Page 62 of Savior
“We’ve never had anything like this in Nassau,” he says as we pull down the long, winding drive that leads to Aunt Diane’s.
“That bad?” My perception of “bad” probably differs from his, but I keep that to myself.
“Worse,” he says cryptically. “If he continues, and if it’s the same person who attacked those women in Miami, then it’s not going to get better any time soon.” He nods to the flashing lights and media vans already on the scene. A crowd of people is clustered all the way from the back door to the road. Vehicles whip by, but the pedestrians are too busy straining to catch a glimpse that they don’t even notice how close they are to becoming a spectacle themselves.
As we climb out of the cruiser, a pair of techs in white lab coats emerge from the front door of the bed and breakfast with a black body bag on top of a stretcher. Inside, the body shifts and sways as the wheels catch on ruts in the ground. The crowd emits a collective gasp, and I frown, wishing for a mint to wash away the taste of bile rising to the back of my throat.
As many times as I’ve seen death, it never gets any easier.
A tech nods at Colson. “Helluva Saturday morning, sir,” he says. “Blackwell,” he says to me.
I pass him on the way up the stairs and jerk my head in greeting. Already I can hear wails coming from inside, and by the time the screen door clangs shut behind me, I’ve already forgotten what the tech looks like. All I can think about is getting to my family, to Sienna.
Aunt Diane and Grandma Rose huddle together on the couch. Two uniformed officers stand close by. Sienna stands behind the couch, her face leached of all color and her eyes glazed over.
Aunt Diane glances up as soon as I enter, her shoulders sagging with relief. “Logan.” She gets to her feet and crosses the room to my side. “It’s so awful. So awful. She was such a nice woman.”
“We’ll take care of it, Aunt Diane.” I tuck her under my chin and realize, not for the first time, how small she seems.
“I know you will.”
The other officers nod to me and, spotting Colson behind me, take him in another room to talk. With the room to ourselves, I bring Aunt Diane back to the couch. “Have the officers taken your statements?”
Aunt Diane takes Grandma Rose’s hands between her own. “Yes, they’ve taken ours. Sienna hasn’t given her yet, she was next before you came.”
Sienna doesn’t look when Aunt Diane says her name. “I’m going to call my friend Ben and have his mom take you to her house until we can get everything taken care of here, okay?”
“Oh, dear,” Grandma Rose mutters. “What about the other guests? This is just so awful.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as we’ve finished up here, and we’ll direct the guests to another location for the time being. Why don’t you get what you need for the night, and I’ll give Ben’s mom a call, okay?”
Aunt Diane puts a hand to my arm and squeezes. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
After I kiss her forehead, they head down the hallway to the first floor bedrooms, leaving me alone with Sienna, who blinks a few times and then visibly trembles as she realizes everyone else has gone. Her throat bobs with a swallow, and she wraps her arms around herself. Her wariness is understandable, but the fear in her eyes when she looks at me is not.
“Do you want to sit down?”
Her throat convulses again and her eyes flit around the room before coming back to me. “No, I’m fine.”
“Honey, you look like you’re about to drop. Sit down before you fall down.”
She nods but doesn’t move, and that’s when I know she’s definitely in shock. I end up guiding her by the elbow and then leaving her for only a minute to grab her some water.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” I ask after she takes a couple sips. Then, without looking at me a single time, she tells me about her morning and how she came to find Lena.
“She was a baker,” she says absently. “Did they tell you that?” I don’t speak because I know the question was rhetorical. “She told me all about how she started her own bakery after this horrible apprenticeship under the most awful man. They got engaged recently.” Her voice breaks. “She was going to marry him. Someone needs to call him,” she says faintly. “He needs to know.”
“We’ll find him,” I tell her, pulling her close so she can rest her head on my shoulder.
“I thought it was over,” she says, her voice watery. “I really did. I was so happy.”
“I know you were,” I say into her hair. “I know.”
Her spine stiffens, and she jerks up. “We have to find him. We have to stop him.” Her eyes round and she brings a hand to her lips. “What if he goes after Livvie next. Or Sofie. God, Logan, this is all my fault.”
I turn her head so she’s looking at me. When her eyes clear and she focuses in on me, I say, “This is not your fault.”
“When my sister—”