“That took forever,” Amka added, shaking her head.
“I know,” Ophelia agreed. “Forever.”
“Shut up, both of you,” May said, though she was laughing now. She tucked her hair behind her ear and sobered. “Now, seriously.”
They both straightened, instantly attentive.
“What now?” Amka asked.
Ophelia reached for her drink. “What do you want?”
May traced a small circle on the tabletop with her fingertip. “I’m not sure.” The booth felt smaller all of a sudden. “I mean,” she went on, “Ace acts mellow most of the time. Mischievous. But he’s got an edge.”
Amka coughed into her hand. “An edge? You’re talking to me about an edge? I’m marrying Christian.”
“Okay, that’s fair,” May conceded. “But it’s different. Ace made some comment about wanting a chance. The guy stood there barefoot in his kitchen like he didn’t have a care in the world.” She shrugged. “But he hasn’t called all day.”
“Well,” Ophelia said calmly, “it’s just after lunch.”
“I know.” May drew in a breath.
Amka tore her napkin apart. “He went to see Smitty this morning. I don’t even know if I’m supposed to tell you that.”
“He did?” Ophelia asked.
Amka’s cheek creased. “Christian saw him.”
May blinked. “So he’s trying.”
“Yeah,” Amka said. “He’s trying really hard to get his head on straight.”
“That’s good,” Ophelia said.
It felt good to talk this out. “It is,” May agreed quietly.
“Now if we could just get him cleared of this murder rap,” Ophelia said.
May looked up immediately. “Speaking of which, what do you know?”
“Not much.” Irritation flickered through Ophelia’s blue eyes. “It’s not a federal case, so I don’t have a lot of pull. The troopers are keeping me out of it.”
“I’m sorry,” May said.
“Yeah, well, they’re being real buttheads. Brock’s trying to be involved as much as he can, but they’re keeping him out too. One, because there’s technically no such thing as a sheriff in Alaska the way he operates, and two, because the main suspect is his brother.”
May had hoped the real killer would’ve been caught by now.
“However,” Ophelia continued, settling her napkin properly on her lap, “the autopsy report came in, as did the search results from Ace’s cabin and truck.”
May held her breath.
“Nothing ties him to the death,” Ophelia said clearly.
The noise of the diner faded for half a second.
“Is anybody tied to it?” May asked.
“No.” Ophelia pressed her lips together briefly. “All the kids from Montana were cleared. I checked the files when nobody knew I was looking. They’re clean. They headed home this morning.”
