Maggie: I feel good. How could I not? I have you.
“Ethan.”
He shoved his cell into his pocket and looked up to see Maureen. She wore a deep purple flowy dress. With her silver curls, she looked every bit the town’s self-proclaimed psychic. “Hi, Maureen. How are you?”
“After hearing about Priya? Not good.” She touched his arm and lowered her voice. “I had a dream about her.”
“A dream?”
“I saw the river. I felt the water. It was cold and moving fast. And I felt her fear. But also anger. I’m not sure if it was anger fromher, or the person who did this to her.”
He nodded, even though he didn’t believe any of the psychic stuff. “Thank you, Maureen. My team and I are working with Ward to figure this out.” Working with Ward was a stretch. They were working in the same area, that was about it.
“Okay, but if you need my help, you let me know. Because I get the feeling this wasn’t an accident, and the person who did this—they’re not done yet.”
For some reason, his skin prickled.
Of course they weren’t done. If someone had intentionally run her off the road and drowned her, they probably thought they could get away with murder and would do it again. “I’ll let you know if we need help.”
She patted his arm. “Good. This is my home, and I want it safe.”
Ethan continued down the street. His phone vibrated again. He was disappointed when it wasn’t Maggie again.
Ryan: Reminder—team training at 0600 tomorrow. That’s six in the morning, Joel. Don’t pretend you don’t know that.
Ethan’s lips twitched. He liked that his team could still make him smile with everything going on.
Joel: Bold of you to assume I’ll be asleep before then.
Ethan threw his head back and laughed. If anyone liked to mess with Ryan, it was Joel. Or at least, he tried to.
Ryan: Bold of you to think you won’t need sleep for what I’m going to put everyone through. It’ll probably be raining so bring layers.
Zac: Just a heads up, someone left what looks like an old burrito in the fridge. It’s mutating so not completely sure.
Joel: That’s Jay’s.
Zac: It just winked at me.
Connor: Shoot it.
Zac: Jay says it’s Joel’s. She also wants to know when she gets into this group chat.
Joel: When she stops blaming me for leaving old food in the fridge. Food wastage is a crime and not something I’m capable of.
Ethan: Is anyone actually working?
Ryan: Me. And who took the spare radio from the tech kit?
Joel: Define took.
Ryan: Removed without asking or putting back.
Joel: Definitely Connor.
Connor: You had it this morning, asshole.
Ethan chuckled, but the smile slipped when a woman walked around the corner, heading directly toward him.
