Page 31 of Our Daughter's Bones

“Mack?” Nick stood in a grey T-shirt and black pajamas. His hair was standing in all directions, as though he had been electrocuted. His thick eyebrows were pulled in a knot. “C-come in.”

“Thanks,” she muttered, and followed him inside.

Sneakily, she looked around the house where she had spent countless nights drinking wine, playing darts, and dissecting cases. She wondered if anything had changed. But it had only been a few weeks.

His house was still brown, leathery, and woodsy.

He gestured for her to sit on the couch. She noted the stain from the time she’d spilled red wine after laughing too hard. She sat away from it. Silence hung between them—heavy and imposing. The air was cinched with palpable tension. She was afraid to move too much or talk too loud.

He rubbed his hands together and bit his lip. “Just surprised to see you.”

“Yes. I mean… I thought…” She struggled for words. Instead, she sighed and pulled out the gift from her bag. “Cookies. For Luna’s birthday tomorrow.”

He took it slowly. “You remembered. She really wanted your cookies for her birthday this year.”

“I know.”

She didn’t even take her bag off her shoulder. She sat straight and rigid and ready to dash, her hand coiled around the strap, pulling it tight.

“They’re chocolate-chunk ginger.”

He grinned. “She’ll love them.”

“Right.” She looked at the framed picture perched on the end table. Luna was dressed as Wonder Woman. She stood with her chubby hands on her hips, her stance wide. Her smile was naughty and her front two teeth missing. Mackenzie had taken it last year at Halloween. “Where is she?”

“At her mother’s. Shelly will bring her over tomorrow morning.”

“Oh. I didn’t know.”

She saw the door to his study was ajar. It was the room Nick retreated to when working on a case. He had a wall-sized board inside where he pinned pictures of the crime scene, evidence, suspects, witnesses, and victims. She referred to it as his “lair”—teasing that only serial killers had such rooms.

“How’s the investigation going?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Fine. Just struggling to understand the reports. After all these years, forensics still confuses me.”

“Have you looked into the people on the sex offender registry living here?”

Nick covered his mouth with his hands. His eyes looked amused.

“Were there signs of sexual assault?” She narrowed her eyes.

“Mad Mack,” he smiled. “Did you come here to poke around?”

“No. I came here to give Luna her gift. I should go.” She stood up.

Nick followed. “You don’t have to leave. Do you want juice or soda? Or did you finally start drinking coffee?”

“No, thank you.” She avoided his eyes and headed for the door.

It felt too easy to give in.

“Thanks!” he called out.

“I didn’t do it for you. I did it for her.” She didn’t wait for a response and shut the door behind her.

Shivers crawled up her chest as she sprinted back to her car. She yanked the door open, turned up the heat but didn’t drive. Finally, she burst.

Tears rolled down her chilly skin. She feltweak. Every wisp of air made her insides bleed.