By the time they reached Mariella’s room, the rest of the team was already there. Matthew sat on the edge of the bed with his laptop open. Ranger leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Simmy and Mariella were at the small table, clearing space.
Duke set the bags down and took a seat, popping the lid on his container. He barely tasted the food.
“All right.” Mariella took her chopsticks and stabbed a piece of broccoli in her container. “Let’s talk.”
They started laying things out—Seattle. Portland. San Francisco. LA. Gina missing. Jen found dead. Kate gone. The resistance from police. The tightening timeline.
They didn’t get far before someone knocked at the door.
Rupert, Duke confirmed before opening the door.
Their manager burst inside like a storm dressed in an expensive jacket, phone clenched in his hand, face flushed with a mix of anger and panic. “We have a problem.”
Everyone stilled. Duke wasn’t sure he wanted to hear whatever Rupert had to say. They had enough problems without adding any more.
Rupert didn’t wait for an invitation to continue. “Another true crime podcast just dropped an episode. A big one. They’re talking about the disappearances of three women.”
Andi straightened. “What do you mean?”
Rupert exhaled long and slow. “This podcaster mentioned a pattern—women whose homes were broken into before they disappeared. Then he mapped the locations where these womenwent missing. Seattle. Portland. San Francisco.” He looked around the room, eyes sharp now. “He mentioned that these were the same cities whereyouall had been at the time of their abductions.”
A cold knot formed in Duke’s gut.
“The podcaster didn’t outright point his finger at you guys as being involved,” Rupert continued. “But he heavily implied it and suggested this wasn’t coincidence.”
Silence slammed into the room.
“You’re saying—” Mariella started.
“I’m saying that the idea is out there,” Rupert finished, his eyes narrowed. “The idea thatyou allmight be involved—or at least connected. Now that the idea has been released into the wild?” He shook his head. “It won’t stay contained.”
Duke looked at Andi.
Had the killer fed this information to the podcaster? Or was the killer himself the podcaster?
CHAPTER
FORTY-SIX
For a beat,Andi simply stood there, the weight of it all pressing in before the room caught up.
Then everything fractured into motion.
Questions overlapped. Chairs shifted. Plans began forming faster than she could fully absorb them.
Part of Andi wanted to slow it down—force everyone to breathe, to think. But another part welcomed the urgency.
Stillness was worse.
Matthew was already typing, fingers flying across his keyboard as he pulled up audio feeds and transcripts. “Okay. The podcast isCold Truth, and the host goes by the name of ‘Evan Cross.’” He frowned at his screen. “Which appears to be a pseudonym.”
“Of course, it is.” Mariella rolled her eyes.
Matthew didn’t look up. “This is the first episode, and the host appears to have done a ton of advertising for it in order to get traction. There’s no social media footprint that predates the show. No licensing info tied to a real person. The hosting platform’s shielded through three different entities.” He paused briefly, then added, “It’ll take time—but I can peel it back.”
Something inside Andi tightened into resolve.
Matthew didn’t make promises lightly. If he said he could do it, he would.
