Xo

horse bumper sticker and her love of riding. They found cartons of Marlboros in her apartment. The dwelling also was in the Tower District, near the hotel from which the email request for the fourth song had been sent.
    But far more incriminating were the two garbage bags full of Edwin Sharp’s trash stolen from his house in Fresno, including receipts and some mail addressed to him in Seattle—to plant at Kayleigh’s, to convince the police and jury that Edwin was the one behind the attacks and that he had killed Kayleigh. And hidden under Alicia’s bed was Deputy Gabriel Fuentes’s pistol case—without the weapon—stolen from near the theater when the cop was tailing Edwin.
    “Alicia knew where Gabriel was,” Dance had reminded them. “She was in the briefing at headquarters.”
    At first they’d been unable to come up with a motive for setting up Edwin Sharp. But a moment ago Dance had learned the answer. To Madigan and Harutyun, she was displaying two dozen sheets of paper, all pretty much the same—attempts to forge Kayleigh’s handwriting on a note that read:
     
    To who it may concern
    Just want to say a few things to the people close to me if anything happens to me on the road … Can’t help but thinking about Patsy Cline in that airplane…. Well, if anything does, I’d like Alicia totake over as front for the band. She knows the songs as good as me and can hit those high notes better. And one more thing, I want you to have one hell of a party and make sure she sings “I’m in the Mood (for Rock ’n’ Roll),” which she inspired me to write.
    I see you in heaven, luv you all!
    Kayleigh
     
    “Jesus,” Madigan muttered, “Kayleigh’s the fourth victim. The last verse. ‘Trouble can find us in the heart of our homes.’ Alicia’s going to kill her in her house.”
    Dance ripped her phone from the holster and punched in the singer’s number.
     
    I SHOULD WRITE a song about things like this, Kayleigh thought, thoroughly enjoying the bath, the soundtrack of Loretta Lynn, the violet scent of the candle she’d lit.
    “The small pleasures,” she sang. No. “The little pleasures.” Scans better. The extra syllable helped.
    It would be about how the tragedies in life, the things we can’t control, are often diminished, if not cancelled, by the small things.
    “An antidote to pain.”
    Nice line, she thought. Nobody’d ever used “antidote” in a song that she knew of. Good. But then … wait. Hold on. You don’t have to write a song every five minutes.
    But she didn’t actually write them. She never did. That was the secret. They wrote themselves.
    In the other room she heard her phone ringing. Kayleigh debated. Ignore it. Four rings, then voicemail.
    “I love the summer rain … It’s an antidote to pain….” Hm, she thought wryly. Awful! Just because some lines come fast doesn’t mean they’re any good. But part of being a pro is knowing what sucks and what doesn’t. She’d work on it.
    Then, hearing the mobile trill again, she thought of Mary-Gordon. Was Suellyn calling because she was sick, did she want Kayleigh to bring a special toy from the house? Concern for the little girl was what proddedKayleigh out of the tub. She dried off and dressed fast in jeans and a blouse. Pulled on socks. And her glasses.
    Maybe it was Alicia calling back. What exactly did she want to talk to her about, out of Bishop’s hearing?
    Could be anything, she decided. The assistant and Bishop had never really gotten along. Her father liked women who fawned. Alicia did what she was supposed to for him—he was the head of the company—but there was always some tension between them because she would not kowtow to the big man.
    She picked up the phone. Ah, Kathryn’s number. She hit the CALL-BACK button.
    As it rang, she glanced out the window. It was dark now but she made out Alicia’s blue pickup truck sitting in the drive. Kayleigh hadn’t heard her arrive but she could let herself in. She had a key.
    Dance’s phone clicked.
    Kayleigh started to say, “Hey, how’re—?”
    But the agent said urgently, “Kayleigh, listen to me. I don’t have time to go into the details. Alicia Session’s on her way there. She’s going to kill you. Get out of the house. Now!”
    “What?”
    “Just get out!”
    Downstairs, the kitchen door opened and Alicia called out, “Hey, Kayleigh. It’s me. You decent?”
     
    THROUGH HER PHONE Kathryn Dance heard Kayleigh’s voice catch. Then she