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He was a real nice guy and very good looking. She had met his girlfriend last night when she accidentally walked in on them making out in the kitchen.
“Are you ready to go back? Maybe we should bring coffee with us.” Grace smiled at Charlie. He knew how much she liked the coffee hut. The guys liked it, too.
“Yeah let’s bring back coffee. Your brother John is going to need it. He was out until 3:00 a.m. with Maggie.”
Grace smiled.
“I don’t think we’re supposed to know about her.” Grace giggled.
“I think you’re right. He has been hiding their relationship. I guess he figures she works in the department and it could cause some problems.”
“Well you would think that if we know about her, then I’m sure half the department knows about them. Why hide it?”
They ordered five coffees to go.
“Maybe he’s afraid you’ll sneak up on them with a camera snapping pictures,” Charlie added jokingly.
“Hey, I’m sorry about walking in on you and your girlfriend. I’m sure it has been kind of an inconvenience having a woman living in your bachelor pad. I’ve invaded your privacy.”
They headed back to the house carrying the cardboard holders filled with steaming coffee cups.
“Are you kidding? That dinner you cooked last night alone is worth you staying with us as long as you need to.” Charlie rubbed his belly. “I made a pig out of myself,” he added as they laughed.
They turned the corner and headed up the street to the house. It was an older home with a nice large backyard the guys often had barbecues in and a nice wraparound front porch to sit on and look out toward the water. They were laughing together as she and Charlie headed up the steps.
Leaning against the front door was a large yellow envelope addressed to Grace.
“Who delivers this early in the morning?” Grace asked and Charlie followed her inside. They brought the envelope and the coffee into the kitchen.
John and Mark were in there as well as Jerry, their other roommate.
They said good morning and handed out the coffees as Grace set the envelope down on the kitchen counter.
“Late night there, brother?” Grace teased John as he yawned and added sugar to his coffee cup. The other guys began to laugh.
John gave his sister a light punch in the arm and she giggled then drank down a bottle of water. She didn’t even feel sweaty anymore because the guys had the air-conditioning on sixty-six degrees. It was like walking into a refrigerator.
She took a seat between John and Charlie then began to open the envelope.
She reached inside and found two other envelopes.
The first one showed pictures of a young woman with long brown hair standing in front of the coffee hut down by the marina. Grace recognized it immediately.
“I don’t know who this is,” Grace said as she handed the picture to her brother and the others looked at it.
“Where did you get the envelope?” John asked, still tired from his late night as he rubbed the sand out of his eyes and took another rejuvenating sip of hot caffeine
Grace then opened the other envelope.
She let in a large gasp of air and took a step back. When she saw the contents of the envelope, she dropped everything.
The guys looked. The picture that fell on the floor was that of the once-stunning brunette, now beaten and murdered.
The killer had enclosed a lock of her hair, which was covered in blood as well.
Grace had touched it.
She never even looked at the note that came along with it.
