'Got me,' Josh said. 'It just kept on going.'

'Told you.' Daisy, again.

'You didn't call nine-one-one,' AnnaLise said to Josh.

'Nope, just like you said, talking to Daisy. That siren took me by surprise, while I was figuring out what to do.'

'With us, you mean?' Again, the sick feeling in the pit of AnnaLise's stomach.

'Of course, with you. I figured you'd seen me, AnnaLise, though as it turns out you'd closed your eyes. If I'd known that I would have just gone on my way and left you there.'

'But as it was, what if the rescue squad hadn't chased you off?' Daisy asked, like she had to know.

Josh cocked his head. 'I'm not sure. Interesting question, though. I surely have experience with sending bigger vehicles over than that crushed Spyder of yours, AnnaLise. I could have probably picked the little thing up and tossed it.'

AnnaLise thought not, but kept her mouth shut.

'But back to Suzanne,' Daisy said. 'She figured out you'd killed her mother?'

'Worse. She told me she was leaving. With everything that'd happened, she'd decided to go back to Wisconsin with her father. I didn't expect that. We had plans. She told me, she loved me more than anything. Anyone.' He was close enough now that AnnaLise could see a vein in his forehead throbbing.

'Sounds like you should have killed the father,' AnnaLise's mother muttered. 'Would have saved everybody a lot of trouble.'

'Daisy!' AnnaLise scolded, though she wasn't sure why.

'I was just so angry,' Josh said, and for the first time he looked shaken. 'I showed Suze the rifle, explained what I'd done for us and that with her mother's family and all their money we'd be rich. You know how she answered me?'

'No,' said Daisy and AnnaLise simultaneously.

'Suze said, "I'm rich." Not us, her. Just like my mother, she was going to leave me behind. I couldn't let Suze do that.' His head dropped, as did his voice. 'I had no choice . . . I shot her and . . . and, maybe my dad was right, I'm just not capable of a clean kill.'

When he looked up, there were tears in his eyes. 'I sat there and watched her die. But it wasn't the same.' This last, a strained whisper.

'You mean, as the animals?' AnnaLise asked.

He shook his head, the tears streaming now. 'She . . . Suze could talk a little. She kept asking me, "Why?"'

No one spoke now.

'And you know what?' Josh finally continued. 'I didn't know. I don't know why I'm like this.'

'So you shot yourself,' Daisy said gently, the way she'd started this conversation.

Josh hung his head. 'And even that, I couldn't do right. What's wrong with me?'

He started toward them and AnnaLise swung the door as if to close it, smashing into his legs.

It slowed Josh down, but it didn't stop him. Limping, juked like an injured football player, he kept coming.

Their backs to the cliff, with less than three feet of solid earth between them and the gorge, AnnaLise pushed her mother out of his path. 'Run, Daisy!'

Daisy stumbled, but managed to regain her footing. AnnaLise held her ground as Josh rushed forward. Her plan was to sidestep when he gained shoving distance, hoping his momentum and reduced agility would send him over the edge instead of her.

As Josh reached her out for her, AnnaLise went to dodge, only to have him do the same, like two polite people on a sidewalk, trying to slip past each other.

Then Josh grabbed her by a shoulder, his face wild, spittle at the corners of his mouth and tears running down his cheeks.

Daisy screamed and AnnaLise let herself go limp, wanting to take him by surprise so she could thrust upward with her knee, while holding on to him. So that even if she went over, Josh would as well.

And Daisy would be safe.

Even as AnnaLise raised her knee, though, she felt him lift her off her feet and toss.

AnnaLise Griggs' last thought was, 'Maybe he could have thrown the Spyder over the side,' before she landed hard on some piece of solid ground.

While Joshua Eames charged past her and flew off the cliff.

Thirty-eight.

'Well, at least he finally got it right,' Daisy said.

AnnaLise was sitting with her in the Griggs kitchen. Ida Mae had been disappointed they wouldn't make dinner, especially given the stories they could have told, but she understood.

And scheduled a rain-check time for the next day.

Chuck, and what seemed like the entire Sutherton police force, had arrived at the Chrysler to find AnnaLise and Daisy huddled a few feet away from the edge of the gorge, shivering.

