Chapter 4
Theo Neville
“Ihate to say it, but Boss is wrong.”
Theo glanced up from his tablet. He was seated on the opposite side of the plane’s aisle, his back somewhat to the window.
He’d stretched his legs beneath a polished walnut table identical to the one where Bit and Sylvie sat facing each other.
The interior of Jordan Miles’ private aircraft was a far cry from commercial travel.
Cream-colored leather seats, soft cabin lighting, and enough legroom to make a person forget they were about to be thirty thousand feet in the air.
Jordan owed Brook more favors than either of them probably kept count of, and lending the plane was the kind of gesture he never hesitated to make when needed.
“I wouldn’t tell her that,” Theo murmured in warning.
Bit’s grey knitted beanie was pulled low over his forehead, and a faded graphic tee hung loosely on his thin frame, wrinkled as if pulled from a laundry basket rather than a drawer. There was nothing small about the concern etched across his features, though.
“I’m just saying.” Bit crossed his arms in defiance.
“I’ve done the math. If these bones have been in the ground for thirty years, the unsub would have probably been in his twenties when the killings took place.
Even if he were slightly older, he would still be in his mid-fifties today, possibly in his sixties.
Still mobile. Still capable. We don’t know if this person is dead, locked up, or sitting on his front porch watching the news coverage with a glass of lemonade. ”
“Brook knows the odds of that, Bit,” Sylvie contended after sharing a knowing glance with Theo. “All too well.”
Her blonde hair was secured in its customary tight bun at the base of her neck, and her black-rimmed glasses were pushed high on the bridge of her nose.
A navy blazer was folded on the seat beside her, neatly creased despite the flight's informal nature.
While Bit brought a whirlwind of chaos, Sylvie embodied calm and order, bringing a sense of peace and stability to everything around her.
The two of them had been best friends for years, and somehow the pairing worked.
“You need to trust that Brook understands her own limits, Bit,” Sylvie continued as she rested the tablet on the table in front of her.
“It’s the reason we’re a team. She profiles, we execute.
The arrangement has worked for years, and it isn’t going to fall apart because she’s eight months pregnant. ”
Bit didn’t argue. He turned toward the window and stared out at the tarmac, but his expression spoke volumes. Theo understood the instinct. They were all protective of Brook in their own ways.
Believing that the conversation had ended, he returned his attention to the screen of his tablet.
Brook had taken a phone call, presumably from Graham, before boarding the plane.
She was still on the tarmac, and they were now merely waiting for her to board.
In the meantime, Theo wanted to review the preliminary information Arden had compiled on the Ellinghams, including everything the Bureau had forwarded, as well as any public records and local news coverage he could find on the family.
Theo scrolled through a section on Gwenyth Ellingham.
The information was sparse, which in itself was telling.
No social media accounts, no employment records, no tax filings in her name.
The property taxes on the estate had gone unpaid for years, and the accumulation of debt was what had prompted Nestor’s older brother, Dale, to petition for guardianship over Gwenyth.
The man’s argument to the court was that his niece, a forty-eight-year-old woman, was mentally unfit to manage her own affairs, as well as the estate’s finances.
His stated intention was to settle the outstanding tax debt by selling a portion of the property.
With that in mind, he’d hired a landscaping crew to clear the overgrowth in preparation for a potential sale.
The crew had been working in the greenhouse when they’d unearthed the first set of remains.
All work had ceased, of course.
And once the bones had been confirmed as human, the county sheriff immediately contacted the Bureau. What had started as a routine property cleanup had turned into the discovery of eight sets of remains buried among the greenhouse's garden beds.
Theo continued to scroll through the sparse details.
A 2004 newspaper article on historic properties in the county mentioned the Ellingham estate.
A reporter had attempted to interview Gwenyth for the story, but was turned away at the stone wall by the groundskeeper, a man named Porter Voss.
Theo figured that, over the years, the role of the groundskeeper had changed, since the uncle had to bring in a landscaping crew.
What Arden had managed to piece together from county records, neighbor accounts relayed through the sheriff’s office, and Dale’s own statements painted a picture that was sad and unsettling.
Gwenyth hadn’t left the estate in years.
Groceries and supplies were handled by Voss, who still lived in a small cottage on the property.
The townspeople had their theories, of course.
The word “recluse” appeared more than once.
So did “troubled” and “not right”. The consensus seemed to be that whatever had broken inside Gwenyth Ellingham when her father disappeared had never been repaired.
Was she genuinely incapable of handling her own affairs, or was Dale's interest in the estate driven by a desire for control?
“I brought additional security equipment.” Apparently, Bit wasn’t done with the discussion. Theo glanced up to find that he and Sylvie were both staring out the window, presumably at Brook. “I made sure the cases were loaded into the luggage bay.”
“We’ll be landing at a private airstrip in northern Indiana.
Two rental SUVs should be waiting for us.
From there, it’s about a forty-minute drive to the estate.
” Theo pulled up the map Arden had included in the file and angled the tablet for them.
“Arden spoke with Dale Ellingham yesterday, who in turn spoke with Gwenyth. We’ll be staying in the main house while we’re on site. ”
“That works in our favor,” Sylvie pointed out as she studied the map. “The nearest town is a good thirty minutes away. Staying on the property gives us direct access to the greenhouse and the federal forensics team without having to drive back and forth every day. It also puts us close to Gwenyth.”
