“Thank you. I needed someone to validate that I’m not crazy. And give me some wisdom.”
He chuckled. “I can be pretty wise when I want to be. But don’t tell anyone. I’ve become quite accustomed to people thinking I’m just a pretty face.”
She laughed, and God it felt good.
CHAPTER 34
Jesse leaned back in his seat, his fingertips tapping on the wooden desk.
Where was she? She was supposed to be here already. Was she stuck in traffic? Picking up something on the way to the station?
He lifted his phone.
Jesse: Hey. Are you almost at my office?
Aspen: Fifteen minutes.
Jesse: You left home ten minutes ago. You should be here now.
Aspen: Are you spying on me?
Jesse: Yes.
Aspen: You’re lucky I like you.
Jesse: Like?
Aspen: Okay, maybe a bit more than like. I’m still fifteen minutes away because I convinced Holden to stop to pick up coffee at The Tea House. If he hadn’t said yes, I wasn’t above army rolling out of a moving car. My need for coffee is equal to my need for oxygen after you kept me up so late last night.
Jesse: Fine. But no more stops. I want eyes on you. And I have a very clear memory of who kept who up last night, and it wasn’t me keeping you up.
Aspen: Totally worth it. See you soon, Mr. Grouch.
Jesse dropped the phone onto his desk. A week had passed since Aspen had been kidnapped. An entire week, and they weren’t any closer to figuring out who had drugged her at The Tea House and taken her to Dylan. Aspen had no recollection of who’d led her out the back door and the description from Karen, who’d only seen the back of the woman, had been too common—mid-twenties, brown hair tied into a ponytail, slim and average height.
He’d wanted it to be Aspen’s mother, because that would have been easy. They’d have had their person and the threat would have been taken care of. He wasn’t taking Karen off the table as a suspect though until they found the person responsible.
He blew out an exasperated breath. It had been a long week.
His desk phone rang, and he lifted it. “Yeah?”
“It’s Claudia. I found something you’re gonna find interesting, but not in a good way.”
Just what he needed. “Tell me.”
“I was going through the cameras from the Airbnb that Karen Davies booked, like you asked, and I found footage of Dylan entering the cabin through a back window. I’m guessing he didn’t realize there was surveillance footage there.”
“Not surprising. We know he was staying there. He was paying for the entire stay.”
“Yes…but this footage of him is on the night Margot was killed.”
He straightened, a bad feeling churning in his gut. “What time?”
“The same time Margot was shot…almost to the minute.”
A chill slipped over Jesse’s skin. “No. That can’t be possible. He killed Margot. Hehadto have killed Margot.” Because if he didn’t, it wasn’t just an accomplice of Dylan’s on the loose—it was a killer.
And it left a lot more questions than answers.
