“How long have we been here?” Alex whispers.
I check my watch. “Two minutes.”
“That feels like too long.”
“Yeah.”
“Five minutes,” Alex says. “Then we’re gone.”
“Agreed.” I scan the shadows. “Before someone comes back to double-check. Before rain washes everything away. Before the trail goes completely cold.”
I crouch down, looking along the brick wall.
I look at the mouth of the alley and envision him coming in. Desperate. With a girl. He probably wouldn’t be able to wait, but would she lead him deeper into the alley?
Dark stains on the brick. Could be water. Could be old grime.
Could be blood.
“Dylan.” Alex’s voice is strange. Tight. “Is that?—”
I follow her gaze.
Reddish-brown stains. Splattered pattern. Low on the wall, like something?—
Like someone’s head hit it. Or blood sprayed when he?—
I can’t swallow. That cold-hot feeling crawls up my spine, wraps around my throat. My neck feels like hands are there even though nothing’s touching me.
“Oh God.” My hand goes to my mouth.
“It’s blood,” Alex whispers.
“We don’t know that.” But I do. I know. “Could be rust. Or?—”
“Dylan. It’s blood.” She’s already pulling out her phone, the one should should have left at home. “Should I?—”
“No!” I grab her wrist. Hard enough to hurt. “No photos. Nothing digital.”
“But—”
“Nothing that can be traced or subpoenaed. Nothing that proves we were here.” My voice is shaking. “We just look. We remember. That’s it.”
She lowers her phone. “So what do we do?”
“We remember.” I stare at the stain, memorizing its location. Left side of the alley. Three feet from the fire escape. Two feet up from the ground. Splatter pattern, not smear. “We document it mentally. But we don’t create evidence that we were here.”
I stare at the blood stain. Try to remember exactly what he said.
Strangulation during rape. Hand around her throat. “She just dropped.”
“The splatter pattern...” Alex’s voice shakes.
“Yeah.” My throat closes. “Assault that violent...”
She doesn’t finish. Doesn’t need to.
I stare at the stain. Low on the wall. Right where her head would have been pressed.
