She took the photo paper to the developing chemicals and dropped it in, lifting it up a few times to get the chemicals to activate against the paper.
“You … do this regularly?” he said over her shoulder.
She couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, it relaxes me.”
“Hmm.”
With a pair of rubber tongs, Augusta slipped the photo out of the developer and put it into a water bath, washing all the chemicals away.
“Wow,” Ray said as soon as the picture was clear for him to see.
“Cool, right?” She lifted it with the tongs to show him
He gently pulled it out from her and brought it up to his face, squinting again in the red light to look at the photo more closely.
“See?” She pointed. “This tattoo is right there.”
“And you said it’s a Virgin Mary?”
“Yes, no color. Just black and white.”
Ray nodded again. “I know someone in the area who does work like this.”
“Will they be able to identify the murderers?”
Ray handed her back the photo. “Possibly.”
Putting her tongs down, Augusta took the photo again and carried it to her drying rack. She clipped it there to dry before they got their fingerprints all over the surface.
“Why did you lie to me?”
The question completely took Augusta off-guard, making her whip around to face him.
“What? Lie to you?”
“Yes, Augusta.Lieto me.”
She wrung her fingers together, trying not to let his tone intimidate her.
“I was trying to protect myself. I don’t know how far these people will go. I mean …youshowed up at my door because of it.”
He shook his head, his expression turning sour. A growl from deep in his gut rumbled out of his mouth.
“I’msupposed to protect you.”
That made her step back in surprise. “What? Why? You don’t even know me.”
“It’s my job.”
His statements were making her head spin. What did any of that mean? Was he some sort of … spy sent to watch over her? No, that didn’t make any sense. She wasn’t important enough for any kind of government agency to step in to make sure she was safe.
Whatever the hell he was talking about, clearly, she wasn’t privy to the information on why it was happening.
“Look, I don’t know what you …”
Before she could finish speaking, Ray turned and walked toward the door. Not only did it frustrate her not to get any straight answers out of him, but he refused to talk to her in general.
Who the hell was this guy, and where did he get off just ignoring her like this?