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“It’s possible. It could explain why he went into hiding.” Livia glanced toward the shredded cushions. “Obviously someone is willing to go to a lot of effort to get their hands on whatever he has.”

“But why pull you into his dangerous game?”

Livia’s certainty faltered at the blunt question. It was the missing factor. The one thing that didn’t fit her theory.

She heaved a harsh sigh. “I don’t have a clue.”

“We should get out of here,” Bryce abruptly announced, heading for the door. “If Sutton happens to show up, he’ll be in his rights to shoot us.”

Livia didn’t protest. She wanted out of the cabin, with its messy clutter and air of desperation. As they stepped off the porch, however, she reached out to touch Bryce’s shoulder.

“Wait. Shouldn’t we check out the shed? Just to see if there’s anything inside it?”

Bryce hesitated, visibly torn between the urge to get Livia away from potential danger and the knowledge that they needed to search for any clue that might reveal why someone had torn the cabin upside down.

“A quick peek and then we’re out of here.” Bryce glanced toward the leaden sky that threatened rain at any moment. “This place is giving me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Me too. It’s creepy as hell.”

With steps that were close to a jog, they circled the cabin and moved toward the shed that was in even worse condition. The entire structure tilted to the side, as if stubborn perseverance was the only thing keeping it from collapsing.

Bryce headed toward the sliding barn doors at the front of the shed, shaking her head to indicate they were locked. Livia walked to the side to peer through the tiny window. The panes were dirty and the inside was shadowed, but she was able to make out a vague shape.

“It’s too dark to see much, but I think there’s a car inside,” she announced, pulling out her phone and turning on the flashlight. Then, shining the light through the window, she pressed her nose against the filthy pane. “Wait. That looks like the car Larry was driving when he was pretending to be Jacob,” she breathed, swiveling the light to sweep over the familiar vehicle, stiffening as she caught sight of the shadowed lump on the ground. “And there’s something on the floor next to the door.”

“Shit.” Bryce was leaping into action even as Livia tried to make out what she was seeing. It wasn’t until she heard the splintering of rotting wood that she realized her friend had kicked open the doors. Light spilled into the space, revealing the form was a man lying on his side.

With a gasp, Livia rushed to the front of the shed, her heart thundering so loud she could barely hear Bryce’s sharp command.

“Stay back, Livia. That’s an order.”

Skidding to a halt, Livia watched in horror as Bryce carefully rolled Larry Sutton onto his back, his face covered in dried blood as he stared sightlessly at Bryce, who leaned over him, her hand pressed against his neck.

“Is he …?” The question lodged in her throat. The smell alone told her that there was no need to ask if he was dead.

Bryce straightened, her face grim. “Call nine-one-one.”

CHAPTER 22

New Orleans, LA

Tuesday, July 8th

It was after midnight before Bryce and Livia were released by the police. They’d been grilled for hours, but each of them had stubbornly stuck to their story that they’d rehearsed, waiting for the cops to arrive at the cabin.

They had claimed that Livia requested that Bryce locate her boyfriend, Jacob Pearson, who’d gone missing. Livia insisted that she didn’t want to cause any trouble and that she’d just wanted to make sure he was okay. Bryce explained that she’d managed to discover that Jacob was, in fact, Larry Sutton and they’d gone to the cabin to ask why he’d lied. The last thing they’d expected was to find him dead.

None of it was a lie, it just wasn’t the full truth.

Thankfully, the fact that Larry Sutton had obviously been dead for days, combined with Bryce’s position as a law officer, not to mention the fact that the private investigator was a notorious liar and cheat, had meant that they’d eventually been released with the promise they would return if there were any more questions.

Now they sat in the SUV, staring at the dark, nearly empty parking lot as they recovered from the grueling day.

Bryce knew that Livia must be in a lingering state of shock. Not only had her friend spent the past week being tormented by a mysterious stalker, now she’d stumbled across the dead body of the man who’d seduced and then catfished her.

It had to be messing with her mind.

And if Bryce was being honest, she had to admit she was equally rattled by the gruesome find. It wasn’t the first dead body that she’d been around, but it was the first one that had been so far into decomposition. Far enough that she hadn’t been able to determine how he’d died, although she suspected a gunshot wound to the back of his head.