Page 142 of Coordinates of Death

Dirk whistled. “Wow, this place is amazing.”

Aurora harrumphed. “Amazing wouldn’t be my choice of words. Not when you’re being held captive in the dungeon below.” She clapped to get everyone’s attention. “Let’s search this place, top to bottom, for evidence linking Dale Driscoll to the murders. Beware of traps and secret passageways. The Shadow Box Killer’s game is over, and we cannot let him walk on a technicality. Understood?”

They nodded one by one and dispersed in different directions.

Aurora’s knees buckled, head throbbing.

Kordell caught her around the waist. “Whoa. Let’s get you seated. I want to check your vitals again.”

She didn’t argue and leaned into his firm grip as he led her to an antique high-back chair.

Kordell placed his fingers on her wrist, checking his watch at the same time.

Hill returned and kneeled in front of her. “Is she okay?”

“Her pulse is steady. Do you have a Maglite?” Kordell asked.

Hill unclipped one from his duty belt, passing it to him.

Kordell shone it in her eyes, asking her to follow his finger. “All’s good there.” He felt around her head.

She flinched. “That hurts. I wasn’t lying earlier. My head is throbbing.”

“Not surprised. You have a good-sized goose egg.” He stood. “Anyone have painkillers?”

“Kord, get the ones in the cell Dale brought.” Aurora rubbed her temples.

His eyes narrowed. “I’m not giving you anything from that man. I don’t trust that they’re not laced with something.”

“I have some in my kit.” Dirk extracted them from his bag, passing them and a bottle of water to her. “Here you go.” He retreated and headed up the stairs.

Aurora took two. “I’ll be fine. I need to help the others.” She placed her hands on the armrest and pushed herself upright but swayed again, spots flickering in her vision.

Kordell eased her back down. “Trust your team to do their job. Right now, you need to rest.”

“He’s right, Aurora,” Hill said.

“Fine. You know me. I hate sitting on the sidelines.”

“In this case, you need to.” Wheeler sat in a chair across from her, leaning forward, elbows to knees. “Listen, I owe you a huge apology, Aurora. Ever since you got the job over Nadine, I resented you. Not only because of that but because you remind me of a suspect who fooled me on a case and got away. In appearance, I mean. I let my shame about that case influence my judgment of you. Very unprofessional, I know, but that was a time in my life I wanted to forget, and every time I looked at you, it all came rushing back.” He hung his head.

Aurora’s jaw dropped at her sergeant’s confession, empathy filling her. “Thank you for telling me. Can we move past this?”

He met her gaze. “But you were right all along, and I doubted your abilities. Doubted SBK was back. I can’t believe Driscoll got the drop on us.”

“He fooled everyone,” Hill said. “What I want to know is how he kept this place a secret.”

Kordell raised his hand. “I can answer that. Mic found the estate. It was in their mother’s maiden name, Kramer.”

“From what I understand, both Jade and Dale had condos in town.” Aurora circled her index finger around the room. “They kept all this a secret from everyone, and it’s so far off the beaten path it remained hidden.”

Twenty minutes later, pounding footfalls stirred Aurora. She had drifted off as she waited for the pain pills to kick in.

“Sirs, I found where the boxes were made. In the creepy attic.” Dirk hurried down the stairs. “Looks like these were meant for Aurora and Kordell. They’ve been checked for prints.” He held them out.

One had dried lilacs under glass framed in a mahogany case, Aurora’s favorite flower. “I’m guessing you’ll only find Jade’s fingerprints.” She lifted the lid, and a velvet jewelry bag with Aurora’s name stitched on it was tucked inside.

“There’s nothing in the bag,” Dirk said. “I checked. What do you want to guess they were going to put inside?”