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CHAPTER5
MITCH
“Any questions?” Mitch asked as he looked over his team.
When no one spoke up, he said, “Let’s get to work.”
The St. Louis police had transferred the file they had on Lana Seacombe and it sat on his desk, calling his name.
His eyes felt like sandpaper—he’d barely gotten more than a few hours of sleep last night—but he was eager to get to work.
Mitch made a fresh batch of coffee and sat at his desk, opening the file.
Parents: Mary and Frank Seacombe (both deceased, motor vehicle accident).
Sibling: Zoe Seacombe (married to Timothy Ryan, deceased, motor vehicle accident).
Mitch frowned, double checking the dates. They were separate dates, less than two years apart. He shook his head softly. What were the chances?
He chewed on his cheek and made a note to request the details of those car accidents. Maybe it wasn’t bad luck that had caused them.
Zoe had said last night she’d only been in Redwater a few weeks, despite purchasing the house months ago. That fit with the sale of the house, and bank transactions along with cell-phone data would verify that. He made a note to request those too.
He shook his head softly. He had to think about this objectively, but his gut instincts were strong—they always had been—and nothing about Zoe screamed murderer.
Four family members dead within the past few years. It was almost unbelievable. Mitch had seen a lot in the years he’d been working in law enforcement, but he didn’t know anyone who had lost their entire family within such a short period of time.
Coincidences made him uncomfortable. Extremely uncomfortable.
His office phone rang. “Mitch,” he answered, knowing it was an internal line.
“Mitch, a Zoe Seacombe is here to see you,” Amelia, a junior officer, said.
His eyebrows lifted. “I’ll be there in a second,” he said, already standing.
He closed the file on his desk and walked toward the front of the station. He saw her standing at the notice board, looking over the images of the missing persons for the state. It was Mitch’s dream that there one day be no pictures posted on that board, but he knew it was unlikely he’d ever see that day. In fact, they seemed to be posting them more frequently.
She turned at the sound of his footsteps and once again he was momentarily taken aback by her beauty. It was those eyes, framed in a heart-shaped face with long blonde hair tousled to one side.
“Hi, Zoe,” Mitch said as he walked toward her.
She gave a small smile. “Hi. I’m sorry for coming over unannounced, but I wondered if I could talk to you about Lana’s case?” she asked.
Mitch’s eyebrows lifted. He wasn’t surprised she wanted to talk about the case, but he would’ve given her a day or more to process it. “Of course, come through to my office,” he said. He wondered if that was another red flag.
She nodded and he held out his hand, gesturing to the offices behind the safety glass. He’d always thought it was comical that they had safety glass, because nothing more sinister than an occasional stolen car happened in Redwater—not until recently, at least.
Today, though, he looked at it with a newfound appreciation.
Better safe than sorry, he thought.
“Can I get you a tea or coffee? Water?” he asked as he gestured for her to take a seat.
“No, thank you,” she said, sitting in the chair opposite his desk. She looked around but quickly returned her attention to him. “Will Lana’s case be handed over to Redwater now? It’s your jurisdiction, right?” she asked quickly.
Mitch nodded. “We’ll be handling the case. I requested the files last night and they’ve been transferred to us.”
“Good. Will you be handling this case?” she asked, and he wasn’t sure if she was asking out of concern, or because she hoped he was.
