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As they were talking, the other officers were e places The atmosphere was despondent This had been their best chance of flushing out the shooter and he’d eluded them

Although he told himself that they’d done their best and it had always been a long shot, disappointut He didn’t subscribe to that whole “it’s okay to lose” philosophy He believed if you didn’t get it right the first ti useless Even so, he wasn’t going to pass those emotions on to his team

“We did our best, but right now, there’s nothing uys You may as well head back to the station while I report to the Colton family”

Spencer reached into his pocket for his cell phone There were a nue fro that she’d called into the station looking for hiether What now? He kneas being unfair to her with the thought It was only natural that she should be worried about her sister And it wasn’t her fault that trouble seemed to follow her

As he made his way up the stairs toward Payne Colton’s new third-floor rooht to voiceher know that he’d tried to return her calls

He’d catch up with her later Even Katrina Perry couldn’t get herself into much trouble in the next hour or so

Despite their sorrowful expressions, Katrina decided to leave the dogs at home when she went in search of Helen Jackson’s studio As she drove along the winding drive that approached the property, Katrina saw a variety of life-size wooden animal sculptures No wonder Helen had chosen to locate her hoe scale and she clearly needed plenty of space

At the end of the drive, a long, low building was split into three distinct units with signs over the door of each They were a workshop, a sales area and a house A wo of intense relief, Katrina recognized her as the person who had confronted the AAGBoulevard

As Katrina got out of her car, the other woreet her

“Hi there” Helen—because surely it ave her a friendly smile “I’m actually closed for sales at this ti on the website that you’re interested in, I’ll be happy to give you a viewing”

“I’d love to look at your sculptures” Although Katrina felt it would be the easiest way to create a bond with Helen, she seriously doubted she would be able to afford one of the giant structures Even if she could, she’d have to dis equipment if she wanted to fit one in her yard “But I ca else”

Helen’s smile faded a little as she scanned her face “I don’t think we’ve met before”

“We haven’t But I was close by when you spoke to so Boulevard the other day”

Helen’s gaze shifted away fro Valley Mountains After a few ain “That was a ”

“You seemed very certain of your facts And you were unhappy with the way the AAG had treated your son,” Katrina said