Edi’s expression softened. “I know what happened with Kelsey and that man. Tough business.”
That man. The one who was hired to retrieve the documents from Kelsey and who intended to kill not only Kelsey but also Gina, Nick, Joe, and Brooke because they were there. He’d called them collateral damage. Like they were nothing. Like they didn’t matter. “Yeah.”
“And now this. It can’t be easy.”
“No.” Brooke wrapped her arms around herself. “It really isn’t.”
Edi took her through the statement step-by-step. Who was supposed to be with her today, and why did they cancel? What time did Brooke arrive? What route had she taken? The sound that had spooked her, the way she’d runoff trail, the moment she’d realized what she was looking at.
Tears were flowing freely, and Edi paused a moment to fish out a box of tissues, handing it to Brooke.
“Thank you. I’m . . . it’s just so awful.”
“Death is never easy. Take a minute, then we’ll start again.”
Brooke worked to collect herself while Edi made soothing sounds.
After a few minutes, Brooke said, “I’m ready. Let’s just get this over with.”
Brooke forced herself to keep her answers factual and to avoid embellishing. It wasn’t easy, though, and she’d catch herself rambling, adding things that didn’t matter. She stopped and started again, but soon discovered she was doing the same thing. It was a total word vomit. Edi seemed to understand.
“And you marked the location with paracord,” Edi said, making notes.
“Orange paracord. Mine is, anyway. I tied it to a couple of trees between the cache and the main trail. You know, so we could find it again. I can’t even believe I thought to do that. Everything was like...like I was in a dream, and I was just...” She pulled her lips tight. She was doing it again.
Brooke cleared her throat. “The others added their own markers too. Green. Bright green.” She thought about Tyler and his green eyes. Darker than the paracord, with flecks of gold.
“Smart thinking. Especially in your state of mind.”
“I’m pretty sure I wasn’t really thinking. Reacting, maybe.”
“Good reactions, then.” Edi looked up from her notebook. “The couple—Robert and Sue—you didn’t know them before today?”
“No. They found me when I was trying to get back to the trail. I was pretty shaken up.”
“And Tyler was with them?”
Something in the way Edi said his name made Brooke look at her more carefully. “Yes.”
“He say anything to you? About knowing the area, about what you’d found?”
“Just that we needed to stick together to make sure I got back safely.” Brooke hesitated. “Why?”
“No reason. Just getting the full picture.” But Edi’s expression suggested there was definitely a reason.
“You know him,” Brooke said.
Edi was quiet for a moment. “It’s a small town. Most people know most people.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No, it’s not.” Edi closed her notebook.
The implication was clear. Whatever Edi knew about Tyler, she wasn’t going to share it. Which somehow made it worse, made Brooke’s imagination fill in blanks that might not even exist.
But the fact that there were blanks to fill in at all was the problem. A problem that was shouting at her, “Pay attention! Pay attention!”
They walked back to the group.
