“Let Hummel know,” Josie said, her voice surprisingly steady. “He’ll need to process this ASAP.”
“Dougherty said we should come out back,” Gretchen said.
They jogged back up to the first floor and out onto the deck. Dougherty stood at the top of the steps that led into the yard. Pointing, he said, “Two drops of blood on the bottom step.”
Josie noted them but her attention was pulled toward the small greenhouse in the backyard. It had been cleared early on, so she’d been informed of its presence. No one had found blood in there.
“You said there were Crimson Brides in there?” Josie asked.
Dougherty nodded as he wiped sweat from his forehead. “A couple.”
Josie jogged down the steps and strode toward the greenhouse. Trepidation tickled at the back of her neck. The structure wasn’t big enough to hide the bodies of two full-grown women. Not unless Griffin had dismembered them and spread their body parts out among his planters and small garden squares. The thought was disturbing to the point that the acid in her stomach churned, but it wouldn’t have been the first time she’d encountered something like that. It didn’t seem likely though, since that would have made a mess of epic proportions that would have taken Griffin hours to properly clean up. Maybe he hadn’t had enough time to clean up what they’d found before he had to report to the office. Had he intended to finish tidying up the basement after work? Nothing had been found in his trash bins. They’d need another warrant to search his car for evidence of human remains, and they’d need to get the GPS coordinates from it for the past twenty-four hours.
Josie pushed the greenhouse door open and a surge of hot air and floral scents assaulted her. The heat and humidity were even more stifling but inside, everything was lush and teeming with life. Maybe Griffin wasn’t interested in the family business, but he certainly had the skillset for it. Josie navigated down one narrow aisle and then another before she found a group of potted camellia bushes. She counted four in all. Each one had exactly two Crimson Bride blooms.
Gretchen followed her, taking in all of the flowers and plants. “Nothing in here looks disturbed or turned over.” She motionedtoward a shelf of tools and two shovels standing beside it. “The dirt on those is crusty, dried up.”
If Griffin had done something with Dani and Cassidy, he’d either gotten rid of the evidence or he hadn’t done it here.
Either way, the most promising lead they’d had to date had just slipped through their hands.
FORTY-SIX
Her mother had gone silent after he left, mechanically using a water bottle and the edge of her sleeping bag to clean up her face. Then she started to remove her clothes.
“Mom?” Her voice trembled.
Instead of answering, her mother pulled on the wedding dress he had left. It was two sizes too big and covered in lace that had frayed in places. The zip along the side didn’t pull all the way up.
“Mom,” she tried again. “Don’t do this. You can’t do this. Please.”
Her mother smoothed the dress over her hips before turning to her with a wan smile. “Darling, this is the only way out of this room.”
She crawled over to her mother and clutched at the ugly dress. This close, it smelled like mothballs. “It’s not. It can’t be.”
Leaning down, her mother stroked her hair away from her face. “I have to make sure you’re safe. That’s all that matters. It’s theonlything that matters.”
“But Mom,” she pleaded. “You can’t marry him!”
“I know, darling. I’ll figure something out.”
“If you don’t? What if he…He could kill you.”
“Then you know where to go, who will protect you. He will come for you. I know he will. You’ll have each other.”
The calm conviction in her mother’s voice caused tears to pour down her face faster than she thought possible. “No,” she sobbed. “No. Don’t do this.”
“Shhh,” her mother soothed. “Right now, the only way to keep you safe is for me to get out of this room, and the only way that’s going to happen is to do what he wants.”
“But you can’t,” she hiccupped.
She should tell her mother the truth, except now she didn’t think it would make a bit of difference. Her mother was right. Neither of them was getting out of this room unless he got something he wanted, and for once, she didn’t want to be the one to give it.
FORTY-SEVEN
Josie strode into the interrogation room. Griffin Holt’s wide, wary eyes tracked her movements. She heard Noah behind her. He closed the door just as Josie dropped into the seat closest to Griffin. Staring at him, she used her feet to drag the chair aggressively in his direction. The screech of the legs over tile made him flinch.
Josie leaned forward, into his space. “Where are Dani Schwarber and Cassidy Turner?”
