“That’s my guess,” Jake agreed.“It’s about a fifteen-minute walk from the Centaur’s Den to where the body was found, even accounting for Derek’s condition.The timing fits.”
“And someone followed him,” Jenna said softly.“Someone who either knew his route or was watching the bar, waiting for him to leave.”
“There’s one more thing,” Jake added.“According to Aaron, Derek had some kind of argument with Brenda Drummond earlier in the evening.”
Jenna’s eyebrows lifted at the mention of a woman she’d long disliked—and so did much of Trentville.Jenna had no fond memories of having Ms.Drummond as a teacher in high school.And she hadn’t mellowed during the years since her husband left her for a young woman.
Now that she was retired from teaching, Ms.Drummond channeled her bitterness into her role as the moderator of TownCircle, the digital bulletin board where neighbors aired grievances and spread gossip under the thin veneer of “community service.”
“What did they argue about?”Jenna asked.
“Aaron didn’t know, but I thought I’d better pay her a visit.”
“I’ll come with you.”Jenna stood, gathering her jacket.The images of Derek’s yarn-wrapped body lingered in her mind, the red strands forming patterns that seemed to hold meaning just beyond her grasp.“Let’s see what Miss Neighborhood Watch has to say for herself.”
Jenna got to her feet.“We need to have one of our team check for unusual purchases of red yarn recently.”
“This kind of yarn, “Jake said, pulling out an evidence bag with a red strand inside.
“Looks pretty ordinary,” she said, taking the bag.Even so, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the red yarn wrapped around Derek Sullivan’s lifeless body was merely the first strand in a web that would ensnare even more than it had so far.
As they headed back through the station, Jenna stopped and turned to Officer Davis, who was passing with a stack of files.“Davis, I need you to check with all the craft and fabric stores in town.Find out if anyone’s bought especially large quantities of this specific type.”
“Yes, Sheriff,” Davis replied, shifting the files to his other arm and taking the yarn bag.“How far back should I go?”
“Let’s start with the past month,” Jenna decided.“And Davis?Be discreet.Don’t mention any connection to Derek Sullivan’s death.”
Outside, the sun had slipped behind a bank of clouds, casting the world in shades of gray.“I’ll drive,” Jake said as they approached Jenna’s cruiser.She hesitated, then handed him the keys without argument.
As Jake slid behind the wheel, Jenna settled into the passenger seat beside him.
“What are we dealing with, Jake?”she asked quietly.“First we find Piper after twenty years, then within days, she has a psychic episode with some kind of connection to a local murder with ritualistic elements.”
“Are her skills anything like yours?”Jake asked.
Jenna considered, her thoughts tangled.“I don’t know.Maybe they aren’t ‘skills’ at all.It seems more chaotic for her, unpredictable.My lucid dreams—they’re a tool.I can focus, make sense of them.Piper was awake.She seemed to just...experience something that prompted those words.She didn’t know what they might mean.”
“And yet she was spot-on.The yarn, the color red.Even if she can’t control it, she has some kind of insight.”
"That's part of what makes it hard," Jenna said, her voice almost a whisper."For years, we didn't know if she was alive or dead.I was terrified she'd never come back, that she'd always be a mystery I couldn't solve.But now she’s here, and I still feel powerless to help her.All this...I guess it makes sense that she'd have insights, but I never imagined it would be like this."
“Still, you are twins,” Jake said, a hint of wonder in his voice.“Parallel skills isn’t really that surprising, is it?And if your sister is sensing things about this killer, she could help us.”
Jenna hesitated, weighing her words.“No, but it’s not comforting, either.If Piper is connecting to this case like I think she is, it means she’s tapped into something dark that she’s never learned to control.It could be dangerous.Dr.White warned me to keep her clear of the kind of darkness you and I deal with all the time.I’ve got to do everything I can to do that.”
“You can help her learn how to deal with it.”
“I’d rather she didn’t have to handle it at all.I just want it … to go away.”
A silence fell between them.
“Let’s go see what Brenda Drummond knows,” she said as Jake started the car.
But as they drove away from the police station, Piper’s words continued to echo in her mind: Red is for rage.Red is for rage.What new evil was beginning to unfurl in Trentville?And why, after twenty years of absence, was Piper suddenly in the middle of it all?
CHAPTER SIX
As Jake guided the patrol car through Trentville’s tree-lined streets, Jenna’s mind still lingered in her childhood bedroom where Piper had spoken those strange words—”Red is for rage”—just moments before Jake’s call about Derek Sullivan’s murder.
