Chapter 6
The next morning, Noelle found Dove St. James’s yoga studio and joined a class.
Dove, a tall woman with long auburn hair, welcomed her warmly.
A prick of something Noelle refused to call jealousy needled her as she prepared for the class and watched Dove greet the other participants.
Eli’s brother had found a lovely girlfriend—the sort of woman the Colton family likely wanted Eli to find.
“You’re from out of town, you said?” Dove asked, returning to her after finishing with the other ladies. “How did you find the studio?”
“My hostel is just down the way a bit.” Noelle chose not to mention her connection to Eli. She didn’t want to answer the inevitable questions.
We’re not through with this conversation.
Noelle shoved aside the unfinished business with Eli and tried to clear her mind as she worked through a few warm-up stretches.
She had to admit, the soothing scent of diffused essential oils and tranquil music Dove played during the class helped her relax more than if she’d gone through the motions by herself at the hostel.
She thanked Dove at the end of the class, promised she’d be back, then went into the dressing room to change before heading to the ABI offices.
When she arrived at the ABI building an hour later, something big clearly had the staff busy and buzzing. The receptionist was on a phone call and held up a finger asking Noelle to wait. After a few minutes, Noelle called Eli directly from her cell phone.
“I’ll be down in a moment. I’m wrapping up a meeting,” he said.
She wandered across the lobby to the coffee pot, remembering that Scott Montgomery had claimed the lobby coffee was better than what was brewed in the offices. She’d just finished doctoring her java with creamer and sugar when Eli arrived from the stairs.
“Sorry for the wait. A patrol officer found a woman in an alley last night, and my team needed to look at the evidence in case she was a new victim of the Fiancée Killer.”
Noelle gripped her coffee tighter, her stomach swirling. “And was she a new victim?”
Eli rubbed the back of his neck. “Probably not, it turns out, but we have to go over all the evidence.” He hitched his head toward the stairs. “Come on. I have everything you need upstairs.”
She followed him, casting her gaze around the office, knowing this space, these rooms, these people were a huge part of Eli’s world now. She drank it in, wanting to fill in as many blanks about his life as she could. “How do you know this woman’s not a new victim?”
He seemed ready to answer, then held up a finger. “Let’s get in my office before we talk.”
He led her through a door at the end of a long corridor and closed the door behind them. A man with light brown hair, beard and mustache glanced up from the desk across from Eli’s. With a wag of his finger, Eli introduced Noelle to his partner, Asher Rafferty, and vice versa.
Asher rocked his swivel chair back and linked his hands behind his head. “I hear you’re joining the investigation. You must have really dazzled Eli with your analytics skills.”
“I’m not sure dazzled is the word,” Eli said, “but I saw the merit of a fresh set of eyes and applying the unbiased perspective of latest technology to the case.”
“I just want to help any way I can,” Noelle said. Turning to Eli again, she said, “You were going to tell me about the woman found last night.”
Eli motioned to the chair beside his desk, and she sat. “Right. Her age was what caught the patrol officer’s attention. She was young and pretty like the other victims, but we think she died of a drug overdose. No sign of strangulation.”
“No little black dress, no pose with her hand up, no diamond ring,” Asher added.
The office door opened, and a familiar handsome face appeared. “I’m headed down to the morgue now to start the postmortem on—” Scott Montgomery spotted Noelle and stopped midsentence. “Oh sorry. I didn’t know you had a visitor.”
Eli waved the forensic specialist in. “It’s okay. We’re reading her in on the investigation as a consultant.”
A curious wrinkle in his brow, Scott stepped into the office and closed the door behind him. “What kind of consultant?”
“Analytics,” Noelle volunteered. “I use specialized computer software and statistics to look at data from any number of angles.”
Scott sat on the corner of Asher’s desk and folded his arms as he focused on her. “Interesting. What sort of things can your program tell us?”
Asher coughed in his hand. “Geek.”
Noelle cast Eli’s partner a glance. “What?”
