19. Shiloh
19
SHILOH
I think I’m falling for you.
Who the hell said things like that. Granted, I only had two semi-serious relationships over the last decade. Serious—meaning they got close enough to meet Ethan. And in neither of those were there any sort of post-coital declarations. Ryder and I had had sex exactly two times, and he’d made two declarations.
I knew I should know better. I was aware that post-orgasm ramblings were never cast in stone. Still, I could not help the unexpected hope that filled my chest. But what exactly was I hoping for?
Neither of us had gotten much of a workout after that. We’d basically packed up, cleaned up and left, hoping for another round at his place. I had used Maggie dropping Ethan off as an excuse not to talk about what was happening between us. There was no denying I was afraid of history repeating itself.
While I believed that Ryder would never break Ethan’s heart by leaving, I did think that announcing to him that we were sort of kind of together was a mistake. I mean, we weren’t really in a relationship. Were we? We’d had sex. Twice. We spent all our free time together. Even when Ethan was not with us.
Okay, we might have to admit that we were in a relationship. Or at the very least we were starting one. But surely anything instigated by lust would never last. And we couldn’t deny that. There was lots of lust.
I shook off my thoughts and turned back to the table. Ryder had grilled burgers and I had enjoyed watching him teach Ethan what to do.
Ethan put the ketchup on the table and sat between Ryder and I. “Mom, it's Vince's birthday party next Saturday. I can’t find the invitation, but he invited me to his party.”
I smiled. I may believe he is mature and responsible, but he was still a little boy.
“I’ll call his mom and get the details. How did your book report go?”
“Mrs. Wilder said it was very well done.” He placed a burger on a bun and then proceeded to drown it in ketchup. “She even suggested some books that were like The Wild Robots that she said I might like.”
I loved listening to my son tell me about his day. On good days at work, I even shared some things with him. My gaze moved to Ryder who smiled as his eyes darted between Ethan and myself.
“And you?” I raised a brow at him. “What did you get up to today?”
He shrugged. “Rehearsals.” Then he smirked and his gaze dropped to my chest then back to my eyes. “Gym.”
My mind flashed to our time in the gym and I squirmed in my seat and concentrated on my food. Both of them had convinced me that burgers were a good idea. Even though Ryder made it clear that my rules weren’t always going to be honored when we were at his place, he did try to limit takeout on school nights.
Exceptions needed to be made though. He could only cook two things and he could fire up the grill. I was not always in the mood to start anything from scratch but he did allow me all the freedom I wanted in his kitchen. The grill was a good compromise on some nights. My son was subjected to burgers because orgasms made me lazy.
“Babe.” Ryder’s voice pulled me from that amusing thought. “Your phone is buzzing.”
I grabbed it from the center of the table. My body stiffened at the message.
Lilly: Body found in Walker Lake. Pick you up in ten
Dammit. She would pick me up at home.
Shiloh: I’m not home
Lilly: Okay. Pick you up at Ryder’s in seven.
I rose from the table. “They found another body. I need to go.”
The irritation on Ryder’s face was quickly masked. I knew he wasn’t upset I needed to work. It was that I would take Ethan to my mom’s. It was a sign to him that I didn’t trust him. And the truth was, I was starting to trust him more than anyone else. Did he do things the way I wanted them done? Not a chance, but that was something we could work on.
I turned to my son. “You have everything you need here. Is there homework you need to pick up in the morning before school.”
Ryder’s mouth dropped open at the same time Ethan’s eyes widened as he shook his head.
My son was the first to recover though. “I’ll make sure Dad follows all the rules.”
“No, you won’t.” I shook my head at my son. “But have fun.”
Ryder rose from the table and walked over to the safe where he allowed me to keep my weapon locked up when I was at his place. I put on my holster before clipping on my badge.
I stepped over to Ethan and placed a kiss on his forehead. “Don’t stay up too late. And I will see you after school tomorrow.”
“Night, Mom. Be careful.”
I smiled at the words. He started copying it when I was still living with Tess and she would say them before I left home. Now it was a habit, but I had no doubt he meant it.
Ryder walked me to the door. He looked over his shoulder. No doubt to check that Ethan was out of sight before he pulled me toward him and placed a kiss on my forehead. There was no mistaking the worry in his eyes. “Come back here when you’re done.”
“I don’t think —”
“Shi, I am not going to sleep until I know you’re safe in bed.” He held my face in his palms. “Preferably in mine.”
“What about Ethan?”
“We’ll deal with that. He’s a smart kid —”
Before he finished what he was saying his phone buzzed. He fished it out of his pocket, frowning as he looked at it.
My hackles went up at the look on his face. “What’s the matter?”
“It’s your dad.” He thumbed out a response while he spoke. “He wants to meet for a drink.”
“Yeah well, tell him that you’ve got Ethan.” I would prefer to be present when they have that conversation.
Ryder frowned up at me. “He already knew you were called out. There is something seriously wrong with this town.”
He turned the phone to me.
Harry: Seeing as Shiloh’s busy, why don’t you meet me for a drink. Jason will be there if you think you need back up.
Ryder: I have Ethan with me. Sorry
Harry: Tess will watch him. This way I can chat without being interrupted by my daughter.
He rolled his eyes at me. “If I don’t meet him, he’s going to think I’m afraid to meet him without you. Which, you know, is a legitimate thing to believe.”
“Fine. But if he threatens you, I will arrest him.”
“For what?”
“I’ll find a reason.”
