“I will. And as soon as Barbie Martin’s remains are found, please let me know.”
“Certainly.”
The observation room door opened, and Agent Street entered. “Phillips, Cliff Beamer is all yours.”
“Thank you. It’ll be my honor to take over now,” he said.
The two shook hands. “Let’s work together on another case sometimes,” Street said.
“If you can come in and wrap up one this fast again I say let’s do it all the time,” Phillips replied.
“I think this case was just ready to be over,” Street said. “Don’t you agree, Ms. Moynahan?”
“I do.”
“Walk with me,” Street said, leading the way to the front of the police station. “I’d like you and Grimm to come to my office in State College tomorrow. There’s a press conference set up at noon. The governor will be there to give praise about how the three missing women have been found thanks to your reporting.”
Quinn stopped walking and tilted her head. “Agent Street, did I just hear you correctly? All three missing women have been found? Not just the remains of Sandy and the body of Heather?”
He grinned. “That’s correct. Barbie Martin’s remains were found half an hour ago by that task force in Walnut Springs Park. Once we discovered that Candace had buried Sandy Cranston in Schenley Park, then it was a safe bet that she would use the same method of disposal again, and Walnut Springs is a very short distance from Pembroke State.”
Quinn bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes. She bent over at the waist and tapped her feet several times. “Yes. Oh yes.”
“Is she happy?” Agent Street asked Grimm.
“Yes, she’s happy.”
She stood up again. “I’m more than happy. I’m ecstatic by this news. Trish and Trenton know?”
“Yes, I sent their PI Logan Burrows over to their house with the news since I was tied up here and he had gone out this morning with my task force team,” Street said.
Quinn laughed with joy. She hugged Agent Street. “I can’t thank you enough for reading my articles and deciding to start an investigation. It has made all the difference in these family’s lives.”
“Correction, you made the difference,” Street said. “I need to go check in with my team. I’ll see you tomorrow, say around 11 a.m.? We don’t want to be late for the press conference at noon.”
“We’ll be there,” Grimm assured him.
“Good.”
She turned to Grimm and flung her arms around him for a quick hug, then pulled back again so she could look at him, shaking her head back and forth. She felt as if her face would hurt for days, she was smiling so big. “I don’t know when I’ve been so happy.”
“I hope you’ll feel that way about us one day,” he said.
“I know I will.”
“When?” he asked.
“Maybe when you propose.”
He laughed and they walked out of the police station arm in arm.
EPILOGUE
Three months later…
Quinn waited at the courthouse for the grand jury hearing for Candace Foust Beamer to begin. She was among the numerous witnesses to be called. The accused was in a conference room until time for it to start. She sat on a bench alone, because Grimm was still away on an assignment that had taken longer to wrap up than expected. She missed him, but they talked every chance they got.
She pulled out her phone and flipped through her photo gallery of them together with their new Yorkie puppies Axel and Atlas. Getting two dogs seemed natural so they’d have a playmate, but those two were a handful. And she was so in love with them she couldn’t ever imagine her life without them. Just like she couldn’t imagine not having Grimm in her life either.