Scott waved a dismissive hand. “Ignore him. He’s just ragging on me because I love all kinds of science. Biology, computers, forensics… It all fascinates me. So you were saying about your program…?”
“Don’t you have a body waiting in the morgue?” Eli cut in. “If Noelle’s program comes up with anything relevant to your area of the investigation, we’ll let you know.”
“Yeah, vamoose!” Asher waved a file folder, swatting at the hip Scott had propped on Asher’s desk. “City desk is waiting on your report on last night’s Jane Doe.”
Scott snorted and slid off the desk. “Spoilsports. It was just getting interesting in here.” He nodded to Noelle. “Nice to see you again. Maybe we can get coffee and discuss your program some other time?”
She gave him a stiff smile. “Maybe.”
Once Scott was gone, she turned back to Eli, who was frowning. “What?”
“He was flirting with you.”
She wrinkled her nose. “No, he wasn’t.”
Asher scoffed. “He flirts all the time with Kansas, too. Drives me nuts.”
“Why would that bother you?” Eli asked.
His partner shrugged. “No reason. Forget I said anything.” Lifting a notepad, he deftly changed the subject. “We were talking about our latest Jane Doe.”
Noelle sat taller, her interest engaged. “You were saying she doesn’t fit the profile of the Fiancée Killer’s other victims.”
“Right. So just focus on what’s here—” Eli unplugged a flash drive from his desktop and handed it to her “—and here.” After rummaging through a stack of papers, he extracted a thick file. “Everything we’ve compiled on the case is in your hands now. Protect it. It’s confidential for a reason.”
She bobbed a nod. “Understood.”
“How long do you think it will take your program to analyze all that material?” Asher asked.
“Not long, once I get it all fed in. It’s transferring the data that will take a while.” She stood. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work.” She hefted the massive paper file. “I have a full day ahead of myself, it seems.”
Eli rose from his desk and escorted her back to the lobby.
“Don’t wait until you’ve gone through everything to report back.
If you spot anything irregular or telling, call me immediately.
Last night’s Jane Doe may not have been one of the Fiancée Killer’s victims, but he’s still out there, and there’s no telling when he might kill again. ”
Back at her hostel, Noelle set up a workstation on the tiny café table in the kitchenette. After brewing herself a cup of tea, she got to work, entering and double-checking the information in the files.
Though the input of data was tedious, she knew a sense of purpose.
She was finally doing something useful while she waited for Allison’s remains to be released.
The notion that she could even help narrow the scope of the investigation and bring the killer to justice fueled her when her muscles grew achy from sitting in the hard chair.
After hours of staring at the laptop screen, her sight blurred.
Deciding she needed a break and a meal, Noelle ventured out from her hostel around four that afternoon. Darkness was already gathering as she strolled the sidewalk down the quaint town street. Before long, she found the bookshop Eli must have been referring to at their dinner earlier in the week.
When she stepped inside, a tiny bell tinkled over the door, and a voice called from the back of the shop. “Hello! Please have a look around. I’ll be right with you.”
Noelle headed for the fiction shelves, admiring the stationery display and greeting cards as she passed them.
Stopping at the end of the first shelf of novels, she was engrossed in the selection of books when she felt something brush her leg.
Startled, she gasped as she glanced down to find a cat rubbing against her shin. “Well, hello, kitty.”
She squatted to pat the feline, remembering that the cat was how the subject of the bookstore came up at dinner.
“Is Igor bothering you? I can put him in the backroom.”
She stood, shaking loose fur from her fingers, to greet the woman who approached from the back of the shop. “Not at all. I love cats, but my current landlord doesn’t allow pets. Igor was just convincing me it was time I moved to a more pet-friendly building.”
“Well then, good job, Igor.” The shop clerk smiled. “Can I help you find anything?”
“No, thanks. Just browsing.”
The bell jangled again, and both the clerk and Noelle glanced toward the door. If Noelle hadn’t already recognized the attractive brunette woman who breezed in, the store clerk’s greeting confirmed the new arrival’s identity.
“Hi there, