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The quiet stillness isn’t right.
No Christmas music blaring, no scent of the birch candles she loves so much, and no sound of her shuffling around.
An alarm goes off in my head, and I grab a tube of Rowan’s lipstick, marking the counter.
Slowly, I make my way down the hall. With each step, my instincts heighten, acutely aware something is very wrong.
A smear of red mars the switch plate, dripping down the wall and along the wood floor.
I raise my Glock, flipping the safety switch. If that blood belongs to Rowan, someone will die.
The droplets track into the living room, which is tossed. The television on the wall is shattered, lamps and tables overturned. More blood streaks across the wall where the drywall is cracked.
The only thing that remains intact are the security monitors.
There’s a trail of papers leading to the media room. Someone has tampered with all the computers and equipment.
Rowan has no clue how to work any of this except for the laptop.
Something shiny catches my eye, and I ease over to inspect. Rowan’s birthstone ring loops over a small Swiss army knife.
My chest seizes and body hums as the realization washes over me.
This is Talon’s knife.
He keeps it on him at all times.
Talon was here.
I left him at Hayes Security two hours ago. He’s on shift tonight.
Something had to have brought him home.
I retrace my steps out of the room, gun raised, and search the rest of the house. Nothing else is out of place, but Talon’s truck is gone.
Think, Whitman…
I comb through my brain, coming up with different scenarios. What the fuck is going on?
Rowan was definitely here with Talon. There was a fight…
Fuck me!
I race to the back yard, the motion lights flooding the area.
A body lies a few feet from the door. The man is beaten and bloody but still breathing. I scan the pool, relieved no bodies are floating.
Something pink lies under the man’s thigh.
Rowan’s beanie.
She was wearing it when she left this morning.
“Where the fuck are they?” I scream at the unconscious man.
Both their phones go to voicemail without ringing.
I run back to the laptop, pulling up the security system footage.
