Garrett sighed. “Okay, so you found notes hidden in paintings. Where are you going with this?”
“Hear me out. Hikers discovered a body outside a town called Raven Falls. It was a woman who went missing twenty years ago. But here’s the thing. That artist—Edwin Morris? He painted the spot where she was found. And there was a note in that painting.”
“Huh.” He paused. “All right, that’s mildly interesting.”
“It’s not mildly interesting. It’s suspicious as hell.”
“How do you know he painted that exact location?”
“There’s a barn and the details all match. It’s definitely the same place. And the note saysWhat have I done?”
He grunted. “Okay, that is suspicious.”
“Exactly!” I gave Pen a thumbs-up. “We also found the location of another one of his paintings—one that also had a hidden note. We hiked out there today. We didn’t find anything, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing there.”
“Where is it?”
I gave him the location of the trailhead and a rough description of where we’d gone.
“Got it,” Garrett said. “That’s not far from town.”
“We borrowed Max and Maggie, but all they found were the buried remains of someone’s lunch.”
“Well, if there’s anything out there to be found, it might be too old or buried too deep for their noses to pick up on it.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“I gotta be honest, you got me. I’m curious. I might head out there tomorrow since the weather is supposed to be dry.”
“Awesome, man. Thanks. Let me know if you find anything.”
“Will do. Talk to you later.”
I ended the call and put my phone on the coffee table. “Garrett’s going to take a look.”
“Oh good. I’m glad he listened to you.” She sat up suddenly, wincing, and put her to-go container on the coffee table. “Ouch.”
“You okay?”
She reached down to rub her lower leg. “Yeah, I just got a leg cramp.”
“Here, let me.”
I scooted to the middle of the couch and put her legs in my lap. She leaned back against the armrest as I bent her leg so I could massage her calf.
Her pants were in the way, so I pushed them up to her knee and dug my thumbs into the muscle. By her sharp intake of breath, I could tell it hurt.
“Too hard?” I asked.
“No, I think that’s what it needs.”
I kept massaging, working from beneath the tight spot over the knot in her muscle. Pausing a few times, I stretched her leg straight and turned her ankle, then went back to massaging.
Her body relaxed and I could feel the knot ease. But I didn’t stop. I massaged her lower leg from ankle to knee, running both hands up her smooth skin.
Touching her was intoxicating. My heart rate picked up and pressure built in my groin as I continued, not ready to let her go. From the corner of my eye, I saw her lick her lips. That tiny flick of her tongue sent a jolt through me.
Leaning her head against the armrest, she let out a long breath with the barest hint of a moan. I stopped, gently pushed her legs off my lap, and stood.
