Page 27

CHAPTER 27

Back at the hotel, we ordered two bottles of wine and some sandwiches, then took turns in the shower, sliding into the luxurious robes we’d purchased from the spa in North Carolina. The wine-and-dine arrived, and Maddie poured each of us a full glass of pinot grigio before settling cross-legged on the bed, same as me. While she’d been taking her shower, I’d opened my laptop and begun to type all the data points from everything we’d learned today.

But now, I set the laptop aside and took the glass of wine. We clinked glasses but said no toast or any words at all. We just sat there soaking in the quiet of the space, me trying to clear the noise in my mind.

Deep breaths, Sloane …

As always was the case when I was trying to enjoy a moment of peace, my cell phone rang. It was Andi.

“Did you go see Dr. Beetle?” she asked.

“Hang on just a second, okay?”

I shot a glance at Maddie, covered the phone, and whispered, “I’m not sure how much to say to Andi yet. We haven’t had two minutes to breathe.”

With a flick of her fingers, Maddie whispered back, “Just tell her that.”

I nodded, then said into the phone, “Yes, we did see her?—”

“And …?”

“We learned a lot, but to be honest, it’s been a long day, and I’m resting for the evening—” which was a lie “—but we’ll be back at it in the morning.”

“You promised to keep me in the loop, remember?”

“I do. Why don’t you go get some rest too, and we’ll talk to you and your dad again tomorrow?”

Given Andi had always been a bulldog for information, I wanted to make it clear that her father would be included in all discussions.

She huffed an irritated, “Okayyy, fine. Y’all take care, then. Talk to ya tomorrow.”

I hung up, sipped my wine, and wiggled the glass in Maddie’s direction.

“I’m on it,” she said and reached behind her to the nightstand, where she’d placed the bottles of wine and the food. She grabbed the open one and refilled both glasses.

As she handed mine to me, she said, “Did you mean what you said about resting for the night?”

“Of course not. We’re so close to finding this guy. It’s all I can think about.”

She reached for our sandwiches, two fried green tomato BLTs, not the healthiest choice, but they looked delicious.

She handed me my sandwich, and I took it, unwrapped it, and dove in.

“Not bad at all,” I said, then took another big bite. “Cade would be all over these big slabs of bacon.”

As I said his name, I felt a stab of guilt about not calling him yet.

I needed to check in sooner than later.

“It’s divine,” Maddie said, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

I set the remnants of my sandwich aside and pulled my laptop back out. “Let’s start at the top.”

And we did.

We bounced facts back and forth, things we knew for sure. Our review of What We Know didn’t take a lot of time, but the list was lengthy and twisty. I entitled another document the What We Need to Know list—things we needed to further explore.

The high priority point of What We Need to Know involved going back through all my cases and seeing if something jumped out. But we decided to tackle the easier-to-attain second and third items: whether a note had been found on or near Iggy and whether there were any other crimes in the FBI database with similar threatening messages.

Maddie called Iggy, which she’d been wanting to do anyway, and I called Kat.

“I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon,” Kat said after just one ring. “Always a pleasure. Listen, I know something’s going on. As vague as you were during our last conversation, I could sense something’s brewing. Talk to me.”

I blew out a loud sigh, inhaled, and let loose. “I feel bad even calling, with everything that has happened to you, but if you’re up to it, I could use your help. It won’t take long, promise.”

“Don’t even think twice. What can I do?”

Even in her state of flux, she was here for us. And she knew we’d do the same for her. We’d been through two major cases together, me as a private investigator, Maddie as medical examiner, and Kat as detective. Once in Tarpon Springs, Florida, where we solved the murder of Maddie’s sister. And the other just outside of Chattanooga, where we’d really established our connection as sister investigators, putting a murderous hair stylist behind bars.

“Right, so … I need you to check your databases for other crimes out there that might involve threatening notes with these specifics—” I shared the details of our notes, size, smell, words “—I don’t want to come off as taking advantage of our relationship, your contacts. I hope you know how much I respect?—”

“Stop, Sloane. I’m glad you called. Tell me everything.”

Before I knew it, I’d shared the entire list of What We Know and other tidbits of our latest escapade.

Trying to stop a whack-job from killing people I cared about … and me.

“That’s big, Sloane. Why didn’t you tell me when I called while you were on the road to Savannah? Now I feel bad for monopolizing the entire conversation with my situation.”

“You needed to talk, and I needed to listen. In a way, we’re on a similar path right now, though they’re not the same.”

