Alison got up and walked to the kitchen.It was nice to be at home after spending the week at Sunshine Villas.It was nice not to be in any danger from a serial killer.
"Do you want a beer?"she asked Derek.
He still insisted on checking in on her even though she assured him she was fine.She didn't mind that so much.
"A beer would be great," he replied.
She went to the fridge and grabbed a beer for Derek and some sparkling water for herself.
"They buried him today," Derek called from the living room, talking about Keith Malone.
The three bullets that hit him in the chest had killed him almost instantly.
Alison brought the drinks back through and handed one to Alison.It was good that he was gone, but death should never be celebrated.
"How’s Vanessa doing?"she asked.
"She’s getting help," Derek said."Counseling and a support group she can attend weekly.I can’t imagine what she’s going through.She didn’t know about Keith until right before we showed up at her house.She must be grieving him as well as hating him."
"I feel for her," Alison said."Maybe I’ll reach out in a few weeks and see if I can offer some support.I just don't know if it’ll make things worse or not."
"You have a knack for making things better," Derek said."Except when you give yourself up to someone who wants to kill you.I’m still furious about that, by the way.Even if it did work out in the end."
"Thanks to you," Alison said."I hoped you’d make it to the house, because I was a goner if you hadn’t."
"It didn't seem like I had a choice, did it?"He smiled and took a large drink of his beer."There was something else I wanted to talk to you about—the main reason I came up here tonight."
"Sounds ominous," she said.
"I don't know what it is yet," he replied."I’ve not only been looking at the case files from your sister's murder, but talking to the detectives who investigated the murder back then, or some of them.One of the two initial leads on the case is dead—he passed three years ago after having a stroke.The other one told me something, something he saw when he got to the scene."
"What?"Alison sat forward in her chair, trying to control her breathing.
"He doesn’t know if it was a memory of a memory, but he scribbled it in his notepad.Boot print?He remembers a boot print at the scene, but it was raining when they got there, and it washed away before they could take a cast.It could have been anyone's, but he thought there was something in it.Without anything to enter into evidence, there wasn't much they could do, and he tried to look into it, but it didn't give them anything.He didn't know if he was making a big deal about nothing, but he thought it was important enough to write it down."
"A boot print?"Alison asked.
"I know it’s not much, but—"
"It’s the biggest thing in the world," Alison said."We finally have something that’s not been looked at over and over by dozens of people.Maybe it means nothing, or maybe it means everything.All I know is that it’s a lead, and one I’m going to follow.For the first time in a long time, I have some hope again for Emma."