“The estate is old, but it’s nothing I can’t work with,” Bit said as he shifted in his seat. “We’re talking a stone perimeter wall that’s falling apart in sections, no cameras, no alarm system, no electronic gate. The place is a sitting target.”
“Which is why you brought half your inventory, I’m sure.” Sylvie shrugged at Bit’s arched eyebrow as she reached for the tea she’d purchased at a café on the drive to the airport. “I saw those three huge cases. We might end up needing a third SUV.”
“Motion sensors, wireless cameras, a portable monitoring station, and enough cable to wire the whole property if I need to,” Bit said without a hint of apology.
“If we’re sleeping in a house with no security in the middle of nowhere, I’m going to make sure I know when something moves that shouldn’t be moving. ”
Theo had no reason to object. Given the Jacob situation, Bit’s caution wasn’t paranoia. It was common sense.
“Are either of you thinking what I’m thinking?” Bit asked, seemingly no longer focused on Brook. At least one good thing had come out of the conversation. “What if Nestor Ellingham killed those seven women and somehow ended up dead and buried alongside them?”
Sylvie didn’t reply right away. She carefully removed the lid as she considered the question, eventually setting the lid on the table.
“It’s possible,” Sylvie replied as she wrapped the string around her finger.
“But we’ll need to wait for the medical examiner’s reports before we lean in any direction.
Cause of death on all eight sets of remains is going to make an enormous difference for Brook’s profile.
If Nestor died the same way the women did, that’s one scenario.
If his death was violent and theirs were controlled, that changes everything. ”
Theo’s phone vibrated against the surface of the table. He glanced at the screen, and the tension in his chest shifted into something warmer.
Mia.
He picked up the phone and brought it to his ear.
“Morning, beautiful.”
“I’m about five minutes from my first client of the day, so I thought I’d call to tell you I love you.” Mia Williams had a voice that could unravel him completely, depending on the context. “And to also chastise you. Why didn’t you kiss me goodbye?”
“You were sleeping so soundly this morning,” Theo replied, keeping his voice low. “I didn’t have the heart to wake you.”
“I found your note on the pillow.” Mia’s tone dipped into something quieter. More private. “And I’m holding you to every word of that promise, Theo Neville.”
He laughed, sparing a quick glance across the cabin.
Unfortunately, Bit had returned to staring out the window.
Sylvie, on the other hand, was steeping the teabag with a faint smirk at the corner of her mouth.
She had clearly heard Mia’s voice, but what he’d written on that note was not something he’d be repeating in present company.
“Don’t I always keep my promises?”
“Yes, and…” Mia paused. He heard the muffled sound of her pulling the phone slightly away from her mouth. Her voice grew distant but remained audible, shifting to the warm, professional tone she used with patients. “Good morning. How’s the leg today?”
Theo’s smile disappeared upon hearing her greeting. He sat up straight in the leather seat, his knee hitting the underside of the table.
“What did you just ask your patient?”
Mia didn’t hear him. Or couldn’t. She was still speaking to whoever had walked through the door of her chiropractic clinic.
He picked up that she was directing the patient to have a seat and that she’d be just a moment.
The words were pleasant, proficient, and routine.
Unfortunately, that did nothing to slow his pulse.
“Sorry about that, Theo. I should go. Have a safe—”
“Who is your patient?”
The shift in his voice stopped her cold, and he regretted the abrupt inquiry immediately. When she spoke again, the warmth had been replaced by something cooler and distinctly guarded.
“You know I can’t reveal that information, Theo. Why would you even ask me something like that?”
There was a beat of silence on the line. He could practically hear her mind working, rewinding through what she’d said, landing on the single word that had triggered him.
Leg.
Her last word faded as the realization hit.
“Theo.” Mia’s voice softened with immediate understanding. “It’s Mrs. Delaney. She’s seventy-two years old. She had a knee replacement back in March, and she’s here for an adjustment on her lower back. I was asking about her recovery. That’s all it was.”
The air left his lungs in a slow, deliberate exhale. He pressed his thumb and forefinger against the bridge of his nose and willed his heart rate to slow down.
“I’m sorry, Mia.”
“You don’t have to apologize.” The gentleness in her voice was the kind that most people had to practice, but it came to her as naturally as breathing. “I understand. Just be careful out there.”
“I will.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Theo disconnected and set the phone facedown on the table. Neither Bit nor Sylvie uttered a word, though the silence in the cabin had shifted. They’d heard enough to understand what had just happened, and they had the decency not to address it.
The fact that Jacob Walsh had reduced Theo to interrogating the woman he loved about the identity of her patients was something he couldn’t wrap his mind around.
He wasn’t that type of person. Movement at the front of the cabin pulled his attention away from his thoughts.
Brook had climbed the boarding stairs and was stepping through the narrow doorway.
She didn’t glance their way once.
Instead, she placed her leather bag in the seat nearest the cockpit, the one farthest from the group, and withdrew her tablet from inside. Her jaw was set, and the line between her brows hadn’t been there when she’d first taken Graham’s call.
From her expression, the conversation had gone about as well as Theo’s with Mia.
Brook was now all business. The distance she’d placed between herself and the rest of the cabin was as deliberate as the glass wall she’d chosen for her office.
Sometimes, she needed space to think. Other times, she needed space without an audience.
Either way, the message was clear, and Theo respected it.
Brook leaned into the aisle and caught the flight attendant’s attention.
“Please let the pilot know we’re ready.”