Still on the phone with Iggy, Maddie cocked an eyebrow in my direction.

There was a moment of silence, then Kat spoke up. “It gets to you, this business.”

“It sure does. Makes me think twice about sticking with it sometimes.”

“Your situation is open ended,” she said. “You have to work this through before you can make any major decisions about hanging up your days as a private eye.”

I hadn’t gone all the way down the retirement road yet, but I could admit, this series of tragedies—as a result of my investigative work—gave me the willies. I’d heard of cases coming back on detectives, but it was not something I’d ever worried about. Isn’t gonna happen to me syndrome. And now, I wasn’t even sure it was something I could deal with, but Kat had picked up on it.

I diverted, saying, “Are you okay to check the databases?”

“I will, and I’ll get right back to you.”

I thanked her, threw my phone on the bed, and rubbed my temples. When I looked up, Maddie was eyeballing me.

“Did Iggy have a note?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “But I’m sooo glad to hear you’re taking this serious enough to consider total retirement. It’s the life, trust me.”

“I’m not considering it right now,” I said, then added, “Kat will get back with me about any other similar crimes. How’s Iggy doing?”

“He’ll be out in another day or two, he thinks, then back to California. He sounds great, and I freaking miss him! Maybe I’ll hitch a ride with you to New Orleans, depending on how long it takes us to solve the crime spree at hand.”

“I’d love that,” I said, and I meant it. It was one of the few times I’d seen Maddie’s heart open up and stay that way—on one man. Besides that, I knew seeing Henry again was going to be a soul-ripper, and Maddie had a way of revealing the light, even in the darkest of times. It sounded selfish, but sometimes it was nice to lean on someone. Cade, Maddie … my people. I wasn’t that good at leaning, but I was working on it.

Maddie went on and on about Iggy, his wounds, his band, his upcoming gigs, and I set my investigator’s brain on pause so I could give her my full attention.

And I did.

Until my phone buzzed with a text.

It was Kat: Nothing popped up. Not even a little bit similar. Maybe other parameters you could provide?

I responded with: We’re good. Thanks for checking.

Stay in touch , she replied . I’ll keep thinking on everything you told me. Takes my mind off everything else.

Focus on you , I typed. We’ve got this.

I glanced at Maddie. “Kat found nothing similar. Could be a good thing, or he could have just changed his MO. I feel like calling every person in my universe in the last twenty years to see if they’re okay.”

Maddie laughed. “We can’t do that, but we could run through your caseload, say in the last five years or so.”

“But I’ve been doing this, what … twenty plus years now?”

“I say we start with a smaller circle. If nothing gives, we’ll expand it.”

And so we worked on this number-one item in our What We Need to Know list—if any of my cases reflected on the current state of affairs.

But nothing jumped out.

And that covered a lot of cases.

Discouraged, I said, “We gotta go back a few more years, I guess.”

“Right,” Maddie said, gulping down her second glass and pouring herself another. I was still working on my second glass, but she refilled me anyway. “So, we’ll go all the way back … to the beginning.”

What a trip that would be.

The process was easy for me. I never forgot a case. Year after year after year. Maybe not every detail, but every investigation.

I’d discussed my past cases for a while, and then Maddie lifted a finger, stopping at a case Cade, she, and I had worked on together. It was back in Jackson Hole, and it was where Cade and I had first met.

“Human trafficking,” I murmured.

“Yes. Do you think …?”

“I don’t know. It was a long, long time ago.” I shook my head, clearing the cobwebs from my memories. “There were two girls. Olivia and Savannah. Both kidnapped.”

“So crazy that one of the girls is named Savannah, and we’re in Savannah. It’s almost like she’s calling to us now.”

I ignored Maddie’s tendency to delve into the spiritual side of things.

“But we caught the guy, rescued the girls. They’re safe. Everyone’s moved on.”

“Do you know that for sure, though?” she asked.

She had a point.

I didn’t know for sure.

I hadn’t checked on them, but that wasn’t unusual. I didn’t typically follow up on the aftermath of a closed investigation. A new case always came up, and I focused on the present, putting the past behind me.

This one, though … it meant something more. In part because of the heightened aspect of the kidnapped girls.

“I have all the contact info on all my cases on a spreadsheet.”

“Perfect.”

I entered their information into the search bar and found the file of contacts, narrowing it down to the people I needed to call, then turned toward Maddie. “What do you think? Should I call?”

“You should,” Maddie said. “Right now.”