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cool and businesslike. But there was nothing businesslike about the way he was watching her now. The simmering look in his eyes put a warm flutter in her stomach, and she had to remind herself that he was a suspect.
    “When she called, do you remember what you discussed?” Tara asked.
    “She had some concerns about her security system. I talked her through it.”
    Just the sort of info Tara had been hoping for. “What, she didn’t think her system was up to par?”
    “It was,” he said firmly. “We installed it. She needed someone to explain a few things, put her mind at ease.”
    “Was there a specific threat she mentioned?”
    “No.”
    “Was she having marital problems that you know of?”
    He cocked his head to the side. “Are you married?”
    “No.”
    “Me neither.” He paused, watching her closely with those green, green eyes. “Every married person I know has marital problems. Catie wasn’t different.”
    Catie again.
    “What was your relationship with her?” Tara asked.
    “I told you, she was a client.”
    “What about after that?”
    “She was a friend.” Tara waited, but he didn’t elaborate.
    “This phone call about her security system,” she said. “It would be useful if you could give me a ballpark of the timing. You can check your calendar later.”
    “Before Thanksgiving.” He pulled a phone from the pocket of his jeans, then checked the screen and answered it. “Yeah.”
    She watched him as he stared at the ground, listening. She hadn’t heard the phone, so he must have had it on vibrate.
    “Tell him five minutes.” He ended the call and walked to the driver’s side. “Back to work.”
    Tara dusted her hands on her jacket and climbed into the warm cab. The ride back was faster, maybe because of his meeting or maybe because he was ready to get away from her pesky questions.
    He didn’t talk. Sitting close to him in the silence, she realized it wasn’t his size that captured her attention so much as his confidence. It was in the way he moved, the way he spoke. It permeated everything he did, even something as basic as steering his truck over the rutted road.
    They reached the clearing, and Tara noted the shiny black Suburban parked at the far end of the house. By its dark-tinted windows and specialized antennae, she guessed it was Someone Important, probably one of his confidential clients. M.J. was standing beside the Explorer talking to Jeremy.
    Liam rolled to a stop beside them. He turned to Tara and nodded. “Special Agent.” She was being dismissed.
    “Thanks for your time,” she said, shoving open the door and pulling a business card from her pocket. “Please call me if anything comes up. I’ll be in touch after we have more information.”
    He gave her a wry look and took the card. “I’m sure you will.”
    THE HILLY OPENNESS was a relief after the dense woods. Tara neared the Delphi Center crime lab, going over the facts in her mind. She’d been on the case thirty-six hours now, and yesterday’s legwork had uncovered more questions than answers.
    She and M.J. had spent the afternoon at Silver Springs Park, interviewing potential witnesses, including a dog walker who remembered seeing a woman matching Catalina’s description on the trail around 5:40 P.M. They’d found two other people who had been at the park that evening, both bird watchers in their late seventies. They remembered seeing the white Lexus but not Catalina.
    None of the witnesses recalled suspicious vehicles or people around the trail. Silver Springs PD and M.J. were checking out everyone’s background, but all of their stories raised the same troubling point.
    If the witness accounts were accurate, then whoever grabbed Catalina from the trail hadn’t parked at the trailhead. The most likely alternative was a back access road used primarily by park employees.
    But why hadn’t anyone heard a struggle or a call for help?
    Maybe Catalina’s assailant had disabled her. But then he would have