AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He nodded, unsure of the significance of that date.
“What were you doing?” he asked, watching her carefully now.
She stared at the photograph in her hands. Her hands, he noted, were surprisingly steady. “I think it was Friday... a routine day,” she said, nodding as she tapped on the photograph. “Yeah, I’d picked up a coffee and Mitch pulled up. I spoke to him for a few minutes and then went back to the station to finish some paperwork. There was nothing interesting about this moment.”
Lachlan chewed on his cheek as he thought that through. If there was nothing interesting about the moment, whoever took this photograph was doing routine surveillance on Bethenny—which was deeply concerning.
Bethenny exhaled heavily. “Nothing about any of this makes sense. It’s like we have pieces from a handful of different cases and we’re trying to make them fit into one picture. And I have no idea what this photograph means.”
“Let’s bag it and have the forensics team do a full sweep of this lab to make sure we haven’t missed anything else,” Lachlan said, needing something to do. Whenever he was uncomfortable or sad or stressed, he did things: work, gym, house renovations. It didn’t matter what it was, but moving helped calm his mind.
Bethenny nodded. “Good idea,” she said, standing. She put the photograph on the bench and began her own assessment. He watched her for a moment, seeing the tension visibly melt from her body as she began to work. He realized they were more alike than he’d initially thought.
“Look at this,” Bethenny said suddenly, pulling him from his thoughts.
She held up a gold locket and he recognized the symbol immediately.
Now they knew the cases were connected.
BETHENNY
Bethenny didn’t have a photographic memory, but when you saw a symbol on decomposing flesh it was hard to forget.
The same symbol was on the front of the gold locket.
She pressed the catch and it popped open, revealing a small blue circle. It appeared to be made of paper, like a piece of confetti. Bethenny frowned, inspecting it closer. She wondered if it wasn’t paper at all, but some kind of drug. Sometimes acid or other hallucinogens came in blotters, but she couldn’t tell just by looking at it. She would order the lab to test it.
Lachlan rubbed his temples. “This is getting weirder and weirder,” he said.
She looked up at the tone in his voice. He looked calm, but his voice indicated otherwise. He was internally reeling, and she didn’t blame him. They were also running on empty after spending last night in the woods and she wondered if the best thing they could do now was get some rest. Crews would secure the property once forensics left and they could return in the morning.
She shook her head. “I don’t know what to make of this, and I’m too tired to think properly.” Admittedly she could’ve kept working, but she knew if she stayed he’d never leave. Also, if she was going to make sense of the note that was left in this case, she would need to look at Eden’s case file.
The forensics team entered and Bethenny briefed them on what to look for.
Lachlan’s eyes connected with hers for a long moment. He nodded. “I’ll drop you home. Let’s come back in the morning with fresh minds.”
Her eyes swept over the room once more before she turned and headed for the door.
“Can you drop me at my car instead?” she asked, knowing it would be easier to pick it up now than deal with getting it later.
“Sure,” he said without pause.
The advantage of small country towns was that it didn’t take long to get anywhere.
Lachlan pulled up next to her car and she turned to him.
“Thank you for dinner,” she said with a tired smile.
He gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “It seems like that was a week ago, but it’s only been a few hours.”
“I’m going to need to look at Eden’s file,” she said as gently as possible, but there was no dancing around this. She needed that file.
He gave a tight nod. “I’ll see you at the station tomorrow,” he said.
She opened her mouth to say more, but decided against it. She opened the door and climbed out of the car.
She unlocked her own car and checked the backseat—a habit she would never let go of. She climbed in, started the engine, and turned on the seat heaters.Praise the Lord for whoever invented these things.Bethenny wasn’t a car person, and she only required two things from her vehicles: that they were reliable, and that they had heated seats.
