Page 131 of Coordinates of Death

“The librarian chastised me for not returning books on time, the principal ridiculed me in front of the teachers in high school, our nanny mistreated me, my Sunday school teacher laughed when I couldn’t recite John 3:16. The list goes on.”

“What about Ginny?”

Jade’s lips pursed. “That annoying reporter simply kept getting on my nerves. She had to go. Except you found her too soon. The drug my brother gave Sebastian to administer should have acted quicker and shut down her organs.”

Thank God for that. Aurora crossed her arms. “How did you find my diary?”

“When you were off trying to survive in the wilderness, I got into your condo and searched in your office for something to taunt you with. Cut my finger on a part of your hidden drawer. That’s how I found it.” She sneered. “For a cop, you can be dumb.”

Aurora flinched at the woman’s blatant ridicule. Time to change the subject. “Why target me?”

“Because you taunted my brother and then shot him!”

“He fired at us, Jade. The police are sworn to protect the community. What did you expect?” Aurora didn’t hold back her anger at the audacity of this woman. She clearly had a warped way of thinking.

“No one messes with me or my brother.”

“So he killed everyone, including Trooper Sanders and Constable Murphy?”

“Not exactly.” She chewed her fingernail. “You broke the rules, so I killed Sanders. Oh, and that nasty Sebastian. I pulled the fire alarm to get you all out of the room so I could give him my special fentanyl cocktail. Worked like a charm.”

“You’re sick.”

She cocked her head. “I thought you’d be happy I killed that monster after what he did to you. He deserved it. No woman deserves to be raped—not even you.”

“So now you’re justifying murder?” Aurora rubbed her legs, forcing strength into her weary muscles.

“I did you a favor!”

Aurora searched the recesses of her brain, trying to remember if Jade had ever mentioned a brother, but came up empty. “You never disclosed you had a brother. Who is he? Who’s the Shadow Box Killer?”

The door squeaked open, and a man stepped through the entrance. “I am.”

Aurora staggered backward, falling onto the concrete slab.

How had this man fooled the entire community?

Kordell wandered through Aurora’s condo, searching for clues of where SBK might have taken her. But so far, he’d found nothing. Ugh! Aurora is better at this game than I am. Think, Kord, think. Where would someone hide a clue? He tried the door beside her room, but it was locked. Dead end. He went back into the kitchen and looked in the canisters on the counter, a cookie jar, and even the freezer. “Where would you have put your clue?” This is hopeless.

His cell phone buzzed, and he answered without checking the screen. “Greene here.”

“Kord, it’s Hayley. Any updates?”

“Nothing. I’m so frustrated. I screwed up big-time, sis.”

“What are you talking about? What did you do?”

Kordell massaged his neck muscles. “I was going to talk to you and Mic about this, but then Rory was kidnapped. This is gonna be hard to hear.”

“I’m a big girl. I can take it.”

Kordell shared how he had witnessed Aurora’s rape and that Cain had threatened to kill her if he told anyone, then how SBK had forced him to tell her while the room filled with water. “She’s furious with me. I don’t blame her, but I have to find her and set things straight.”

“You care for her, don’t you?”

Their kiss in the cave entered his head. “I do. I know Dad’s rule, but I couldn’t help it. Now I understand how Caleb felt with Oaklynn.” Caleb had fallen head over heels for Oaklynn during their investigation.

“You need to share your feelings.”