“I appreciate that.”
We stood for a beat of awkward silence before he continued. “If you need anything else,” he reached into his pocket again, this time pulling out his card, “you can call me.”
I forced my smile not to drop as I took the business card. Playing nice with local law enforcement was definitely in my best interest.
“I’ll be sure to do that, Detective.”
“Brandon,” he corrected, clearing his throat again. “You can call me Brandon.”
“Brandon.” I nodded. “It was nice meeting you.”
He stood for a moment longer before turning. “Good luck with the doc, Skye,” he said over his shoulder.
I waved as he walked back down the street toward a black SUV. I didn’t need luck, though. I needed to be good at my job. And I was.
Looking at the business card, I noticed he’d written his personal cell phone in blue ink on the back.
It was fine, I reminded myself. It could be an advantage having a detective in my corner. I shoved the card in my back pocket, refocusing on the thumb drive. Emersyn was turning out to be way more of a valuableconnection than I anticipated. I’d need to reschedule a meeting with her quickly.
I crossed the street toward my car, already drafting an email to the podcaster in my mind.
The second I settled behind the wheel, though, my heart sank. The illusion of focus cracked in the silence of my vehicle as my thoughts settled on the abrupt ending to my first meeting with Emersyn. The whole reason I had to schedule another time to meet with her.
Fox.
He had been there, in the back of my head all day. It wasn’t a question of if I was going to see him again, but when. In a town this small, it was hard to avoid anyone. Maybe that’s why I’d been paranoid all day, looking over my shoulder. I was afraid to seehim. Afraid of seeing the hatred in his eyes.
I gritted my teeth, reminding myself that I wasn’t here for him.
Attempting to refocus on the thumb drive tucked in my pocket as I turned the ignition. Today was a win. I was moving forward with the project. There was new evidence to go through. This story needed to be told, and it needed my full attention.
Throwing back my shoulders, I pulled onto the road and headed toward my secluded cabin rental, pretending like watching Fox walk away from me without a word didn’t crush a bit of my soul.
6
Skye
Myvisionwasblearyfrom staring at the computer screen, but I’d been so engrossed that I hadn’t found a point where I wanted to stop.
Hours had passed by as I sifted through the sheer amount of information on the thumb drive. Private and sensitive information was redacted, but a treasure trove of data remained. Field reports, evidence logs, crime scene descriptions, interviews, and a few less graphic crime scene photos all kept me busy and distracted from the thoughts of my past.
A new song from my playlist blasted in my earbuds as I took a sip of my cold tea. My stomach rumbled. I wasn’t sure how long it had been since I’d eaten, but I was starving. Still, I shifted on the uncomfortable wooden chair at the tiny cabin dining table. The window had thankfully been fixed in the bedroom earlier today, but there wasn’t a desk or anything in there. The only place to work was the table. Which was fine, but I might look into ordering a pad or something for this damn chair. My ass was going numb.
My cursor tracked across the screen as a new file caught my attention. My brows pinched as I leaned forward, making sure I was reading it right.
“Other suspected victims—Not confirmed.”
My attention pricked at this. I supposed it made sense there were cold cases they’d linked to the infamous serial killer, but I hadn’t heard about them.
Not yet.
I clicked on the file, a small thrill shooting through me. I could taste the excitement of exclusivity on my tongue.
Inside the file, it looked like there were three unsolved murder cases. A lot more information was redacted in these files, but there were still crime scene photos, basic case information, and reports. Only one of the victims in the file had been identified, and the other two were Jane Does.
I bit at the side of my thumb, ignoring the sting from the raw skin as I went through the first two cases.
The third one made me pause.
