Page 27 of The Creekside Murder (Pacific Northwest Forensics #1)
“I’m sorry, Jessica. I think you need to back away for a while.”
“You’re probably right, and Michael just extended my involuntary vacation, but I can’t help thinking I’m the only one who can crack this.
The Kitsap Killer is reaching out to me for some reason—whether or not he killed Tiffany.
He’s taking risks by contacting me. He left his comfort zone by murdering Ashley. He’s going to make a mistake.”
“If he does, Detective Morse will catch it. Let the police handle this. If you had shown up at Ashley’s while he was there—” Finn shook his head “—he’s already shown he’s willing to hurt you to protect himself.”
“I know you’re right. You’re all right. I’m going to give it a rest tonight and email the PI about my brother instead. She must’ve thought I lost interest.”
The food arrived, and Jessica busied herself with tossing dressing into her crab salad and asking for another glass of wine. At least her appetite had returned, and she’d lost the haunted look around her eyes.
She even stole some fries from his plate, and he pretended to object.
As they finished their meal, Finn checked his phone. He still had grading to finish and online classes to plan.
Holding up his phone, he said, “We should’ve stopped before dinner to pick up a new phone for you. Everything will be closed now.”
“I think I’m good.” She drained the dregs of her second wineglass. “Deputy Harris indicated I could have mine back as early as tomorrow.”
“Did they find out anything about the phone that texted you?”
“They were able to track the texts to one temp phone purchased in Los Angeles and another purchased in St. Louis, but they haven’t gotten any further than that. The text messages I received were from two different phones, and he probably has another.”
“And he most likely didn’t buy them himself.” Finn tossed his napkin on the table.
“Anyway, they have all the info from my phone that they need, so I’ll probably get mine back tomorrow.”
“Are you going to be okay at the hotel on your own tonight?” He crossed his arms and leaned on the table. “I hate to abandon you, but I have to finish my grading and set up my classes for the week, which are all online now. The president of Kitsap College sent out the message today.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m going to email Celine, my PI, and watch some TV. I’m officially on vacation.”
“Yeah, you were officially on vacation today, too.” He tipped his head at the waitress to get her attention. “And you probably shouldn’t pick up your car tonight after those two glasses of wine.”
“I was just thinking the same thing, not that I could pick it up anyway. Who knows how much longer the sheriff’s deputies are going to be at Ashley’s.”
“How are they supposed to contact you if they need to?” He pulled a credit card from his wallet and handed it to the waitress as she approached with the bill.
“I’m not in the middle of the wilderness. I do have a telephone in my room. I gave them my hotel. If they want to find me, they will. They’re cops.”
Once Finn settled the bill, he drove Jessica to her hotel and walked her all the way up to her room. He even stood outside her door until he heard the lock.
It’s not that he didn’t trust her to stay put. He didn’t trust the Kitsap Killer. For whatever reason, this maniac had put a target on Jessica’s back—and he was ready to hit the bull’s-eye.
* * *
T HOSE TWO GLASSES of wine had hit the spot. Jessica’s neck and jaw didn’t feel so tight, and her mind had stopped clicking. She pulled off her boots, gathered her hair in a ponytail, brushed her teeth and splashed some water on her face.
She studied her face in the mirror. Finn had been diplomatic. She looked a lot worse than tired and frazzled. She’d become Fairwood’s pariah. She just couldn’t shake the stench of death surrounding her.
She unplugged her laptop and carried it with her to the bed. She ran her hand over the smooth pillow beside her. Housekeeping had changed her bedding today and with that, swept away any traces of Finn’s scent from the pillow.
Her attraction to him remained strong, despite all the turmoil in their lives—her life. He’d been there for her through every disaster—and it had required no manipulation from her. He wanted to be with her, to protect her.
That had been a hard concept for her, and Tiffany, to understand.
Mom had used every tool of manipulation in the book to ensnare men, but they never stuck around.
Jessica had never even met her father. He’d wanted nothing to do with Mom—or her.
Tiffany’s father had died before Tiffany tracked him down.
Her father might not want any contact with her, but apparently her brother had shown some interest. She flipped open her laptop and accessed her email. She vowed to stay off the cold case crimes website…for now.