'Good thing your phone had GPS,' AnnaLise said, now pouring her mother some wine with still-shaking hands and then emptying the rest of the bottle into her glass. 'Chuck said that despite all our talking, we never clearly said where we were.'

'Oops.' Daisy took a sip of her wine. 'I don't even like wine, yet I believe this might be the best elixir I've ever tasted.'

Elixir. 'You were wonderful out there,' AnnaLise said. 'My mom the hero.'

'I don't feel like a hero,' Daisy said. 'I feel . . . confused.'

AnnaLise's stomach dropped. 'Confused in what way?'

Daisy flapped her hand at her daughter. 'Oh, not in that way. My memory of what happened would be just fine, thank you. Too fine, in fact. That poor boy.'

'That poor boy was a monster.'

'But not of his own making,' Daisy said. 'His mother was wild well before Fred Eames met her and God knows what she might have taken when she was pregnant. They say crack babies don't have a sense of right and wrong, maybe . . .' She let it drift off.

'Maybe.' AnnaLise echoed. 'I wonder if we'll ever know. I guess . . . well, I guess I understand why somebody like Ben Rosewood doesn't believe in "accidents." It's a whole lot easier to believe there's a reason something horrible happened, something that could have been prevented. Because otherwise, we're powerless. Vulnerable. We could all become Joshes.'

'I'm not sure there's anything more terrifying than knowing that something inside of you isn't right and not being able to do anything about it.'

AnnaLise wasn't sure if her mother was talking about herself or the young man who had just thrown himself off the cliff.

But nothing would be gained tonight by asking. Instead, AnnaLise reached over and put a hand over her mother's. 'It's been a long day, Daisy. Time for bed?'

'I think so. Though I doubt I'll sleep.' Daisy stood up and started toward the stairs, hesitating at the plywood-covered window next to the front door. 'Oh, did you hear the chief say that this was the work of one of Scotty's guys? The house in the next block, too.'

AnnaLise shook her head. 'Scotty is putting hits out on people who fire him?'

'Of course not,' Daisy said. 'Just their windows. And it wasn't Scotty himself, you understand. Just an employee who was angry he was let go, business being down.'

'Not going to get any better, shooting out windows,' AnnaLise said, suddenly weary. 'The way we're going, you'll never have a working door on that garage, Daisy.'

'The door will wait.' She peered at her daughter. 'What about you? Bedtime, too?'

AnnaLise smiled. 'I think I'll sit for a while, thanks.'

This time Daisy made it as far as the second step before she turned back. 'You're a good person, AnnaLise. You made a mistake with that DA, but you figured it out. I'm proud to be your mother.'

AnnaLise felt herself tearing up. 'Thanks, Daisy. I'm . . . I'm proud to be your daughter, too.'

Daisy was at the landing when AnnaLise's voice stopped her. 'Mommy?'

'Yes, sweetie?'

'You mind if I stay awhile in Sutherton? I mean, beyond the end of the month?'

'Of course not. You just stay as long as you like.'

Daisy continued up the steps. Maybe she would sleep tonight, after all.

Discover Sandra Balzo.

Maggy Thorsen Mysteries.

Uncommon Grounds.

Grounds for Murder Bean There, Done That.

Brewed, Crude and Tattooed From the Grounds Up A Cup of Jo.

Triple Shot.

Murder on the Orient Express.

Main Street Mysteries.

Running on Empty.

Dead Ends.

Hit and Run.

About the Author.

Sandra Balzo is an award-winning author of crime fiction, including eleven books in two different mystery series from Severn House--the Wisconsin-based Maggy Thorsen Mysteries and Main Street Murders, set in the High Country of North Carolina and featuring journalist AnnaLise Griggs.

Film rights for the Maggy Thorsen Coffeehouse Mysteries have been optioned toward development for television or film. Garnering starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist, Balzo's novels are recommended to readers of Janet Evanovich, Charlaine Harris, Harlan Coben, Joan Hess and Margaret Maron.

Find Sandy online at www.SandraBalzo.com, Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/sandrabalzo), Facebook (Sandra Balzo Mysteries) and Twitter (@SandraBalzo).

www.sandrabalzo.com.

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