She looked up, her eyes swimming with tears. “I’m sorry, Anne. I’m so sorry.”

“We’ll deal with that later,” I said softly. “Right now, we finish this.”

Detective Harris spoke up again over the line.

“Mrs. Miller, we need you to keep your phone active,” he said. “If he tries to contact you or your sister, you need to answer. Act normal.”

“He won’t call me,” I said. “He thinks I’m still at home in Denver, sleeping.”

“He might call Chloe,” Harris said.

Chloe looked at her phone, which was sitting on the table.

It was silent, the black screen reflecting the fluorescent lights above us.

“If he calls, what do I say?” Chloe asked, her voice shaking.

“Tell him you’re on your way to the airport,” Melanie suggested. “Tell him your flight was delayed. Keep him calm and keep him at the condo.”

Arthur Vance sighed, rubbing his temples. “We have thirty minutes before his flight touches down.”

“We wait here,” I said.

The conference room felt colder now.

Sarah Lin brought us three paper cups of black coffee from the breakroom.

No one drank.