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I hated it.
I hated her leaving.
I wanted to steal her away from the world and keep her to myself. But I couldn’t do that. The world deserved the fresh air and serenity that was Bexley. I started in her hair and continued to place kisses down and across her body. I pulled her into one last hug.
“It’s time, Little Swallow.” She wasn’t asleep, but she was groggy and tired. Was it exhaustion from activity or life and we were able to let it go being in each other’s arms? She pulled my face to hers and kissed me with desperation, like this wouldn’t happen again.Gods, I’m not going to be able to let her leave next time.
“I don’t want to go.”Don’t tempt me, Bex.I extracted myself from her and gathered her folded clothes. I helped her find the way to the door, and I slipped one of my shirts on her and a pair of sweatpants that were far too large.
“I wish nothing more than for you to stay, love.” I kissed her forehead and stepped to the side. The light from the hall moved across her face as Mari started the girl-rambling-gossip session. I reached around the door that was separating me from them and tugged on the knot.
The blindfold fell, and I felt Bex turn her head to look at me, but I gripped her neck and kept her facing forward. I rubbed my thumb across her skin.We’re okay, baby.
“Oh, Brent, hey!” she said in surprise. “I didn’t know you were sticking around too. How’s the party?”
“It was fine, but what are you wearing?” Brent asked her in confusion, as if a hookup’s clothes were unacceptable to wear. She stepped out of my grasp, and their voices lessened as they walked down the hall and staircase.
I closed the door with a firm hand and leaned on the wall. My head fell back against the drywall as I slid to the floor. My breaths came fast and deep, and an ache built in my chest. Emotion surfaced as tears pricked behind my eyes.
The second time wasn’t easier.
I felt so empty away from her. My heart didn’t have a purpose when she wasn’t in my arms.
Had I started something I couldn’t see to the end?
What is the end, Jaiden?
Chapter 7
October 17-18, 2020
Detective Bishop
The circular clock on the wall across from my desk ticked and ticked as the minute hand crossed twelve. It was 8:00 p.m. now and I was pushing a sixteen-hour shift. I hadn’t been able to leave last night with the amount of questions that remained unanswered.
I shifted my focus from the skinny clock hands to the paper file spread across my desk. It’d been a week already, and without any substantial leads within the first forty-eight hours, the chances of bringing this case to a close quickly were slim. I picked up the autopsy report and walked over to my corkboard. My eyes ran over the photos I had pinned.
Trisha’s abrased face.
Trisha’s mangled and bruised neck.
Lacerations across her pale and discolored abdomen.
Chipped and broken nails.
A shudder worked down my neck. I rolled my shoulders to break through the tension. I looked back to the report I was given. It was thin; hardly any information was in it that we didn’t already know from our visual investigation. There was no microscopic evidence to be matched. My team did an amazing job collecting fibers, swabs, and clippings, but nothing had come back with a match or a lead to an individual.Hell, I can’t even say the techs went home those first nights.
A knock skirted across my open door and startled me from my thoughts.
“Hey, Bishop,” Andraya began as she walked in. She had papers in her hand and eyed the board.
“Detective Greene, anything new?” I asked, and her chest rose and fell as she released her sigh.
“You’re not going to be happy, sir.” She crossed my carpeted floor to the small table I kept in front of the working space. Some people called me excessive, but I hadn’t mixed up my cases or been delayed in metrics. She laid the papers out in sequence, her eyes skimming the inked lines.
“I was able to bring up a digital footprint for you with Brenda’s added help.” She pointed to her first paper. “This information we pulled from her social media networking. She had a lot of followers across many sites, but we collected those who interacted with her the most. I had Brenda help me filter that out by those who lived within a reasonable distance from Old Oaks.”
I looked over the sheet. There were still upwards of thirty names or more. “That’s not very narrowed, Andy.”
