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It didn’t matter to her that he was holding a sharp blade to her throat, it didn’t bother her that there was no one around to hear her, and it didn’t concern her that she could freeze to death if she did manage to somehow run away.
In her mind, all she wanted to do was flee her fate.
He somehow managed to drag her within an inch of the antiquated well. The old Dutch bricks had managed to remain intact over the years, and the bottom part of the shaft was home to other sinners.
“Don’t worry, Jenny,” he whispered into her ear. “You won’t be alone.”
The last thing he heard as he walked away from shoving her backward into the well were the echoes of her terrified screams as she fell to the bottom.
Chapter Nine
Brooklyn Sloane
February 2023
Tuesday — 7:39am
Themediahadcertainlytaken advantage of the overnight hours to research the so-called Handprint Killer. The subject had been the major focus of the morning news, and they’d even gone so far as to pull up old footage from previous locations over three years ago. The researchers behind the scenes didn’t get nearly enough credit, because they’d even included some rather indiscernible facts about the victims…such as two of them had gone to the police regarding alleged break-ins into their homes several weeks prior to their abductions.
Of course, Brook’s name had been brought up several times in the course of the two live reports. Shortly after that, Jacob’s name had been brought into the broadcast, leading the anchor to give an update on Sarah Evanston’s case. Her brother didn’t love the spotlight, but he was probably enjoying the interruption to Brook’s daily routine.
She’d known that the media would be parked out front of the coffee shop this morning, which meant that she hadn’t been able to stop in and pick up her usual order. There would be no caramel macchiato for her today, and that certainly wasn’t how she wanted to start out her day.
Technically, the past five mornings hadn’t gone as planned, and her patience was running thin.
She didn’t even want to think about the grand opening of the new art studio that she would be attending with Graham. He could indicate that her presence was due to him wanting to recognize her role in solving his daughter’s murder, but nothing could negate the fact that she would be meeting his mother.
What on earth made him believe that it was a good idea to introduce her to his mother?
It wasn’t a good idea.
It was a bad idea.
A very bad idea, but one that she couldn’t think about at the moment.
Brook finally tore her gaze away from the television in disgust, knowing there wasn’t a damn thing that she could do about her situation or the news coverage. It was enough to make her nauseous.
Unfortunately, there were still twenty minutes before the firm’s morning meeting. Every weekday at eight o’clock, the team met in the conference to go over the day’s events. Today would also include a debriefing on what had been discovered throughout the overnight hours, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a preliminary report.
Kate wasn’t at her desk, but she was probably in the kitchen, brewing up a fresh pot of coffee for the meeting. As Brook stepped out into the reception area, she couldn’t help but glance into Graham’s office. Discovering that he’d hired a highly-trained protective detail for his mother last year had caused some of her apprehension to subside, and she wished that he’d informed her of such a decision earlier. There was only so much guilt that she could carry, and the thought of Graham looking at her like Sally’s parents had that fateful day was enough to crush her resolve.
Theo had yet to arrive in the office this morning, though she had spoken to him on the phone last night. There had been no need to admonish him for scouring the area where Jacob had last been seen paying off the courier. Theo hadn’t found anything, and she was coming to realize that he only ever listened to her when it came directly to their cases. In a roundabout way, Jacobwasone of their cases, but that wasn’t how Theo viewed her brother.
Sylvie wasn’t in her office, but Brook knew that the young analyst spent a lot of time with Bit. The two had grown close, yet not close enough that she recognized the signs of his adoration. Then again, she wasn’t obtuse. She might be handling the situation by simply leaving well enough alone.
“…everyone has one.”
“Everyone has what?” Brook asked as she crossed the threshold into Bit’s domain. The tech room had racks and racks of equipment on the far wall, and a long, custom desk that housed several monitors, keyboards, and other gadgets, including a network analyzer. “Are those cookies?”
Sylvie picked up the tin container and held them out, but she didn’t answer the first question as she continued to chew a mouthful of cookie.
“Apparently, Little T has been binging one of those medical drama shows. She said that I was her one person. You know, the one you call when you need to bury a body without judgement.” Bit had pulled himself forward to press a key on one of the keyboards, causing Sylvie to miss his leg with the toe of her knee-high dress boot. She then cleared her throat as loud as possible, but he missed the more than obvious hint. “As for the cookies, my sister made them last night. I had to think about who my person was, because it should be my sister. Unfortunately, I think she would immediately call the police on my ass to teach me some type of moral lesson. On the bright side, I bet she’d bring me cookies on visitor’s day.”
Brook had so needed a distraction, and the upcoming response from Bit upon realizing what he’d asked her would be quite entertaining given the circumstances. She reached into the container that Sylvie still held up with her right hand, pulling out two chocolate chip cookies. This moment definitely deserved two cookies. By the time that she took a small bite of the first one, Bit had swiveled their way with a frown.
“Why is everyone so quiet? I have my choice narrowed down between Little T and you, Boss. After all, you were the one to get me out of that bind with Kuzmich. On the other hand, Little T—“ This time, Sylvie’s boot did make contact with Bit’s leg. Within seconds, he was adjusting his knitted hat and blinking rapidly while attempting to figure out how to fix the situation. “Oh. Ohhh. That came out all wrong, Boss.”
“So, so wrong,” Sylvie murmured in dismay after swallowing.
