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My breath stills in my chest.
“Connelly was reported missing. Body never found. After the night you told me to look into him, I reopened the investigation into his disappearance.” Quinn’s gaze remains steady on the linoleum floor.
I grip the cup. Ready. “You need a statement from me,” I say. “All right. I’ll follow you to the department. Let’s make it official.”
He sighs. “Apparently, the Feds never closed their investigation on him. When they first showed up, I thought it was my interest in the case that brought them here. That I’d set off some red flags…and I was terrified, Bonds.” He looks at me then. “For you. That’s not how I wanted it to go down.”
Confusion mars my face. “Because you want to bring me in.”
He expels a silent curse. “Do you really think I want to see my partner brought down by the Feds?”
“Then what are you saying, Quinn?”
He relieves me of my coffee, sets it on the floor. Looks into my eyes. “They did a thorough search of Simon’s boat and found journals. He liked to record things. And one of those things was how he did away with his mentor. He even noted where he burned the body.”
My heart flutters wildly, my pulse slamming against my veins. “That’s impossible. That doesn’t fit his profile. At all. He wouldn’t be capable of killing his master—”
“Proctor wanted me to sign off on the case. I did. The case is closed. They’re still going to inspect the scene, look for any trace of Connelly’s remains…but it’s highly unlikely anything will be uncovered by this point.”
I swallow the hard lump in my throat. “But…you know it isn’t true. You know—”
Quinn presses a finger over my mouth. My whole body freezes. His eyes bore into mine as he says, “I don’t know anything.”
He holds my gaze for a moment longer, then drops his hand as he rises and walks away.
I stare after him. At my partner.
17
The Still, Dark Haunts
Colton
I finish stuffing another box full of Julian’s suits. Bethany wanted me to take them, said they’d look good on me, that Julian would want me to have them—but I don’t need my brother’s tailored suits to remember him by.
Besides, they wouldn’t look good on me.
They’re going to be donated to one of his many charities. This time, for real. My brother had a lot of bogus charity contributions as a cover to shuffle around his money. It seems fitting that as his final act he should honor them with his most prized possession. His damn suits.
During the funeral yesterday, I was worried about the mix of people. The one thing I’m sure my brother cared about was Bethany. Whatever double life he was leading behind her back is over now. So she shouldn’t have to suffer that discovery on top of his death. But just like their engagement party, where my brother was able to pull off his double life, seems even from the grave he’s full of swagger. The wake went just as smoothly.
I tape up the last box and toss it into the hallway. At least doing this for Bethany makes me feel a little less shitty. I still don’t know why the UNSUB—or Simon—killed Julian. Why he felt my brother was a threat that needed to be eliminated. My brother’s only crime was in knowing I ended Marni’s life. That I staged her crime scene to pin it on a serial killer.
I know it was Julian who deleted the club surveillance footage—the footage the analysts were never able to recover. I just don’t know why he did it. And now, I’ll never know.
Sadie has a theory. It’s as good as any. She thinks the UNSUB was allowing Julian to blackmail him in order to have access to the club. Simon proved to be a member of The Lair. He used a pseudonym and his member profile was completely phony; it was so vanilla and unassuming that I skipped right past him during my search.
That still pisses me off—that I couldn’t recognize a psychopathic sadist in my own club. But truthfully, Julian conducted all the interviews. It was most likely during that exchange when an agreement was reached between them. I’ve battled the past three days with wanting to know…and wanting to forget.
My brother knew the cops were looking at the club. He knew the killer was possibly a member. If Julian figured out who he was…then it’s logical the UNSUB needed to get rid of him.
It’s clean. It puts all doubts away. I try to let that be my answer.
Most of the time, I’m able to accept it. The Feds and the ACPD, and hell, even Carson accepts it—that should be reason enough for me. And I like the idea that my brother was attempting to do the right thing in the end. That maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t trying to delete that footage… That he was trying to copy it to send to the cops.
I force out a breath and wipe my hands off on a rag, officially done.
I’m done.
