“Remember what you taught me.Leave no stone unturned.What are you thinking?”
“These disappearances,” I began, walking up to the map and pointing to the pin by Flagstaff.“One of Sarah’s last videos was from there.And around the same time, if my memory is correct.”
I grabbed my phone and navigated to Sarah’s social media feed, scrolling to the video from Flagstaff.Then I checked the date against when Wendy Allen had last used her debit or credit card.
Only one week prior to Sarah’s post.
I scrolled again, landing on a video from Sonoma.Posted ten days after Susan Wynter disappeared.Then a video from Boise.Posted six days after Gretchen Storm vanished.
“What if Victor wasn’t having an affair with Sarah?”I asked excitedly, my brain spinning with possibilities.“What if she was investigating him?”I gestured toward the map, toward the web of pins and faces.“Santa Fe.Sonoma.Boise.Flagstaff.She visited all these cities shortly after these women disappeared.”
Blake’s eyes narrowed, scanning the map again.“It could just be a coincidence.”
I shot him a look.“You know how I feel about coincidences.Sarah was on to something.And Victor realized it.Now we just need to prove it.”
Blake blew out a long sigh.“Looks like we’ll need some more coffee.”
ChapterThirty-Two
Ariana
It was after four in the morning when Henry’s bedroom door finally creaked open.
I’d left the lamp on for him hours ago, hoping the soft light would make the room feel less empty.He’d told me he wanted me in his bed tonight.That he wanted to fall asleep with me in his arms.So even though I knew Blake must have found something important, I still expected Henry to come earlier.
But the man who stepped through the doorway looked like a ghost of himself — exhausted, drained, carrying the weight of whatever awful truth he’d uncovered.
“Henry…” I pushed up on an elbow as he shut the door behind him.
He didn’t speak.Just tugged his shirt over his head, pushed down his jeans and slipped beneath the covers, reaching for me immediately.His body was hot, tense, heavy with fatigue.
When he wrapped his arms around me, I felt the exhaustion down to his bones.
He buried his face in my neck, breathing me in.I sighed, melting into him, letting his hands roam over me, slow and possessive.
“I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” he murmured against my shoulder, leaving soft kisses along my skin.
I rolled over and met his eyes, brushing a tendril of hair away from his face.“You’re here now.”
He gave me a halfhearted smile, something flickering behind his gaze.
“Is everything okay?”I asked softly.
But he didn’t respond.Not with words anyway.Instead, he responded with a kiss.
Not a gentle one, either.A hungry one.A desperate one.
He pulled me against him, his arms wrapped tightly around me.He dug his fingers into my hair, tilting my head to the side to deepen the kiss even more, every stroke of his tongue igniting a spark, every circle of his hips sending fire through my veins.
As he tore his lips away, he eased me onto my back and settled between my legs, his eyes locking on mine.Then he slid into me, filling me so slowly it felt like torture.
Every time with Henry was different.But tonight was…more.More needy.More desperate.Just…more.
I tried to wrap my arms around him to pull him even closer, not wanting a single breath between us, but he caught my wrists in his hands and pinned them above my head, his fingers firm but tender, holding me still as he moved inside me with deliberate restraint.His eyes stayed locked on mine the entire time, like he was trying to read something in me, or write something into me.Something he didn’t dare say out loud yet.
Whatever demons he’d met tonight, he was chasing them away with my body.
And I let him.
