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The victims might not be locals, but the killer might be.
CHAPTER9
ZOE
Zoe cradled the cup of peppermint tea in her hands as she sat on the rocking chair at the back of her property, watching the sun fade into the woods.
She’d lost track of how long she’d been sitting there, but it was long enough for her cup of tea to go bone cold.
She’d been exhausted when Mitch had dropped her off at home. Not tired, but the drained, exhausted state that came with grief—like two sides of the same coin.
She tipped her head back, closing her eyes, listening to the sounds of the woods. She caught herself wondering if Lana had heard the soothing sound of trees rustling in the gentle breeze, but she knew in her gut she wouldn’t have. Zoe didn’t know if Lana was killed in the woods or... hung... there afterward. Regardless, she doubted the last sound Lana heard was soothing.
She squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to let any more tears fall.
Enough. Enough tears. Enough pain.
She opened her eyes, staring at the darkening sky.
There had to be good in this world. There had to be a point to life. Her pain had to be worth it.
She looked out over the woods, staring aimlessly at the rolling hills decorated with treetops. Were there more bodies hanging in the trees her eyes swept over? How did Mitch know they’d found them all?
Mitch.
The local sheriff was a true gentleman and always seemed to know what to do and say.
She wondered if he had a girlfriend, or maybe a fiancée.
She thought again about the way he’d looked at her in the woods. It was a protectiveness that felt like a warm hug. Had she looked like a damsel in distress and he had been pitying her? She knew that wasn’t the case—she recognized pity in people’s eyes. She’d seen it enough times.
She sighed, shaking her head, struggling to remember her time at the morgue. She remembered arriving there and leaving, but the rest seemed like a blur. And it seemed like days ago, even though it had been mere hours.
Grief—that was the other trick it played. It made time fleeting and eternal, sometimes in the same moment.
Zoe suppressed a shiver as a soft, cold breeze blew the loose strands of hair around her face. Looking over the woods again, the trees had turned to shadow.
She stood, suddenly uncomfortable in the dark. The sunlight had faded so fast she’d barely realized night had settled in, and the woods weren’t so soothing in the darkness.
Stepping inside, she locked the door behind her, went to the kitchen, poured her cold cup of tea down the drain, and placed her mug in the dishwasher. She turned, leaning against it as she looked over the empty house. She’d bought this house thinking this would be a fresh start, but she’d been here no more than a few weeks and already that dream had shattered.
Tears welled in her eyes again and she squeezed them shut. She had to stop crying. She’d cried enough in the past few years to last her lifetime.
No more tears.
She padded to the living room and found her laptop. The folder namedLanaopened to the last photos she’d taken with her sister. They’d been at a cousin’s wedding the spring before Lana went missing. They both looked happy.
Zoe flicked through them, surprised at the resemblance between Lana and her. They had always been told they looked alike, but it was only now, looking at the photos, that Zoe saw the similarities. There was no mistaking they were sisters.
She smiled as she looked at a photograph of Lana on the dance floor. Lana had the ability to light up the dance floor like no one else. Zoe had always been the older and quieter rule-follower, whereas Lana had been more spirited—always the life of the party.
Looking at the photos now almost ripped her heart in two; she realized, though Lana’s life had been cut short, she had lived life to the fullest. Zoe couldn’t say the same about herself.
She squeezed her eyes shut again, tipped her head back, and exhaled her pain, willing it to stop.
But it didn’t, it never stopped, and each day that passed felt like it took a little more of her soul. Made her a little emptier. A little less whole.
She turned off her laptop and put it on the ottoman before heading toward the master bathroom. She was almost at the door when the sensor light for the front yard turned on, shining through the stained-glass panes that surrounded her front door.
