Page 86 of Capturing You

Why would someone involved alert him? But if they weren’t involved, then how did they know? And why him? Why not tell the police?

Brooklynn stood and stretched, gazing out at the ocean. “It feels so good to be outside.”

Standing quickly, he touched her arm. “Don’t go to the railing.”

“I know.” She glanced up at him, her voice gentle. “Thank you for this. I didn’t realize how much I needed it.”

“No problem.”

Her smile was shy. “You went to a lot of trouble for my sake, and it means a lot.”

He wasn’t sure what to say to that.

“Did you request old police files?” she asked. At his nod, she turned back toward the view. “Maybe someone in the records office told someone.” She tilted her head to the side. “Ian Prescott would have known, or his secretary, but she’s in her seventies and a strong believer. She’s been teaching Bible study at my church as long as I can remember. I can’t imagine her being involved in anything nefarious.”

“What about the mayor?”

“He seems like a good guy, but he’s a politician, so…” Brooklynn shrugged. “How would I know?”

“More likely it was someone at the police department. That’s where I made the records request.”

“Is that why you don’t trust them?”

“It’s one reason.” The bigger reason was that none of them had found out who’d killed his family. And…he’d always had the sense that one of them had worked with The Network, though he couldn’t explain why he believed that.

So many of his memories surrounding the murders were murky, so he had to trust his instincts.

“Truth is,” he said, “I have very few definitive answers at this point.”

“But you must have theories.”

“Nothing that’s panned out.”

Brooklynn wandered to the wall and leaned against it, her gaze on the horizon. He stayed beside her, just in case she forgot and stepped forward. They couldn’t see the shore from where they stood, just the dark water and the blue sky.

He needed to tell her the truth. Not that the truth would offer much more information. He didn’t know who’d tipped him off about The Network. He didn’t know who’d been involved back then, nor who was involved now. Though he’d been looking for answers for weeks, he knew little more than he’d known when he arrived here.

It was frustrating beyond belief. It was even more frustrating to not know who’d tipped him off. Was it someone who wanted to help?

Or someone who wanted to expose him?

He’d worried that was the case, but after staying in the house for weeks, he no longer thought that. If he’d been lured here by murderers, they’d have killed him by now. He’d come face-to-face with Network members, and he was still alive, so he doubted the note had been sent by enemies.

Besides, if enemies knew who he was, then they could’ve taken him out from his Boston home.

Grandmother had been careful to leave no trail after she’d legally changed Forbes’s name.

But somebody knew who he was.

Grandmother was still sharp, but a nurse at her retirement home had told him she’d had a few memory lapses. Had she told someone?

He couldn’t imagine her sharing a secret she’d kept for so long. And even if she had, how would the information have gotten to the person who sent him the anonymous tip?

The package he’d received had included photos of the house and the inlet, along with a typed note that read simply,They’re back. Don’t miss your chance for justice.

Forbes had craved answers since he was eight years old, but he hadn’t even known where to start.

Finally, he had an opportunity to bring his family’s murderers to justice—and the strength to come back to this house and face all its ghosts.