She’d worked so damn hard to keep the headlines positive, hence the whole fake dating thing in the first place. A misdemeanor charge wasn’t exactly the headline she’d been aiming for.
After what felt like forever, the door opened—and Henry Reynolds walked in, followed by his partner, Matt Rogers. I satup straighter. Henry didn’t look at me right away. He scanned the room quickly while Matt had a clipboard tucked under one arm and a cup of coffee in the other.
“Evening,” Matt said with a practiced, cheerful tone. “Figured we’d handle intake. We’re stretched thin with the holiday. Just need to get your details down before the detective takes over.”
Henry finally looked at me. “Appreciate you two being cooperative.”
He pulled out a pen and sat across from us, flipping open the clipboard. Henry stood nearby, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.
“Alright,” Matt said. “Full legal names?”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yes, really.”
“Ellie Miles,” Ellie said, fidgeting with the drawstring of her hoodie.
“Sawyer Eugene James.”
Matt jotted it down with neat, efficient strokes. “DOBs, current address, phone numbers…”
We rattled off the info, and he scribbled like he was filling out a census.
“Why were you digging around someone’s private residence?” Matt asked.
I opened my mouth.
Henry cut in lightly, “We’re not filing full statements, just basic context for intake. You’ll go over the incident with the detective, but anything you’d like to share now might help smooth things out.”
“Uh…would you believe me if I said we were house-sitting? Just forgot to tell the owners?”
“No, I would not.”
“Okay, okay…it was a surprise party,” Ellie said. “For them. Totally planned.”
I cleared my throat. “We weren’t trying to dig into anything private. The door was open. We knocked. Waited. No answer. We thought the place might’ve been empty.”
“You often walk into houses that might be empty?” Henry asked.
“Only the ones with major unresolved trauma attached to them,” Ellie muttered, dry as ever.
Matt choked on a sip of coffee, coughing into his elbow. Even Henry’s lip twitched for a second before going flat again.
I sighed. “Look, we found a journal in my house. On Maplewood. It didn’t line up with the public record on the Hutchinson case.”
Ellie added quickly, “We think it belonged to Lauren. And we think the woman at that house tonight might have been her.”
Matt blinked. “You think the old case from years ago is connected to this…journal?”
“We were just trying to find answers,” Ellie whispered.
The door opened again, and Lilah walked in.
“Thank you, officers.” She nodded once.
Matt stood. “Need anything else from us?”
“Nope,” Lilah said, stepping aside. “I’ve got it from here.”
