Page 15 of Hold Your Breath

The two men moved toward the office and, as she reached the door, she overheard Rob ask, “Any luck here?”

“Not yet. No one in Field County matching his description—well, the neck-down description—was reported missing between last October and January. I even stretched it a couple of months and checked August and September. I’m working my way through the missing-person reports from the entire state, but that’s going to take me a while.”

“Okay. Keep on it. We’ve got no way to identify the victim right now, even though the state’s dive team is pulling up a ton of shit out of the water that they’re calling ‘potential evidence.’ I’ll…” He went silent for a second before raising his voice. “Did you need something else, Lou?”

“No.” She sent him a sunny smile over her shoulder. “I’m good for now. Thanks!”

Knowing she couldn’t stall and listen any longer, she pushed open the door and stepped out into the frigid wind.

* * *

Lou’s shift at The Coffee Spot had just started when Callum shoved open the glass door, sending the attached sleigh bells swinging. She grimaced. When she’d first started working at the coffee shop, she’d enjoyed the Christmassy sound. Now, however, familiarity had definitely bred contempt.

“What’s that look?” Callum asked a little snappishly as he approached the counter.

“Those bells. I want to rip them off and hurl them into the street for a semi to squash.”

“Oh.” He blinked. “I figured it was me.”

Lou looked back and forth between the bells and the man, pretending to consider. “Nope,” she finally said. “The bells are more annoying.”

Instead of his usual glare, he just ignored her. He must have been in a good mood.

“Coffee?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He scowled at the menu, written on an oversized whiteboard and pinned high on the wall behind Lou. “Just black coffee. None of the fancy, sugary stuff.”

“Got it.” Grabbing the travel mug he held out to her, she headed for the pot of plain house brew. “Manlycoffee.”

Callum eyed her as if checking for sarcasm. She wasn’t sure why he bothered. With her, sarcasm was guaranteed, a free bonus to go with his caffeine fix. “Did you talk to the sheriff about your tires?”

“Yep.” She handed him his filled mug as he passed her a five dollar bill. After she gave him his change, he tucked everything she’d returned to him in the tip jar. Lou bit back a pleased smile. “Thanks. I went in first thing this morning, as a matter of fact. Well, second thing. I picked up a spare and the first stabbed tire beforehand. The sheriff wasn’t there, though—not until I was leaving, at least. I talked to one of the deputies.”

“Chris Jennings?”

“That’s the one.” She grabbed a wet cloth to wipe the counters. They were already clean, but Lou needed something to look at besides Callum…especially with Deputy Chris’s comments running on repeat in her brain. “He was really thorough. I thought they’d blow me off, especially with a murderer running around, but he seemed to take it seriously.”

“Huh.” As he took a sip of coffee, he watched her over the top of his mug. “I bet he did.”

That brought her head up. “Why?”

He was quiet for a moment and then said, “He’s a…thorough guy.”

That did nothing to appease her curiosity. She tossed the cloth into the sink. “What’s that mean? Don’t you like him?”

“He’s fine.” Callum sliced his hand through the air as if to physically end that detour. “Did he have any ideas about who might be doing it?”

“No.” Leaning on the counter, she twisted the tip jar in circles until he stopped her with a big hand over hers. “I couldn’t think of anyone who didn’t like me.”

“Hmm.”

“That’s what Chris said.” His hand was still over hers. Heat was creeping up her arm from where his palm covered her fingers, and she knew a blush was imminent.Thanks, Chris.Now she was the one who was befuddled.

“What’d he say?” he asked, seeming unaffected.

“Hmm.”

“That’s not helpful.”