Page 54 of XO Karma

A familiar woman strolls by, and I call out, “Officer Davis.”

She turns to me, and a smile spreads across her face. “Mr. Blake.”

“Can you give me anything?”

She glances at the scene, then to me, and lowers her voice to a hush. “Victim’s name is Karolyn Heinzel. The scene hasn’t given us much else to go off.” Jeez, I know more than that.

“Cause of death?” I ask, knowing she’ll have no answer.

“Hard to tell from a photo,” she says, cocking a brow.

“Blood around the location?”

“Not a single drop.” The look in her eyes tells me she’s as suspicious of that as she should be. Many of the crime scenes, while lacking a corpse, had plenty of bodily fluids left behind. Hell, one time they even left a few organs. The heart and brain specifically, wrapped with a purple satin bow. That was an interesting touch.

“Can you get me one minute?” I ask Officer Davis.

“You’ll have to be quick, and don’t touch anything.”

“I can do that.”

She lifts the yellow tape and I dip under, following her to the scene. One thing I learned early in my career as a crime journalist, you want the inside scoop? Befriend the people who are actually legally allowed to be researching the cases. The amount of information I’ve gotten from loose-lipped detectives because of knowing their taste in music or food should be studied. If only I could figure out how to get Lily’s dickhead brother on my side, I’d have a waterfall of resources.

And given my other line of work… it’s never a bad thing to have connections.

Taking a quick glance, I find Lily’s retreated into the shadows, but she’s still here. And that thought alone brings me more relief than it should.

“Blake.” Another officer nods as I near.

“Sampson.” I click on the mini flashlight attached to my keys and direct it towards the pavement. As expected, there’s seemingly no evidence. A crumpled napkin catches my eyes. Crouching to read it, I notice an inscription on it. Blue Heart Charity Benefit.

“See something?” Officer Davis asks.

A knot forms in my stomach as I wonder how much I should share. Is Kodak trying to plant fake evidence to misdirect? How would I even explain why this evidence is fake? I could mention I saw the woman at the Westerfords’ tonight, but the entire point of running was to not become the prime suspect in a murder investigation.

“Blake?” Officer Davis repeats. “You got something?”

“No.” I shake my head. “Nothing.” Standing, I click off the flashlight, still no closer to figuring this out than I was before.

If there’s one thing I can commend the Kodak Killer on, they, too, know how to cover their tracks.

No body, no crime.

18

LILY

“What the hell are you doing here?” Liam’s voice slices through the cool night air, and my gaze snaps towards the sound, body tensing as he stomps my way. Shit.

“This is public property,” I say, gesturing to the sidewalk.

“Where were you tonight?” His eyes narrow, assessing my choice of outfit. “And whose jacket is that?”

I should tell him. I should tell him everything. He would protect me. Wouldn’t he? My gaze falls over his shoulder to Aster. Liam sure as hell wouldn’t protect him if he knew the things he’d done. But I’m not even sure how I feel about that yet. I’m not ready for someone else to take over this particular investigation. Not when Aster and I are finally getting somewhere. And if tonight’s proven anything, it’s that Aster might be a killer, but not of the Kodak variety.

“I went to an art show. Was walking by on the way home and saw the police lights.”

“You promised not to go out late.”