“What’s going on?” Wren asks.
“Yeah. You’re kind of freaking us out,” Sarah says. “First you leave work sick, then he shows up looking just as sick, and now you have us here to tell us something. Is everything okay?”
I look to West for encouragement. He nods and places his hand on my back, rubbing soothing strokes.
“My name’s not Jade,” I blurt out.
Both sets of eyes scrunch.
“Huh?”
“I don’t understand.”
I let out a sigh and let it all spill out. When I finish my story, both girls are pale, eyes wide with shock.
“My God. I can’t even imagine.”
Sarah gets up from her spot on the couch and pulls me in for a hug. “Thank you for trusting us enough to tell us.”
“I’m sorry I never told you earlier. I hope you don’t hate me.”
“I could never hate you, Jade. And it explains a lot. I’ve always wondered why you stopped talking to your step-dad after graduation.”
“He’s not actually my step-dad.” I tell her, feeling guilt over yet another lie I’ve told her. “He’s actually the cop that took me in after the attack.”
“Wow, okay. I guess that makes sense. You could have told me, though, Jade.”
“I wanted to so badly, but I didn’t want to put you at risk. I hope you can understand my reasoning.”
She gives me a big squeeze, and I feel myself relax. “Of course, I just can’t believe you’ve had to live with this.”
“I’m glad you told us your story, but why?” Wren asks, interrupting. “I mean, you could have continued keeping it to yourself and we would have never known.” Her eyes dart to West, a question behind her irises.
“Want me to take it from here?” he asks me, and I nod.
“We believe Adam is here,” he tells them, making their faces go ghostly white
“Oh my God! Is that who was at your house?” Wren asks, glancing at her brother.
“We believe so. We also believe he’s the unsub we’ve been looking for.”
“As in the one murdering these women?”
“Yes.”
“Holy shit!”
Just then, a loud boom cracks the sky, cutting the power and plunging us into darkness.
Starting the day off early, West drops me off at the bakery to make up for lost time yesterday. I’m lost in the motions ofbaking when I hear the door out front chime. Glancing up at the clock, I see it’s already opening time. Wren isn’t on shift today, and Sarah isn’t scheduled to come in till later, so it’s just me this morning.
“Morning, Officer.” I greet Garrett with a smile as I come up behind the counter.
“Morning, Jade. You here all alone?”
Something about the way his eyes scan the shop has me unsettled. I don’t really know Garrett; I’ve only ever interacted with him a handful of times. While there doesn’t seem to be anything inherently wrong with him, I decide to trust my instincts and lie.
“No. Sarah is in the back.” Hoping he can’t see through the fib, I give him a polite smile.
