Page 53 of Shadow Burn

His anger sharpened. “That’s good,” he said.

Katherine shook her head. “The mouth is right, yes, but the eyes.. I don’t know. They’re close, but I’m not certain about the distance.”

Priss was purring, kneading Katherine’s arm. Jasper scratched behind her hear and the cat leaned into his caress. “We can work with close.”

“I want exact.”

“I know.” He stepped nearer, and Priss reached one paw toward him to bat the sleeve of his shirt. “But close gives me somewhere to start.”

Alyssa angled the pad back to Katherine. “We’ll do another pass tomorrow if you want. Sometimes the brain gives back details after sleep.”

Katherine’s laugh was small and dry. “Sleep seems optimistic.”

“Rest, then,” Alyssa said. “Your brain doesn’t care whether you call it sleep as long as you stop interrogating it for a while.”

“Good luck with that,” Jasper murmured.

Katherine frowned at him, and for a second, the strain in her face softened. “Are you telling me to stop working?”

“You need rest.”

“And you don’t?”

Alyssa tore out the sketch and handed it to him. “I’ll leave this with you unless you want me to deliver it to Blackridge PD.”

Jasper took it, studying the man’s eyes again. “I’ll send them a copy.” He would scan it into his system. Detective Mallory would be thrilled. “Thanks for doing this, Lyss.”

“Any time. Mack’s waiting in the conference room.” She turned to Katherine. “I’ll see you tomorrow after work for that second pass.”

Katherine offered a half-hearted smile. “Thanks.”

Alyssa touched Katherine’s arm again. “You did well, Katherine. Really.”

Katherine looked as if she wanted to argue with everyone in the building for continuing to say that. Instead, she nodded once. “Now if only it helps catch the bastard.”

Alyssa exchanged a look with Jasper. She knew how important it was for a victim to find empowerment again. “It’s one more step in the process and wouldn’t be possible without what you just did here.”

Alyssa gave a small wave goodbye and left. Katherine remained where she was, Priss tucked against her chest. “I keep thinking about his mouth,” she said. “That’s terrible, isn’t it?”

“Not at all.”

“He said that thing about the archives, and I remember his mouth moving. I remember the shape of it more clearly than his eyes, which seems absurd, because eyes are more useful.”

“Your brain kept what it kept.”

“That’s what Alyssa said.”

“She knows her job.”

Katherine glanced toward his office door. “Have you found anything?”

“Not enough.”

“That means yes, but you don’t trust it.”

He almost smiled. “You’re getting good at translating me.”

“I’m an archivist. Difficult texts are my specialty.”