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The well house was empty, save for the usual stuff—rakes, hoes, et cetera. Most of those yard implements had been in there for decades. No one had really done any gardening around here after her mother died. Maybe she would give it a try this spring.

Entering her mother’s potting shed was like walking into a tomb. No one besides her or Eve ever came in here. Every single thing inside was far too precious ... held too many painful memories.

Vera cast the flashlight’s beam around, as she had in the well house, until she was satisfied that nothing had been disturbed.

Then on to the barn. She shivered. Damn. She wished again that she had worn her coat. Her cell vibrated, and she dug for it. Probably Bent, or maybe Eve or Luna.

Eric.

Surprise shot through her, putting Vera on alert. “Eric, hello.”

“Vera.” He made a sound, something like a sigh. “You were going to call me back.”

Damn, she’d promised to call him back with any updates when they’d talked this morning. She’d forgotten. “We found a second message.” Her shoulders sagged. “It’s the same MO as the Messenger, but like you said ... he’s in prison.”

All those other thoughts and possibilities she’d been going over and over would have to wait. She was not up to all that tonight.

A moment of silence. Well damn. Now he was disappointed in her.

“We both know,” he said finally, “prisoners reach out from behind bars all the time. The questions are, Does he intend to do more than attempt to rattle you, and Why now?”

His words set her off. Had fury rising inside her like smoke billowing from a raging fire. She hadn’t wanted to talk about this, but now she had no choice. “If this is his doing, the only thing he did was piss me off.”

Dr. Palmer Solomon was an arrogant bastard, rightly enough. She wouldn’t be surprised at anything he did. In her opinion, the timing was the big mystery here.

“I’ll talk to the warden. Get some sense of who visits him—if anyone. And I’ll look into the possibility of him getting messages out.”

“I appreciate that, Eric.” She forced herself to calm down as she paused at the front of the barn, roved the beam of light over it. “I should go. It’s been a long day.”

“Understood. Just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Thanks. You’re a good friend.”

“Always.”

The call ended, and Vera shook off the old feelings of regret that always came when she interacted with Eric. Before she had the phone back in her pocket, it vibrated again.

“What now?” She shouldn’t have asked ...Remington.“Hello, Mr. Remington.” Vera glanced back at the deputy waiting a few yards away, squinted at the beam from his flashlight.

“Ms. Boyett, please tell me you have news about Nolan. I’m barely holding on to my sanity here.”

Vera tucked the flashlight under her arm and reached for the barn doors. “Well, we don’t have anything new on his whereabouts, but we’re hoping to have more soon.”

No way was she talking to him about the person they suspected had taken Nolan. She’d leave that up to Bent’s discretion. At some point there would have to be a press conference. As for what Elizabeth had done, Nolan could tell his boyfriend about that—assuming he lived through this nightmare. Then again, if the story leaked to the media, he would hear about it.

Not dealing with that tonight.

Vera walked through the doors, grabbed the light from under her arm, and shined the beam around the space.

“Just please call me as soon as you know anything at all,” Remington pleaded.

“I will. You have ...” Vera’s light hit something pale. She moved the beam over that space again.

Flesh ... human. Naked backside of a body. Dark hair.

Adrenaline charged through her. “Mr. Remington, I’ll have to call you back.” She ended the call, shoved the phone into her back pocket. “Deputy!”

Olson moved up next to her. “Holy shit,” he muttered.