The craziest thing was when Andrews filled us in on how Steve had pieced it all together.
“According to Stanton, it wasn’t until the incident at the lake, where he’d been caught trespassing, that he finally started to suspect Jennings,” Andrews said.
“Why that moment?” I asked, trying to remember what Hector had told me about that night.
“Diden and Jennings had been arguing about Mr. Stanton while he sat in the back seat of the SUV just a few feet away,” she told me. “Because Diden was a huge fan of Stanton’s, she was defending him when Jennings mentioned Steve possibly being the killer of the other nine missing women, and Stanton overheard it.”
She and Hector exchanged a look, and I felt totally out of the loop.
“I’m sorry…I’m obviously missing something,” I added. “What does that mean exactly?”
“On his podcast, Steve only mentionedsevenother women, not nine,” Andrews pointed out, “which had him digging into it more. Plus, then he asked Diden more about Jennings and where he had lived. Once she gave him the backstory of how he’d moved around a lot, Stanton started to put the pieces together.”
Wow.
Hector leaned forward, his elbows landing on his knees with his hands clasped together.
“Now, on the topic of your cabin,” Andrews said, looking sympathetic. “The good news is it’s not a complete loss. The bad news is you won’t be able to move back anytime soon.”
I turned to look at Hector, but his face was as stoic as ever. Still, I placed my hand on his forearm, squeezing gently.
“It’sjust a cabin,” he said. “It can be rebuilt.”
I knew he was right, but I still felt bad. Not just because it was his home, but because I loved it there. It gave me peace and serenity that I had only ever felt in one other place in my life—the O’Haras’ farm.
“You got a place to stay in the meantime?” Andrews asked. “I know the fire makes it unlivable, but even if it was, being that it’s part of a crime scene, we wouldn’t let you back in for a few days. So I can help you get a hotel for a few days until you figure something out.”
“You can stay with me,” I told him.
I knew my place was smaller, but I liked having him there, and Sarge too.
“Thanks,” he said to me and then turned back to Andrews. “I’ll be with Iris if you need anything.”
Andrews just smiled at the two of us and then started listing off a few procedural things.
The adrenaline must have finally worn off, because the next thing I knew, Hector was waking me up.
“Iris,” he said softly to me while stroking the side of my face. “Wake up, babe. It’s time to head back to your place and get some sleep.”
“Mmmhmmm,” I mumbled groggily as I slowly woke up.
Hector helped walk me to a silver sedan that Agent Andrews apparently was loaning us for the night until we could make arrangements to get new vehicles, since both of ours were goners.
I must have fallen asleep again, because I came to as Hector was trying to lift me out of the seat to carry me up the stairs.
“I can walk, Hector,” I told him.
“You sure?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I told him, and he held my hand as we walked up to my unit.
While Hector made one last phone call to his boss, I hopped into the shower, needing to get rid of the smoke smell and bad juju from the day.
I had been standing under the hot water for a few minutes when Hector climbed into the shower with me, naked and gloriously good-looking.
Needing a pull from his energy and strength, I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around him, pressing my forehead to his chest.
“You doing okay?” he asked, rubbing his hands up and down my back soothingly.
