Page 67 of Chain Reaction

“Morning,” Jake murmured, standing with a cup of coffee in his hands.

Just like last night, he seemed more aloof, though she had no idea why.

“Morning.” Then her gaze hit the kitchen table.

The ordnance from Emerald Isle sat on top.

“A deputy brought it by early this morning.” Jake followed her gaze. “I was awake, so I accepted the delivery.”

“That’s great news. I can’t wait to examine it more closely.”

“I thought you’d be happy to see that.”

She nodded at the coffee. “You make enough for me?”

“Of course. I’ve been called many things but not stupid.”

She let out a laugh, glad to see some of his humor had returned. He’d seemed so serious since they’d run into each other again. Back when they’d first met, they’d had great banter—something she’d loved.

Something she’d missed, if she were honest with herself.

She poured herself a cup, added the fixings, and then turned to the bomb. “Any other updates besides this one?”

“Not really.”

“What about the bomb at Blackout? Were you able to find any remains? I mean, I know that you personally weren’t able to, but . . .”

“They’ve uncovered a few things, and I’m having Atlas look at it. I’ll probably try to swing by later today so I can see it also.”

“Smart thinking.” She sat down by the bomb and leaned closer to examine the paint and metal. “Just looking at it with the naked eye, this looks a lot like the one Eleanor found. But I could only see one side of the device in the photo.”

“So the same person left it, just as we suspected.” Jake shifted toward her, still leaning against the wall with his cup of coffee in hand. “Apparently, this person has decided to make a hobby out of recreating bomb relics and leaving them on shores where people could think they washed up.”

“Sounds like a sick hobby, doesn’t it?” She raised her eyebrows and stole a glance at him.

He gave her a knowing look. “I agree.”

She squinted as she studied the device more closely. Something new caught her eye, something she hadn’t seen in the photo or in the remnant she’d found.

Jake stepped closer. “What is it?”

She grabbed a pen and pointed to an etching close to the tailfin on the ordnance. “Check this out.”

Jake leaned toward it for a better look. “What is that?”

“It almost looks like some kind of insignia.”

His eyes widened. “Do you think the person who left this was bold enough to mark their work with an insignia?”

She shrugged. “That’s what it seems like to me.”

“You ever seen that design before?”

“I sure haven’t.”

He grabbed his phone and took a photo of it. “Then we need to see what we can find.”

Finding that insignia gave Jake and Raven a fresh lead in their investigation.