Lilly pulled up just as he wanted to answer. Instead, he kissed me, not worrying that Lilly could see us. “If I’m going to need to state my intentions to your dad, I’m going to stake my claim to this town.” He looked over at Lilly and smiled. “I’m guessing by the time I get to the bar, everyone will know I kissed you goodbye.”
He wasn’t wrong. And even though Lilly said nothing on the drive over to Walker Lake, as soon as we arrived at our location, she was typing on her phone. Once we saw the body, though, she shoved it back in her pocket and was all business.
The body was, of course, again male. White. In his late forties.
Lilly turned to the two patrol officers who had called it in. “What do we know about the victim, Officers?”
“He’s not from around here.” The officer pointed to the wallet he had placed in a bag. “I did check his wallet. Driver’s license is Californian. He had some outstanding tickets but not much else. Only realized we needed to call you when the crime scene techs arrived and found some sort of trinket at the body. Said you may want to see the body before the ambulance took it away.”
Lilly nodded and walked toward the gurney. Agent Newton walked toward us. He narrowed his eyes between me and Lilly. “What is she doing here?”
“Special Agent Newton, you remember Shiloh Bauman.” She stepped to the side to make space for me. “She was the Officer who called us in for the body found in Marina De Ferrier.”
“I remember.” He was skeptical of me. And with good reason, too. “She’s the one who knew far too much about our investigation.”
“Officer Bauman has her sources.” Lilly’s smile was fake. We all knew I had information I was not supposed to. “I am not about to touch that apple cart.”
Yeah, she wouldn’t. Seeing as my hacking source was family. Sometimes mine, and sometimes hers. Though, none of my little helpers were in town.
I felt I needed to clarify. “I just know stuff. It's not like I pass on any information. I mean, I knew enough about the case to call you. You called Ms. Salinger. Besides, I’m…” I turned to Lilly. “What exactly am I doing here?”
“Officer Bauman is working with Salinger Security for now.” She dropped that fake smile and rolled her eyes at him. “That’s all you need to know. Now, why did the crime scene techs want us to look at the body?”
Agent Newton nodded. “There are no markings on the victim’s back. I mean there’s a tattoo that looks decades old, but no fresh slices or any other markings for that matter.”
Lilly frowned. “But the crime techs obviously found something to connect it to the other murders.”
“The cheap toy in the corner.” Special Agent Newton started walking away from the scene. Lily followed without question, and I assumed I needed to as well. “There was also a puncture wound to the neck. Let's get to the Walker Lake Police Station. They gave us a room there.”
Even though it was later than I usually worked, eight o clock was still early for the kind of trouble that usually warranted a night shift in most small towns. When we arrived at the station, there were only two uniformed officers around.
Agent Newton led us to the room we were told to use. There was no murder board, since we had just arrived and wouldn’t be staying long. Besides, small towns rarely had use for a board filled with murder victims and gruesome evidence. Yet, small towns all across Southern California had seen a fair amount of trouble over the years.
Once Agent Newton had laid out his copy of all the photographs and reports we had, we tried to create a timeline. “We have the body in Marina De Ferrier. Then we found one on the outskirts of the city. That guy was from Walker Lake. And now this one. Not mentioning the three before that.”
I looked over at the trinkets and toys. “Did the victim's family recognize the toys?”
“No.” Lilly answered, narrowing her eyes at me. “We asked, remember?”
“We asked about the toys found by their loved one. Not the others.”
Agent Newton shook his head. “What does it matter? From what we could gather those toys were brand new. Hell, one of them still had a price tag on it.”
My frown deepened as I looked over all the information we had. “That building we were at? Walker and Partners, that’s the law firm who handled Grace’s adoption.”
Lilly nodded. “Oliver and Nick are friends with the Walker brothers.”
Agent Newton spoke up. “I know him, his brother-in-law was the one who had been held captive. Your firm rescued his special forces team a few months back.”
“Yes. Adam had practically raised him?—”
“Wait. What?” Something occurred to me. “Adam’s office was a dumpsite, the same as Harry’s diner?”
Agent Newton nodded. I bit my lip not wanting to sound like a fool. I was probably wrong, so it didn’t matter anyway.
“Spit it out Bauman.” His voice was harsh and impatient. “We’re brainstorming here. I don’t care if you sound stupid.”
I took a deep breath. “Both men took on children who were not their responsibility.”
“It could be something.” Agent Newton nodded slowly. “I’ll make sure someone looks deeper into the owners of the buildings around the other dump sites.”
Lilly’s eyes narrowed, obviously piggy backing off our discussion. “What about the victims? They were all in relationships, right?”
“Not quite.” Agent Newton pointed to the third set of photographs. “He had an ex, but he was single. No partner, no kids.”
I looked at the report we had on the third victim. “How do you know he had no kids? The ex has a kid.” I checked the time of the relationship. “A kid who was born seven months after they broke up.”
“Mother said it wasn’t his kid.”
“And until a month ago, I refused to acknowledge that the cliché playboy rockstar is the father of my child. Because I thought that was best. Mothers are not above hiding a father who could be toxic.”
Lilly took a closer look and pointed to each victim in turn. “Divorced, deployed, absent, and ignorant. The killer thinks these are all deadbeat dads.”
“But they’re not.” Agent Newton shook his head. “This one may be divorced but according to his ex-wife, he was a presence in his child's life.”
“Maybe.” My mind racing as a thread of unexplained panic raced up my spine. “But all it would take is a derogatory word from a frustrated mom at the wrong time and suddenly a dad needing to work late is the villain.”
Fear coiled in my belly. I was in love with a man who hadn’t known his kid. And while there were mitigating circumstances, it didn’t look like the killer cared much about that.