Chapter 16 #2
He glances over, his expression shifting to one of alarm as he sees me. After talking to the witness briefly, he heads in my direction, carefully stepping in the same tracks I left. “What’s wrong?”
I angle my chin down at the deceased woman. “Look.”
But not just any woman. The one we arrested less than a week ago. Eliza.
Just like me, it takes him a second. And then a rough, “Shit.”
“It’s Eliza,” I say unnecessarily. “Why is she out here? Who could—-” My throat closes up as a horrifying thought occurs to me. “People are going to blame Jess.”
“No, they won’t,” he returns quickly. Then he crouches to look at her face, scowling as he catalogs the bruises across it. “Jess was with you last night, wasn’t she?”
“Of course. And we played Tenebris Veil for a few hours, so there are time stamps. Her friend from Vermont chatted with us. She didn’t leave the house until I brought her to work this morning.”
“So it’s fine.” Oliver stands again and turns to face me. “There’s no reason to put anything on Jess. And the marks on the woman’s neck… those are too big to be from a woman’s hands.”
“You don’t understand. People in town will blame her anyway. It doesn’t matter?—”
Shit. This can’t be my priority right now. I have to do my job—call in to the Chief, try to catch Hank before he gets here, ask for backup to secure the scene while we work the investigation…
But Oliver’s already on it, no doubt realizing I’m still reeling from our discovery. As he makes his calls, I quickly run through everything in my mind.
Eliza’s dead. Clearly a homicide. Dressed like she was indoors when she was originally attacked. Which means either she knew the person, or someone got into her apartment.
“Fuck,” I grit out. “We should have put surveillance on her apartment. We could have stopped this.”
Oliver pockets his phone. “Mike and Vince are on the way. So is Hank.”
More puzzle pieces slot together. “Her car never left her apartment. Not for the last three days. Would she have left to take a walk in just a long-sleeved shirt and jeans? Or did she lose her coat somewhere? Did she hit one of the bars to drown her sorrows? If we’d put someone on her twenty-four-seven… ”
Then an even worse thought bursts to life, seizing my lungs and making my heart stutter. “What if this has to do with Jess? I know Eliza confessed to the crimes we had evidence for, but she never confirmed the home invasion.”
“Because we didn’t have proof,” Oliver tosses back. “I’m sure her attorney told her that. Why would she confess to a crime when we have nothing to pin it on her?”
“Or what if she had an accomplice?” My heart kicks into overdrive. Leaps into my throat. “What if someone’s still out there, gunning for Jess?”
Oliver stiffens. “Call her.”
“I am.” While I fight to get my phone out of my pocket, I remind myself of all the reasons I shouldn’t worry. Jess is at work. She wouldn’t leave without telling me. The guards are on high alert. Nothing bad could happen?—
But it could.
Fear rising, I pull up my recent calls and dial her number. But there’s no answer.
It’s fine. She’s in a meeting. She’s in the lounge, having coffee with Marie. She’s in another room, caught up in her work, while her phone rings uselessly in her office.
Except she always carries her phone. It’s something we agreed on when she went back to work. Just to be safe , I told her. Not that anything’s going to go wrong, but at least you can call if you need me.
I call again as panic expands in my chest. And again.
Then I shoot off a series of texts, each one more urgent than the last.
Still no answer.
Yes, there could be a rational explanation for this. But my gut is saying—-no, shouting—that something’s terribly wrong.
“I have to go there,” I say in a low tone, so the witness can’t hear me. “She’s not answering my calls or texts. Maybe she’s fine, but… I need to know. And I need to get her to safety.”
My partner doesn’t hesitate. “Go,” he says. “Mike and the others will be here in a few minutes. I can hold things down until then.”
Shit. I know it’s not how we’re supposed to do things. I should stay with Oliver no matter the circumstances. But if Jess is in danger…
“I’m calling Blade and Arrow,” I announce. “Have them check her tracker. Make sure she’s still at the lab. Then I’ll run over there, bring Jess to B and A until we’re done here.”
He raises his chin at me. “Do whatever you have to do. You know I’ll cover for you.”
After he tosses me the car keys, I set off for the patrol car at a swift jog. As soon as I get into the car and hit the ignition, I call Cole, barking out as soon as he answers, “Is Jess at the lab? Can you check her tracker?”
All business, he replies crisply, “Of course. I’ll pull up the app now. What’s wrong?”
I switch the call over to speaker as I pull back onto the narrow road that winds through Rockefeller Park. “You can’t tell anyone. But we found Eliza Morgan’s body. It’s definitely homicide. And Jess isn’t answering her phone. I don’t know who did this, but if they’re involved in Jess’s case…”
“Got it.” The sound of keys tapping replaces his voice for a few seconds. “Fuck.”
“Fuck?” My voice rises. “What does that mean?”
I flip on the sirens and slam my foot down on the gas, edging the car nearly twenty miles over the speed limit. Fear is a living monster inside me, tearing bleeding wounds inside my chest.
“Her tracker isn’t at the lab. It’s… Shit. Forty miles north of here. Heading north on I-87.”
“What?”
“When did you talk to her last?”
“Shit. I don’t know.” I glance at the clock. “Maybe an hour ago. She was just about to head into a meeting. She said everything was fine.”
“Okay. Nora’s in town right now. I’ll ask her to check the lab. See if maybe Jess is there and she somehow lost her necklace.”
But from his tone, I can tell he doesn’t believe it any more than I do.
“I need to get to her.” I’m on the verge of outright panic. “There’s no reason she’d be forty minutes north of here. Not without telling me. She wouldn’t.”
“I know,” Cole soothes. “Listen. Leo’s here. I’m going to get him on it. Check the surveillance cameras at the lab. Nearby traffic cameras.”
“That’s not enough,” I snap. “She’s in trouble. I know it. I can’t wait?—”
“Come here. I’ll get the SUV ready. Zane’s here, too, so he and Leo can come along for backup. Then we’ll track her. It’s going to be okay.”
But going to Blade and Arrow means at least a ten-minute detour. Ten minutes I can’t afford if Jess is truly missing, like my gut is telling me she is. “Just forward me her GPS location,” I reply. “I can follow her on my own.”
“You could,” Cole says. “And I get it. You want to rush after her on your own. But if you’re in a patrol car, that could tip someone off. Plus… you might need backup. Don’t do this on your own.”
For a moment, I’m frozen by indecision.
Do what my instincts are telling me and go by myself? Or accept the help my friends are offering?
Shit.
What do I do?
Then I decide. “I’m coming to you. But be ready to leave as soon as I get there. I’m not waiting a minute longer.”
“Okay.” Footsteps tap along a hard floor, almost in a run. “I’ll get the SUV prepped. And?—”
He stops. “Hang on.” A few silent seconds go by while I race through Sleepy Hollow and towards the outskirts of town, where the B and A headquarters are located. “Shit.”
“Shit?”
“Nora just got to the lab. Apparently the fire alarm went off about an hour ago. The building had to be evacuated. She can’t find Jess inside.”
Terror explodes in my chest. Gray spots edge into my vision.
Fuck.
I never should have let her go there alone.
“We’ll find her,” Cole says, sounding enviably confident. “She’s going to be okay.”
“She has to be,” I manage through a constricting throat. “I can’t lose her. I can’t.”