telling us more.' Chuck turned away.

AnnaLise swallowed, feeling sad and alone.

She followed him to where he was conversing with his first-responder. 'Chuck . . . um, Chief, when you're done, could I talk to you? Alone?'

He looked surprised. 'Sure.' Then to his officer. 'When you're done here, get somebody to cover this window, then Waddell and you can head back to headquarters.'

The officer nodded and Chuck and AnnaLise moved away to the small parlor.

They didn't sit.

'Chuck, are you angry with me?'

'Why?'

'I don't know. It's just,' she looked over her shoulder, 'ever since I told you about my relationship with Ben Rosewood . . . or didn't first tell you, I've sensed a . . . difference in you.'

Chuck's face in the light coming from the kitchen didn't change. 'Toward you?'

Yes. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you everything right away, but it's not something I was or am proud of.'

Still no response.

'Will you at least say something?'

Chuck cocked his head and then slowly shook it. 'I'm not mad, Lise, so much as surprised. I mean, you? With a married man?'

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 'I know. And I'm ashamed, but . . . like Daisy said, we can't change yesterday, we just have to go forward. Ben Rosewood is not a good man.'

'Please, don't take that tack.' The chief's eyes didn't leave hers, didn't blink. 'Don't make this all Rosewood's fault, because he was married and you weren't.'

'I'm not. It's just, just that he . . .' She took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. 'I'm sorry, Chuck. I thought that you of all people would '

' understand? Why?' Now he did look angry. 'Because I'm gay? Monogamy isn't valued only in the straight community. Nor is honesty.'

Chuck went to move past her toward the front door, but stopped. 'Sometimes, Lise, not being bound by the rules makes it even more important to play by them.'

'You're right,' she whispered hoarsely, closing her eyes against the tears that were welling in them. Then AnnaLise felt a squeeze of a hand on her arm and, when she opened her eyes, Chuck was gone.

The window was boarded, but AnnaLise didn't feel safe. She felt . . . hollow. Empty.

It was only nine p.m., so sleep was not an option. She considered joining her mother next door at Torch, but despite the desire for some normality, she didn't want to have to make small talk.

That seemed to leave just the Internet. AnnaLise's computer was still on, with the start of Daisy's blog glowing on the screen. AnnaLise saved the document into a new folder, at first hesitating, then naming it 'Blog.'

'Pithy, huh?' she said to her computer. 'Afraid that's about all the creativity you're likely to get from me at the moment.'

Just above 'Blog' alphabetically was a folder labeled 'Ben.' 'Equally pithy, no? Although if I named the file "Bastard," it would not only be closer to the top, but more descriptive.'

AnnaLise considered deleting 'Ben' in a grand gesture without opening it. With the exception of the last few texts Ben had purged from her phone, she'd heeded his advice and kept very little on either her computer or phone that could be incriminating.

Incriminating. The word reminded AnnaLise of the legal system and, therefore, Chuck. Had she actually thought that because he was gay, he'd think cheating was OK?

Or, if not OK, at least . . . less bad?

Irritated with herself, AnnaLise double-clicked on the 'Ben' folder. As she'd expected, there wasn't much. Indeed, there was just one substantive document and it was entitled 'end.' She hadn't even bothered to capitalize the word.

She clicked.

'Why can't we be together?' the copied and pasted incoming message read.

Then AnnaLise's trilogy reply, carefully composed on the computer: 'Three reasons: you have a wife, you have a daughter, and I have a mother who needs me.'

Complete with creation date, if not when ultimately sent by text, thereby at least supporting AnnaLise's claim that she'd been the one to break off the adulterous relationship. Not that it mattered much, anymore.

AnnaLise re-read her reply.

'Oh, dear God.'