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“Right. And there is no DNA under her fingernails, no semen, not so much as a cuticle of hair that doesn’t belong to her on her body.”
“Dammit. No trace evidence from the assailant at all?”
“Nope. I think whoever did this knows what they’re doing. Oh, and the mutilation was done after she was dead.”
“So then it is unequivocally a message. The killer did not carve her eyes to torture her. It’s a message—for us.”
“I agree. And I agree with the assessment that Alyssa did something or saw something that she wasn’t supposed to and she paid her life for it.”
I begin chewing on the tip of my pen, a nasty habit I’ve had since college. “Kaing’s hiding something.”
“One hundred percent. He closed up like a clam when you mentioned the computers.”
“I know. Makes me wanna get into his computer even more. I spoke with Chief Hood. We’d need a solid reason for the warrant, which we do not have—currently.”
Kellan nods, sighs. He hates red tape as much as I do.
“They’re an odd couple, Alyssa and Zach,” I muse.
“Odd is subjective.”
I roll my eyes, knowing he’s referring to my husband and me. Kellan has made it clear that he thinks I have an odd relationship with Shepherd. He doesn’t know the half of it.
A beat passes between us.
“You okay?” Kellan asks.
“I’m tired.”
“I know but it seems more than that. Ever since the moment you showed up at the Kaings’ house?—”
“I’m tired, Kellan.” I shut down my computer and push back from the chair.
“Where are you going?” Kellan stands as I do.
“I’m going for a jog.”
“I’ll join you.”
“No.”
“It’s late, Rowan. It’s not safe to jog after dark.”
I snort. “Please.”
Kellan grabs my arm as I round the desk. “Take Banjo if you won’t take me.”
“I planned on it.”
“Why don’t we go somewhere and get a quick bite to eat first?”
“No.” I jerk out his hold. “Not tonight.”
TWENTY-SIX
AMBER
I can’t get the woman in the notebook out of my head. Her unnamed face has taken up residence between my ears and is screaming at me. What she’s saying, however, is muddled somewhere between the past and present, a distant memory that is making me crazy.
