Page 36 of Skin Game
Eagan’s dimple made another brief appearance, then she opened the file folder she’d carried into the room with her. Inside was a photograph. Gabe’s stomach clenched; he did not want to look at it.
Eagan pushed it toward him. “Is this the same person? She was found on one of the beaches on the north end of the island. We don’t think that’s where she was killed though. The currents around the island probably carried her there, and we think that coat she was wearing maybe gave her some buoyancy.”
That made sense. The north end of Heartstone was too busy, what with RV campers set up there all year long. Too many possible witnesses.
“Yes, that’s her,” Gabe confirmed, wishing it wasn’t. People young enough to fake being his kid were too young to be dead.
“Are you certain you don’t recognize her from somewhere else? She doesn’t look familiar to you at all?”
Gabe shook his head. “I only recognize her as the person on my doorstep Monday morning. I had never seen her before then,and I don’t know who she is. As I stated, she gave me the name Juliet Carter. I think it’s likely to be false though.”
He stared at the photo, refusing to let himself look away. Her eyes were open, staring at nothing, her face was deathly white, and her lips a grayish hue. The collar of the blue Columbia jacket she’d been wearing Monday was visible at the bottom of the photo. Her long hair was obviously wet and obscured the lower part of her face. Seawater had washed away any blood, but the wound that had ended her life was clear to see. Someone had hit her on the left side of her head, hard enough to leave a dent.
Gabe pointed at the damaged area of her skull. “That wasn’t an accident, was it.” He doubted that Juliet had abruptly decided that March was the perfect weather for a swim, fully clothed.
He wasn’t really asking a question, but Eagan answered him anyway.
“No. The coroner thinks she either hit or was hit by a blunt object. Is there anything else you can tell me about her visit? Anything that might help us find out who she is?”
“Her showing up was out of left field. You could’ve knocked me over with a feather.” Damn, Gabe was spending too much time with Elton. He was starting to sound like an old man.
Gabe shook his head and forced himself to refocus. “I told her to come back when, and if, she had evidence that wasn’t obviously manipulated. I said I’d take a real DNA test, but she didn’t want that. I did get the impression she was nervous. At the time, I thought it was because she’d shown up uninvited and I wasn’t giving her the response she thought she’d get, but maybe it was something else. That’s all I know. She was only at my place ten or fifteen minutes.”
They were both quiet for a moment. An analog clock hanging on the wall ticked, filling the silence. Gabe looked down at the photo again, realizing he was angry. Not angry with Eagan or the sheriff’s department, but with the person who had prematurely ended this young woman’s life.
Why kill her? What had she done that was so terrible that another person thought she deserved to die?
Maybe she hadn’tdoneanything. Maybe it was something she’d known. Or maybe none of the above.
Eagan’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Do you have anything else you’d like to share with me? Anything that might point investigators in the right direction?”
Gabe could think of a few things that could be pertinent, but none of which he wanted to share with the deputy on the record. He nodded at the recorder. After a moment’s thought, Eagan reached across the table and pressed the Stop button. Then she leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest.
“This better be good. I’m waiting.”
Gabe stared back at her, debating how much he could reveal about himself, his life, and his mother. Fuck, he had no idea, so he just began talking.
“As you may suspect, I haven’t lived a conventional life. And neither did my mother. ‘Family tradition’ was the most she ever said about it. The con was in our blood. Until this week—and it’s only fucking Wednesday—I had no idea that my mother actually grew up around here. She was incredibly secretive.” He indicated the photo of the dead person. “Is it odd that she showed up around the same time I learned this? Yes, it is. But the timing is such that I don’t know how she could have been aware of Heidi’s Westfort connection, unless I’m the last one to learn.” He wrinkled his nose and added, “Which is a distinct possibility.”
There is no such thing as coincidence, Chance.
“Keep talking.”
“Honestly, I just don’t get it. Why show up with bogus evidence claiming I’m her father? What would anyone have to gain from that?” He shook his head. It didn’t track. “All my mother left me was a now burned-out sailboat and a weird-ass chair. Have I told you this has been a wacky week? Started with a fight with hedge and has only gotten stranger.”
Gabe shifted in his chair, meeting Eagan’s gaze straight on. “Moving right along, there are many people I’ve made angry.” Gabe leaned toward the deputy now. “The people who feel Imayhave wronged them aren’t the type to go after someone else to get to me. If they knew where I was, they would come straight here, no stopping at Go.”
“Dothese mysterious people know where you are?”
“Possibly. But the ones most invested in getting even are behind bars now.” Something Gabe was infinitely grateful for.
“Are you currently involved in something that might have led to this person’s murder?”
Gabe sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Dirty Socks Randy came to mind, but he dismissed him. The retrieval gig had been on his radar for a while, and he just didn’t see a connection between Dirty Socks and the baby grifter.
“I don’t think I am. I just can’t see how it’s possible that her death is connected to me, but I could be wrong. I’m dealing with my late mother’s estate. Did my mother operate on the grayer side of the law?” He waggled his head side to side, acknowledging the whiff of probability. “But she’s dead now, and I doubt even Heidi Karne could reach from beyond the grave to kill a girl she never met in her life. I can’t speak for the people that Heidi may have wronged, but I seriously doubt they waited this long and then killed someone she had nothing to do with.”
“Someone killed this young woman.” Eagan pointed at the photo. “And, unfortunately for you, the only name we have is yours.”