Chapter 20
WALKER
Ambling up the sidewalk leading to Santiago’s front door, I’m plagued with the memory of how it feels to have Blake’s lips on mine—her body against mine.
I lost control for a moment, and I can’t take it back. It may have felt good, but it can never happen again.
Pushing open the large front door, the smell of coffee and bacon greets me. I head straight to the kitchen and find Levi and Santiago enjoying a late breakfast together.
Santiago's kitchen looks as if it popped right out of the magazine. The dark cabinetry. Exposed timber beams. The stone fireplace crackles in the adjoining great room.
Unfortunately, the spread of crime scene photos and homicide files disrupts the illusion.
“We need to talk,” I declare, getting their attention.
Santiago turns his head toward me. “On a scale of one to super nuclear, how urgent is it?”
“I know why Blake came back,” I inform them.
They both jump from their seats, abandoning their food as if a threat looms nearby.
If only it were that simple.
“What did she say?” Levi questions at the same time that Santiago asks, “Is she running from someone?”
“More like running to someone.” My shoulders tighten. “Or more than one someone,” I add.
Levi's expression goes slack. “You’re not making sense.”
“Someone threatened us in order to get her to come back.” My words stumble over each other to get out of my mouth.
Santiago's voice turns thunderous. “Who?”
Shaking my head, I let out a tired breath. “I don’t know, and neither does she.”
“We’re going to need to get a look at those texts.” Levi insists.
“Here.” I hand over my own phone, having taken pictures of Blake’s exchange with the culprit.
Santiago snags my phone from my hands, and he and Levi read the messages together. Their expressions range from murderous to shocked.
When they’re done, Santiago states the obvious. “This guy lured her to Riverbend Trailer Park.”
“Yes,” I confirm, reaching for my phone as Santiago returns it to me.
Levi tilts his head at me, “You gave her shit for this, didn’t you?”
I roll my neck to relieve some of the tension. “Of course, I did. She should’ve told us from the beginning.”
Santiago gives me a sharp look. “If you were in her shoes, would you say something?”
“I don’t know.” I grind the words out between clenched teeth.
Levi cocks a brow. “Then maybe give the woman a break.”
Santiago’s expression is smug. “I’m actually flattered. She’s been protecting us this whole time like a damn rottweiler.”
“More like an innocent doe,” I mutter.
Santiago points to me. “I’m telling her you said that.”
“Don’t you dare.”
“While we’re on the subject of bad news, you need to see this.” Levi snags the newspaper from the counter behind him and tosses it to me.
Flipping it open, the bolded headline catches my eye.
Vigilante Justice in Evergreen Falls
My gaze flits over the article. “How did Emmett figure it out?”
Emmett Bailey is a writer for the Evergreen Falls Gazette. It’s a small newspaper, but everyone in town reads it.
Santiago rubs his chin. “Does he have access to the police reports?”
Returning the paper to Levi, I pace the kitchen, tracing the same path repeatedly. “He shouldn’t because it’s an ongoing criminal investigation.”
Returning to his seat, Levi taps his fingers on the counter as he thinks out loud. “Did someone talk to him?”
Stopping in my tracks, my eyes narrow on him, insulted by his insinuation. “Are you saying one of my deputies talked to the press?”
Levi ignores the hint of a threat in my question and pushes further. “Is it possible?”
“No.” My answer is exact and cold.
“Then who?” Santiago questions as he takes his seat next to Levi.
“Maybe he put it together himself.” Levi articulates his theory like it's a question.
Placing my hands on the island countertop across from Levi and Santiago, I drop my head forward. “He’d have to have figured out on his own that Derek is the arsonist.”
“Which isn’t possible,” Levi opposes.
“Unless…” Santiago adds.
“He looked through the fire station reports after we did.” Levi sighs. “But that’s also a criminal investigation.”
“Meaning he doesn’t have access,” Santiago finishes for him.
Levi voices another theory. “Maybe Emmett has listening devices at the station.”
My head snaps up, and my hands clench into fists. “He better fucking not.”
“There’s another possibility.” Levi’s focus bounces between Santiago and me as his thought hits us.
Santiago’s mouth morphs with contempt. “There’s no way this killer is that stupid.”
My index finger points to the crime scene photos. “But he is that narcissistic.”
Santiago tilts his head back, gazing up at the ceiling. “How do we even check something like this? Emmett isn’t going to give up his source.”
Having given up on his food, Levi takes his dishes to the sink. “Before we get a warrant for his phone records and computer, we should just ask him.”
“Ask him if he’s been in contact with a killer that he deems to be a hero? Yeah. That’ll go over well,” I answer my own rhetorical question.
Santiago scratches the side of his neck as he studies the pictures of the two crime scenes. “Do we even want to catch this guy?”
Levi turns to face us, leans against the sink, and sways his head from side to side, weighing Santiago’s question. “He’s kind of doing our job for us.”
“Yes,” I state firmly.
Santiago gestures to Levi and me, his indication clear. “You don’t see the hypocrisy here?”
I raise my chin. “We’re different.”
“How?” Santiago asks, exasperated.
Copying Santiago’s gesture, I argue my point.
“We don’t make a spectacle of ourselves.
We work in the shadows. We don’t wave a big red flag saying, ‘Look at me! Look at me!’ This guy does.
” I hold up a photo from each crime scene for emphasis, then slide them to Santiago across from me.
“There are easier and quieter ways of getting rid of a body. This guy chooses to set them on fire. He wants to be seen. He wants our attention.”
Levi’s brows furrow. “Us specifically?”
Pushing off the counter, I straighten my spine.
“I don’t know. I doubt it. He wants recognition though.
It could be from us or the town in general.
” My hand massages my eyes as a thought occurs to me.
“Narcissists aren’t selfless. They’re self-serving by definition.
This ‘vigilante,’ as Emmett calls him, is going to step outside the gray area and into the black at some point. ”
Levi shrugs. “Then how do we catch him?”
“I have an idea.”
They won’t like my plan, but it may be our only chance.