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should have realized how deeply his depression ran. But it was spring and I was caught up in softball and swim meets.”
    A well of sadness and grief once again assaulted Amanda as she thought about Carlton. He was a classic case of a quiet kid with brains whose gangly body and glasses had caused him to be the butt of jokes from the testosterone-laden guys and silly teenage girls who’d treated him as if he was nothing.
    Not that he was the only kid who’d been picked on. Which had made her wonder why he’d chosen suicide when he’d had a bright future and probably would have garnered college scholarships from more than one university.
    “Amanda, his death wasn’t your fault.”
    Justin’s gruff voice made her glance across the parking lot. She couldn’t look at him when she felt so raw. Exposed.
    Guilty.
    “Maybe not,” she said. “But I should have been a better friend.”
    “I’m sure you were a good friend,” he said. “But none of us can really know what’s going on in another person’s head unless they tell us.”
    She absorbed his words, knowing that on a rational level, they were true. But they still didn’t alleviate the regret that filled her soul.
    “Is Carlton’s family still in town?”
    She swallowed the lump in her throat. “His mother is. But she’s not doing well. I think she has some kind of degenerative disease, bad rheumatoid arthritis. She has to use a walker to get around.”
    “Any other family?”
    “A brother. Actually, he and Carlton were fraternal twins, as different as night and day.”
    “The brother was popular?”
    “Yes. He was a wrestler so girls liked his body. He lives in a neighboring town.”
    “Were he and his brother close?”
    Amanda wrinkled her nose. “Not really. I always got the impression they didn’t get along, that Carlton’s brother was impatient with him. He wanted Carlton to stand up for himself.”
    Justin narrowed his eyes. “Did the sheriff investigate the kid’s death to make sure it was a suicide?”
    “Not really,” Amanda said. “Carlton’s brother was away at the time at a wrestling tournament. And Carlton left a suicide note so no one really questioned it.”
    “Hmm. I’m still surprised there wasn’t an investigation.”
    “I guess they had records from the shrink Carlton saw confirming his depression.”
    Justin reached for the door. “All right. Let’s take it one step at a time. First Kelly Lambert’s ex. Then Fisher’s. Then we’ll question Donald Reisling and his father.”
    Amanda climbed out, her nerves on edge. This case was even bigger than she’d first believed.
    She just hoped they figured it out before anyone else died.
    * * *
    J USTIN CHECKED HIS weapon to make sure it was secure and hidden beneath his jacket as he and Amanda walked up the sidewalk to Sumter’s apartment. All this time they’d wondered if the missing girls were connected and looked for a psychopath who simply liked to kidnap young women.
    But now they might have a lead. If the kidnappings/kills were personally motivated, finding the original trigger was the key to stopping the crimes. With the upcoming reunion, the killer had a whole pool of victims at his fingertips.
    Whoever it was obviously had a bone to pick with the women in Sunset Mesa and was making a point.
    He glanced at Amanda as she knocked on the door to Sumter’s apartment. “Mr. Sumter, it’s Sheriff Blair and Sergeant Thorpe,” she yelled through the door. “We need to talk to you.”
    Justin kept his eyes peeled around the outside of the string of units, searching for trouble. If Sumter knew they were asking questions and he was the perp, he might ambush them.
    Or he might have gone into hiding.
    There were dozens of places in the deserted area surrounding Sunset Mesa to lie low and stay off the grid.
    They waited for several seconds; then Justin raised his fist and knocked louder. “Mr. Sumter, if you’re in there, answer the door.”
    “Were you friends with this