She double-clicked on Celine’s email. Seems her brother was skittish after hearing bad things about his family but might be interested in meeting her—and his other sister.
Celine explained that she hadn’t thought it was her place to tell him his other sister was dead.
What a way to start off a new family relationship.
She dragged the hotel phone onto the bed and called Celine’s number.
“Celine Jerome, private investigations.”
“Hi, Celine. This is Jessica Eller. I got your email.”
“It’s about time, girl. I sent that a few days ago, and I’ve been trying to call you on your cell phone.”
“I know, sorry. I’ve been busy…with work, and my phone isn’t working.”
“Understood.” Celine shuffled some papers. “Good news is, I found your half brother, and he lives in Seattle, believe it or not. The bad news is, he’s not absolutely sure he wants to establish contact. He’s happy, he’s settled.”
“Wow, Seattle. I may have already met him in some capacity. I get that he might be leery.” Jessica twisted her ponytail around her hand. “And I haven’t even gotten to the part where his other half sister was murdered. Once I tell him that, he may just go running for the hills.”
“He might. I know you’ve been anxious to meet him, but I wanted to check with you before giving him your contact info. He wants to be the one to make the first move.”
“That’s fine. I do want to meet him. In fact, I’d welcome the distraction about now.
I’m not going to have my cell phone back and working until sometime tomorrow, but you can give him my cell number and my email address.
Give him my work email, too. He might feel more comfortable if he sees I work for the Washington State Patrol. H-how does he sound?”
“Haven’t spoken to him, and he doesn’t want me to tell you his name, but our text exchanges have been good—no anger or outrage that you hired a PI to track him down. Seems cool.”
“Great. I could use some cool right now. Go ahead and give him my details and tell him to reach out any time. And thank you so much, Celine. Send me your final bill.”
“Don’t thank me yet. He might decide to forgo the relationship. Like I said…jumpy.”
“That wouldn’t be your fault. I’m sure you told him what a spectacular person I am.”
Celine chuckled. “I didn’t, but you are. Take care.”
When Jessica ended the call, she placed the receiver in the cradle. Celine’s tone had changed at the end. Had Celine already read about her issues here in Fairwood? Once her half brother knew about those, he really wouldn’t want to have a relationship with her.
As she put the phone back on the nightstand, a fire alarm in the form of unremitting beeps filled the room. Jessica jumped from the bed and poked her head into the hallway. One door opened at the end, and Jessica shouted “Is this for real?”
The woman yelled back, “Not taking any chances.”
Sighing, Jessica shoved her feet into her boots and zipped them up. She sniffed the air. She didn’t smell any smoke, so she left her laptop, grabbed her purse and a jacket, and left her room.
She passed the elevator and pushed open the door to the stairs. As the woman down the hall had said, why take any chances. Luckily, no high-rise buildings were allowed in Fairwood, including hotels, so she had just three flights of stairs to navigate.
At the bottom, she shoved open the fire door that opened onto a side parking lot and sucked in the cool air. She ambled around to the front of the building. Other hotel guests and employees were scattered around the front of the building.
She spied the front desk clerk and made a beeline toward him. She didn’t even have to ask her question, as he addressed a small clutch of people vying for his attention.
Raising his hands, he said, “I don’t know if there’s actually a fire in the hotel or not, but when the fire alarm goes off, everyone needs to evacuate and stay outside until the fire department comes, checks things out and gives us the all-clear signal.
I’m sorry for the inconvenience. There are a few restaurants down the road still open, and you’re welcome to enjoy our beautiful dock on the bay while you wait. ”
The sun had already set, but Jessica had grabbed her jacket on the way out, so she hugged it around her body and crossed the road to the water.
She didn’t want to clomp all the way out to the dock, and she didn’t want to dangle her feet in the water again, so she clambered onto a pile of rocks that stood sentry on either side of the dock.
She brushed a layer of sand from the flat of one of the boulders and sat down. Closing her eyes, she focused on the sound of the water lapping against the wooden pilings of the dock.
Sand scuffled behind her, and she whipped her head around, almost colliding with a man’s leg. When she opened her mouth to scream, he fell against her back and clamped a rough hand over her mouth.