“No.” Grace didn’t hesitate before that answer. “But it’s possible she’s in hiding. I hope she is, anyway. I hope her questions didn’t get her killed.”
Caroline hoped the same thing, and it twisted away at her to think of the worst-case scenario here. That Skylar may have been murdered by the same person responsible for taking her into the sex-trafficking ring.
Maybe Lily or Zeller.
Heck, maybe even Kingston. Grace had said this was all balled up together, and Kingston was definitely in the mix.
“Do you know if Skylar saw a counselor or therapist while she was at New Beginnings?” Jack pressed, and Caroline knew why. If she had, then that should have been in the file.
“I’m not sure. Maybe,” Grace concluded. “She was eager to turn her life around. Eager to find answers, too, and I think it was that search for the truth that maybe landed her in trouble.”
Jack gave an impatient huff. “What did Skylar find in that search and how is all of this connected to Caroline?”
“Again, I’m not sure what she found.” Grace hesitated. “But I believe whatever Skylar learned, someone wanted her silenced for it. And that leads me back to Caroline. If Eric did kill Nicola at the request of the person running the sex-trafficking ring, then that person might believe Eric told Caroline about it. Eric had her a long time, and he was cocky. He could have bragged to her about it.”
Yes, Eric was cocky, but he’d never mentioned Nicola. Of course, that didn’t mean anything. Eric had only talked about his murders in a general kind of way. He’d been far more interested in taunting Caroline for not figuring out sooner that he was a serial killer. The taunts had been like an arrow to her heart because they’d been true.
“Do you have any proof to back up what you’re saying?” Jack asked Grace.
“None. It’s based on conversations and files that no longer exist. Someone wiped them. Someone who almost certainlywanted to cover up their crimes. I’ll leave that to you to figure out.”
“Obviously, you wanted to help with that or you wouldn’t have returned my call,” Jack quickly pointed out.
“No, I returned your call to get you off my back. Also to warn you that I believe this all goes back to Caroline and what the killer thinks Eric might have told her. I don’t want to be dragged out into the open so I can be silenced.”
That was another arrow strike. Maybe Skylar and Nicola had both been killed to protect a killer’s identity. A fatal tying up of loose ends. Both Grace and she also could fall into that category, but there was one major difference between them. Grace obviously knew a lot more about this than Caroline did.
“I want you to back off and not try to contact me again,” Grace added, and before Jack could say anything, she ended the call.
Cursing, Jack immediately hit Redial to call Grace back. No answer, and Caroline was betting the woman had used a burner cell, so there was no way to trace it.
“She hacked into the New Beginnings files,” Caroline concluded, and she got an instant nod of agreement from Jack.
“That’s why I need to talk to her again and find out if something was deleted from Skylar’s record.” He looked at her. “Any chance you can find Grace?”
“I’ll try. I don’t know her, not personally, but it’s possible we brushed up against each other in cyberspace.”
Jack’s eyes narrowed a little, enough to let her know that he didn’t want that “brushing up” to get her into legal hot water.
“I’ll be careful,” Caroline assured him.
He studied her a moment, then went to her and brushed a kiss on her cheek. Considering the heat that was always there between them, it seemed almost chaste. Something she hadn’t thought possible from Jack. He eased back, their gazes connecting and holding for a long time. Too long. Because shesaw more than the fire fueled by the attraction; she saw the worry he had for her.
“I’ll be careful,” she repeated, and this time Caroline was the one who dropped a kiss on his cheek.
He studied her a moment longer as if he wanted to say more, and then he tore his attention from her. “I’ll get you a computer.”
Jack went into the bullpen and spoke to Gunnar, and a few moments later, the deputy took a laptop from one of the empty desks and handed it to Jack. Jack was on his way back to Kellan’s office when Caroline saw the visitor come in.
Kingston.
She was still feeling raw from everything that had already gone on, but she didn’t mind going around again with him. Everything she and Jack learned could put them a step closer to catching their attacker, and Caroline was positive that Kingston knew more than he’d told them.
Jack, however, didn’t seem as eager to meet with one of their persons of interest, and it was obvious he didn’t trust Kingston, because Jack immediately stepped in between Caroline and him. Then Jack passed her the computer, no doubt to free up his hands. Since she wanted to do the same thing, Caroline put the laptop on Kellan’s desk.
“I’m here to sign the statement that I gave to your brother,” Kingston said. “Somebody called and told me it was ready.”
“I did,” Gunnar spoke up. “Give me a sec, and I’ll get it for you.”
