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“That sounds like a cult leader if I ever heard of one.”
“He’s a highly dangerous sociopath. Puppet strings are the least of your worries.” She crossed one leg over the other and looked out on the water again. “I might like living on a beach.”
“You just said a dangerous sociopath is after me and going to crank it up, and in the next breath discuss beach living? Maybe you’re a sociopath.”
“A year ago, I’d say that might be true. But I have feelings, Tiberius. Right now they involve a quiet life on a beach with people I love and far away from monsters.” She sighed longingly.
How long did the SCU team have before Violet hung up her holster and gun for a baking apron and bun in the oven? “Hurricane might be coming to wreck that beach dream.” His way of saying don’t go. He grated on her nerves, and she was terrifying at times, but she was family.
Anyone leaving the South Division was too hard to imagine. Fiona had transferred divisions once, leaving a gaping hole in their team, but now they were reunited. They needed one another, supported one another. Had a rhythm and endured more than most blood kin families did in a day. But it was bound to happen. What would change when Fiona and Asa married and babies came along? As much as he wished things to remain as they were, that wasn’t how life worked. Things had already shifted. Once Josiah knew the truth, could Ty up and leave for two weeks at a time with little to no notice? Someone had to clobber evil and make the world safe.
Someone had to sacrifice.
Violet tented her hands on the table. “Hurricanes are always coming, Ty. You weather them or you drown in them. Your choice. And I know what you’re thinking. I’m not going anywhere. As John puts it, I have a gift, and it would be wrong not to use it. Only way you’re getting rid of me is if a killer gets the jump on me, and let me tell you, he better be real good to do that.”
Solid truth. “Nice to hear. I was wondering.”
“I know.” She smirked. “Now, enough sloppy gooey words. Let’s catch this vile creature by his rattling tail.”
“I want to talk to Skipper again, see if I can get him to crack on his motives for returning with the information on Jenny Davis. And I’m going to have to climb a mountain—literally. Rand Granger won’t give me squat or answer further calls. Maybe if I’m standing in front of him in flesh and blood he’ll have a change of heart—except he has no heart.”
“I could shoot him and we can pilfer the place,” she added dryly.
“A year ago, I would believe you. But that’s against your new religion.” He winked.
“That’s against being a good human. Unless he gives me a reason. Twitchy fingers, hands behind his back, drawing a weapon, I’ll pull the trigger.”
“Who’s pulling triggers?” Owen asked as he clambered up the stairs holding a box of pastries; the sweet fresh scent of vanilla, sugar and chocolate made his stomach rumble.
Owen had shaved and was dressed in a flashy gray suit with a bright orange shirt that looked good against his darker skin. Ty couldn’t wear orange without looking like he’d had the flu for six weeks or had been on a weekend bender with the bottle.
“Violet says she’ll off my dad so we can get a list of names of disfellowshipped members.”
“Nice,” he said, and dropped the box on the counter. “Can we eat a bear claw first?”
“Sure. I don’t like killing people on an empty stomach,” Violet said, and Owen paused mid-bite.
“I like that you joke now. They’re always scary, but I appreciate them.” Owen handed Ty an apple fritter—his favorite. Then he picked up a cake donut. “Woman at the shop said this is sweetened with maple syrup, not sugar, and it’s gluten-free. So probably taste-free too, but I took a chance.” He handed it to Violet.
She bit into it. “It’s good.”
“Only because you’ve forgotten what sugar tastes like.” Owen devoured his pastry and washed his hands. “Okay, now what?”
“Selah find anything on Patrick Swain?” Ty asked. Being at Bexley’s at night threw him out of the loop.
“Not since yesterday afternoon,” Violet said. “She’s doing double duty with Cami on vacation, but go ahead. Call her and wake her up.”
“It’s pushing eight o’ clock. She’s up,” Owen said. “Double duty or not, she rarely sleeps.”
Ty let the remark slip and texted her to call if she had anything. Within seconds, the phone rang and Ty answered. “You’re on Speaker. Go.”
“So Patrick’s Swain’s commercial real estate company checks out. According to the geofence information, we found he was on his cell phone around the time and location Ahnah disappeared from the Blue Marlin. And interestingly enough, he was also within the vicinity of Catherine Overly when she disappeared after leaving work for that hot date she’d talked about, but he has a home on the island and it’s not huge, so it doesn’t mean he abducted them—or retained them after they consented to be in his house. We’re still sifting through the other missing women on the list and hunting for a connection between them. He has no record. I’ll keep shoveling and dig up something. Give me time.”
“We don’t have a lot of that,” Ty said.
“I know, but I can only find what I can find. I’m working around the clock and I’m doing more than just my job. Not all of us are enjoying time off.”
Ty ignored her huffy tone.
