Page 49 of The Hanging Dolls (Zoe Storm #1)

FORTY-EIGHT

Zoe noticed Aiden’s socks when the hem of his pants rode up a little. Minions. She decided he officially had her seal of approval. Who would have thought that the seemingly uptight psychologist liked to wear socks with cartoon characters? And the last few days had told her that he wasn’t as bad.

“What’s your favorite book?” Zoe asked with a smile.

He looked up at her. “When did I become the patient?”

“Pfff, we are almost friends now.” She waved her hand dismissively.

His shoulders sagged, a bright smile sparking on his face. A rare sight. “Let me think. Okay, well, not a book, but a play— Hamlet .”

“That was… overbearing.” She scrunched her nose. “Why?”

“The madness, the insanity, the doubt whether it was psychosis or manipulation. One of the greatest literary puzzles. Your turn.”

Zoe didn’t have to think for long. “ The Scarlet Letter .”

Something flickered across his face. His fingers holding the pen shook as his eyes did a calculation. “It’s an interesting study of how people approach redemption differently. Why do you like it? Because the reverend seeks pain to deal with his guilt?”

Her breath stopped. “What?”

“Is that what draws you to the book? Is that something you do as well?”

A slap to the face. A whiplash that sucked all the oxygen from her lungs. How did he know?

The parking lot of the run-down motel was nearly empty, just a few scattered cars and a flickering neon sign casting a dim, sickly light over the cracked pavement.

The air was thick with the dampness of the Pacific Northwest night, the scent of pine and rain lingering in the cool breeze.

Zoe and Aiden parked in a spot near the back, the headlights cutting through the mist before she killed the engine.

He had been trying to question her about Benny and she was dodging him. But she was getting tired. This is why she didn’t like working with a partner.

“Is that Scott?” Aiden said, squinting.

Scott was leaning against his car, arms crossed, his silhouette tense under the motel’s faint lights. Her heart skittered.

“Scott, where the hell have you been?” she asked, stepping out of the car. “I left you messages.”

Scott pushed off his car and met her halfway, his movements agitated. The gravel crunched beneath his boots as he closed the distance between them. “I know, I’m sorry. For everything. But I found something.”

He wasn’t supposed to be here, wasn’t supposed to be on this case at all, but there he was—riled up and impatient, the fire in his eyes unmistakable.

“You should be laying low. You’re off the case,” Aiden reminded him.

“I don’t care about that,” he shot back.

“You should!” Her eyes bulged. “Look, I’m so sorry for everything you’ve been through this last week with the pressure from this case and your toxic ex but you’re out of control. I have to agree with Travis and Aiden?—”

“I found a connection between Lily and Lucy. I couldn’t just sit on it.”

He brandished his phone and Zoe and Aiden were hooked. The answer to that one question that had been evading them since the beginning—it finally cracked and the truth was bursting through it.

The motel’s sign buzzed faintly. “All right,” she said, caving in to the urgency in him. “Tell me what you’ve got.”

He didn’t waste any time and showed them the pictures of medicinal bottles on his phone. “This is diuretic found in Lily’s room.”

“You went to Lily’s place?” She was aghast. “You’re on suspension.”

He stared at her. “What’s important is that diuretic wasn’t prescribed to Lily. It was prescribed to Mary Ellen.”

Aiden frowned. “Mary? She left it in Lily’s room by accident?”

He shook his head, a glint flashing in his eyes. “Mary Ellen is Lily’s maternal grandmother who has been dead for six years but according to the pharmacist, Mary has been getting refills. I guess the names are the same so it’s easier.”

“Diuretic… that’s for kidneys. Lily had kidney damage in her autopsy report.” Zoe began to stitch together the pieces into an image that revolted her.

“We thought it was due to some environmental toxin or the result of her being in captivity but the damage could be from this.” Aiden nodded. “We do know Mary was a helicopter parent and Lily wasn’t keeping well. What about Lucy?”

There was an edge to Scott’s voice. “I went to Carly’s place, but when she wasn’t home.”

“So you broke into her place?” Zoe was appalled.

“No.” He sighed. “I was going to but I was circling her property looking for a way in when I found this.” He showed her more pictures.

Zoe looked at a picture that was of one of the garden beds on the side of the house, her eyes narrowing as she recognized the tall, feathery stems topped with clusters of pale flowers. “She’s growing valerians,” she noted, almost to herself. “Is she into gardening?”

“No. And this is the only thing she’s growing. In small doses, the valerian root helps with anxiety and in large doses, it causes sleepiness and lethargy.”

Zoe’s heart began to race as she processed what he was saying. “Is it possible that Carly was using this for herself?”

“She’s got Xanax and a whole stash of pills in her bathroom for her anxiety,” he replied flatly.

“What about Tara?” Aiden asked.

He held the sides of his waist and shuffled his feet. “That’s what I was doing yesterday. I haven’t been able to find anything on Tara being poisoned or hurt by her father. But that’s also because he doesn’t want to talk. He’s still livid.”

“He’s going to feel like that for a long time,” she muttered. “But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t. There could be anything in that house he could have been using.”

“Think this is enough for a warrant?” His eyes were hopeful as he watched them.

“I can try. But are we sure this is the connection?” Zoe said.

“What else could it be?” He spread his arms and looked around.

“Munchausen by proxy, Zoe. These kids were being hurt by their parents.” He waved his hands animatedly, leaning into her.

“Our killer targets them, feeds them desserts and lots of nice things in the days leading up to their death and then gently kills them. What do you think, Dr. Wesley?”

Aiden’s face was ashen. “In his head, he’s rescuing them by taking their lives. Maybe those toys he leaves is ceremonial. Like he’s sending them off to a better place.”

Scott’s eyes glistened with hope. “Now you see where I’m going with this.”

“The question is who would know about this.” Zoe bit her lip and began pacing. “This is intimate knowledge about three families who share no common friends or babysitters or anything like that.”

“There is one person who can help us corroborate this,” Aiden said.

“Bella. But you can’t come with me. You are still on suspension, Scott,” Zoe said.

He conceded. “Fair enough. But we are onto something.”

A sinking feeling exploded in her chest—if kids weren’t safe in their own homes with their families, then what chance did they stand in the outside world?