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There’d been no more killings since Kelsey’s, but we also hadn’t caught the person who’d done it.

And then yesterday…there’d been another pulse. It had been small, like a warning ripple through the air that only a few of us felt. Not strong enough to drive me feral, but enough to set my teeth on edge. It made me feel like it was just a matter of time until whoever had killed her made another appearance.

It felt like whoever it was was just biding their time, and until we got them…I wasn’t keen on letting Sienna out of my sight.

I’d already planned on camping out at Dot’s for the day while she was working…conveniently located right across the street from the law office.

Beside me, Sienna shifted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before huffing out a breath. “You know what’s actually offensive?” she said.

I dragged my gaze from the tree line long enough to glance at her. “There’s a list?”

“Yes,” she said immediately. “And at the top of it is Albert’s complete lack of emotional response to me quitting.”

My mouth twitched. “You worked there for…what, five days?”

“Eight,” she corrected, lifting her chin. “Eight very dedicated, highly impactful days.”

“Tragic loss for the organization.”

“Exactly,” she said, pointing at me like I’d finally said something intelligent. “And did he fight for me? No. Did he even look up? Also no. I’m pretty sure if I just never went back, he’d assume I was in the bathroom for the rest of the year.”

“That does sound like Albert.”

She crossed her arms, clearly still offended. “I was at least expecting a moment. A pause. Maybe a heartfelt ‘don’t go, you’re the backbone of this place.’”

“He’d have had to wake up first.”

“Rude,” she muttered, then sighed, some of the bite leaving her expression. “Although…okay, fine. I might actually miss it.”

That got my attention.

“The job?” I asked.

She made a face. “Not the job. The…files.”

I stilled slightly, my focus sharpening even as I kept my tone easy. “The death files?”

“Yeah,” she said, her nose wrinkling. “They were creepy, and weird, and probably something I shouldn’t have been casually organizing without supervision, but…” She trailed off, glancing out the window. “I don’t know. It felt like the town was telling on itself a little.”

A muscle jumped in my cheek.

She huffed out a soft laugh. “Which is probably not a great sign that I’m going to miss them.”

No. It wasn’t. And the fact that she was feeling that way made me even happier that she wouldn’t be sitting alone in a back room, flipping through pieces of a story she wasn’t meant to read.

“Yeah,” I said, my voice calm as I flicked my gaze back to the trees. “Probably for the best.”

We made it to Main Street when Sienna suddenly stiffened and grabbed my arm. “Sterling…stop for a second.”

I slowed down and glanced over to where she was looking. Harvey was slumped on one of the park benches lining the street up ahead, his elbows on his knees and his head buried in his hands. Daisy, thankfully without any questionable red substance on her veterinary scrubs today, was crouched in front of him, rubbing slow circles on his back as she murmured something to him.

Harvey looked wrecked. His shoulders were shaking like he was sobbing, and I immediately pulled the truck over. The man had been here for as long as I could remember, and I didn’t think I’d ever seen him cry.

I pulled the truck to the curb without a word, rolling down Sienna’s window as she leaned forward, her face soft with concern. “Harvey?” she called gently. “You okay?”

He lifted his head slowly, his jaw clicking as he moved, revealing glassy, red-rimmed eyes and a face that was crumpled like the world had ended. He stared at Sienna for a second before he started rambling. “She was such a nice girl…always had the birds singing in her hair, you know? The way the light danced off her laugh… I miss her so much…. The pies don’t taste right anymore, and the moon’s too quiet without her humming under it…” He finished with a crack, trailing off into choked sobs as he rocked forward again, shoulders hitching.

We must have looked confused because Daisy mouthed “his wife” with a sad little shake of her head. Sienna gasped and glanced over at me.