Chapter Fifteen
Kinley parked beside Gus’s patrol car and killed the engine. Easton was going to freak when he found out she’d left the house and that Gus had agreed she should come to the state police barracks. A member of the bureau had come to question Merry about her father and his ties to the Kingston Town Killer’s case. There was a knock on her window, and she jumped, automatically reaching for her firearm. She put one hand over her racing heart and opened the car door.
“You scared the life out of me.” Raindrops splashed against the car, carried by the unforgiving wind.
“Told you I’d walk you in,” Gus said as they started toward the building. “Easton is going to lose his shit when he listens to the message I left him.”
“You told him I was coming?” Her plan had been to get home before he did. Home. It was only a fantasy that she lived there right alongside Easton, but the last couple of days with him felt so unreal, it was easy to pretend.
“If my brother got home to find you gone, he’d burn down the state looking for you. Never seen him act like he does around you.” Gus was speaking to her, but his eyes were scanning the parking lot as they rushed to the main doors.
“And how is that?” she asked, raising one brow. Her pulse was hammering, torn between wanting to know and being afraid the answer wouldn’t be what she wanted to hear.
“Like a lovesick fool. Damn happy for you both.” A smile ghosted his lips.
Her stomach dipped with pleasure even as her mind started protesting her partner’s words. “He’s keeping me safe. Working a case. When it’s over—”
“Don’t do that.” His gaze sliced to hers. “I regret every moment I lost with Sasha in the beginning because I was questioning what I already knew. Had my head so far up my ass, I couldn’t acknowledge what was right there in front of me.”
“Well, she was the primary witness to our case.” She grinned up at him and gave him a playful shoulder bump.
“Serious, Kinley.” They stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the barracks, and Gus stopped. “If you don’t see a future with him, cut him loose now.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t.” Her voice was a whisper, easily swept away with the wind and rain, but Gus nodded. “I’m scared.”
“Get that, too.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Easton won’t let you down.”
“That’s not what I’m afraid of.” She looked up at him, and his eyes softened.
“You won’t let him down, either. If I thought you would, we would’ve talked long before now.” Gus swung open the door to the barracks and gestured for her to walk in first.
“Enough with the feelings,” she said, and Gus chuckled. “Why does Merry want me here so bad?”
“Agent Bryce just came from interviewing Maxwell Calder,” he said as they passed the enclosed front desk. “Couldn’t get a word out of him, so she’s not making things easy for Merry. Showed her photographs of some of the Kingston Town Killer’s vics.” His tone hardened. They all had a soft spot for Merry.
“That’s bullshit.” She spat, quickening her pace down the corridor. “The more I thought about it last night, the more I’m sure she’s innocent in all this. She’s only twenty-two. Would have been five when I was taken.”
“No one thinks she had a hand in any of it.” They both veered to the right, making room for a trooper who was walking on the other side of the hall. “But could she know something? Possibly.” Gus shrugged, and Kinley stormed into the interrogation room. The door slammed against the wall, startling Easton’s boss.
Kinley paused as heat flushed through her. Merry was doubled over sobbing, and the metal table was littered with pictures. Ones she’d looked at a hundred times when she’d become obsessed with the case.
“Excuse me. I’m in the middle of interviewing—” the older woman began.
She shot her a warning glance, muscles quivering with anger, and crossed to Merry.
Kinley dropped to her knees beside her chair. “Breathe, honey.”
Merry’s gaze jerked up. Her eyes held more than just disgust or sadness from looking at the disturbing photos. This was something more. Something far worse.
“I-I…my heart. It hurts.” Merry swayed forward, nearly collapsing off of the chair, and Kinley grabbed her shoulders to prevent her from falling. A sob was wrenched from her lips, a closed fist pressing into her sternum.
“What the hell happened?” She whirled on the agent behind her.
“She was handling it fine. Then I showed her the fifth victim.” Bryce began collecting the photographs and placing them into a folder.
“What’s in your hand, Merry?” For the first time, she noticed something crinkled in the dispatcher’s closed fist. Merry’s body shuddered, but she extended one quaking hand toward Kinley. With gentle fingers, she opened up Merry’s hand.
She smoothed out the picture, and her heart thudded hard against her ribcage. “Oh, my God. Is this… Is—” Why hadn’t she noticed the resemblance before now? Not just the large russet eyes with flecks of auburn or the thick black hair, but the shape of the women’s bone structure. So similar, so perfectly aligned.