Captain Barrett doesn’t respond to me. He turns to Alex, handing him back the folder. “What kind of black Suburban?”
“Both witnesses reported it to be a late nineties model, maybe a Chevy.”
Which is exactly the model of Caroline’s.
“And how many of them are there in the county?”
I already know the answer to this because I looked it up when I was investigating Caroline, but I stay quiet—because obviously that’s what I’m supposed to do in this situation.
“Thousands,” Alex confirms quietly.
Captain Barrett holds my stare across his desk, like he’s only having this conversation to prove a point. There are thousands of black Chevy Suburbans in Four Peaks County. Hundreds in Devil’s Peak, meaning the chances of it being Caroline’s are slim. Still…
“Don’t you think that’s a bit of a coincidence?” I ask them.
“It won’t get us a warrant, Colin. Nor will it hold up in court.”
He isn’t saying it as a challenge, but naturally, that’s how I take it. Captain Barrett faces his computer, effectively indicating this conversation is over.
“Go talk to Grayson’s wife,” he says to Alex. “And Colin,” he calls as I’m stopped in the doorway behind Alex. I turn to him, though I already know what he’s going to say.
“Don’t make me tell you again.”
***
I probably should have stopped by the courthouse and paid Chloe’s ticket for her. It’s not exactly my fault that she got it, she did say she’d be by to pick it up, but I kind of feel responsible seeing as how I could have just as easily parked it inside the department lot gates, eliminating the risk that she’d get a ticket at all.
But now I’m enraged. Since the blowjob, and seeing Chloe at work with those skulls of hers, I was almost on my way to convincing myself that everything I’ve felt about her has been misguided. That she’s notup toanything at all, that she’s not hiding something. She’s merely a misunderstood,regular woman trying to carry on with a normal life after some horrible tragedies.
After hearing from Alex that not one, buttwowitnesses placed a black Suburban atbothcrime scenes, my hatred for her just feels reinvigorated. Seriously, what are the odds of that?
That Chloe has her mother’s black SUV parked right there in her garage, and two witnesses reported seeing it near where Richard Soffett went over a cliff and Grayson Tyler was attacked by a fucking cougar. All of that, and the two locations where they died are more than an hour away from each other.
When the crew threw a fit about investigating two missing people that did not appear to be connected at all, let alone appear to be homicides, I was on their side. Now, with a very obvious connection between the two of them, it’s all clicking together in my mind.
Not to mention, the reports Alex brought by Captain Barrett’s office indicate foul play may have been involved in Grayson’s death. Even though his manner of death was ruled an accident, forensics included in their report that Grayson appeared to have ligature marks on his arms, which could indicate he was held captive in some way.
It’s not even that far-fetched of an idea that Chloe could have done it in my mind. Caroline got away with two murders that were originally ruled terribleaccidents. It was only when her third husband died of an overdose that the ME raised the alarm. For Richard’s and Grayson’s deaths to both have been ruled accidental as well, my gut is telling me it wasn’t accidental at all.
It was Chloe Stark.
And I had her lips around my cocklast night. My dick twitches at the memory, pissing me off because it should terrify me. And it doesn’t.
“Hey, Micah.” I lean against the doorway of Micah’s office, glancing around to ensure no one’s within earshot before moving toward his desk.
“How’s it going, Mills?” He smiles casually, leaning back in his chair and looking relaxed as all get out.
“Good, yeah. Listen, I need another favor.”
“Name it.” I don’t know why he’s so keen to help me stalk Chloe. It’s not like he owes me anything. But I’m just grateful to have some help, so I don’t question it.
“I need another GPS tracker.” I’d already planned on needing one for Caroline’s SUV, but now knowing it may be the vehicle Chloe’s committing her crimes in, I need itnow.
“Yeah, no problem.” He reaches into his pocket to retrieve the key to his filing cabinet, unlocks it, and pulls out another black rectangle like it’s the most normal thing in the world. He extends it in my direction.
“Thanks,” I mumble, taking it from him.
Micah hasn’t appeared to judge me so far, and he’s the one who gave me the cameras for her house and showed me how to break in. Still, making these requests out loud is incredibly uncomfortable for me. As a member of law enforcement, I’m held to a high standard. There’s an expectation that I act lawfully and with servitude, and I’m very blatantly crossing a line.
