Page 109 of Hard Heart

I’d seen him before.

The guy from the cemetery.

The one who’d been lingering near Ruby’s grave.

I’d assumed he was there to visit a loved one, but what if he’d followed Justin and stayed to steal the missing orchid? And if he was the person who’d framed Justin, then why was he lurking in the trees at the back of his property?

Ice crept up my spine.

“Uh, no. No, I don’t think Justin was behind this.”

The police finally showed up several minutes after the podcast contingent, and we lost the video feed as they began clearing the area. But not before I saw Special Agent Rimer talking to Jessalyn, and there seemed to be some yelling going on. Right before the video stopped, I caught sight of Jerry Knight, and of course she was there. She seemed to be everywhere.

“Well…” Raelene rocked back in her seat. “This is a development. My cases usually move at a snail’s pace, and we’ve never had a bunch of new bodies thrown into the mix. It’s like being back in New York.”

“Organised crime, huh?”

“Yup.”

“So, I guess they do seem organised…”

I told her about the blond guy, and she gave a low whistle. “If we had any doubts about the connection between the cases, that erases them.”

“How do we find out who he is?”

“I have a couple of sources I can try, but I doubt he was carrying ID.”

He wasn’t. According to Raelene’s mole in the state police, his fingerprints weren’t in the system, and DNA testing at the government lab was backed up for months. If we had our own sample, we could get it tested privately, but we didn’t have access to the database, so— Wait a second… Who’d been skulking around the body? Jerry Knight. And who liked to skulk around in dark corners online? Person A, aka Alexa.

I tried to hold off until Thursday, but when I couldn’t sleep, I gave in and messaged Ari.

Me

I saw the news—what happened?

And it seemed she was still awake too, because she replied right away.

Ari PI

Justin’s girlfriend’s ex tried to abduct her. A third party shot him, and then he also tried to abduct her.

Me

Wow. Do you know who the dead guy is? Not Ridge Packer, the other one.

Ari PI

No ID yet. Fingerprints not in the system.

Me

Do you have DNA?

Ari PI

Working on it.

Hmm.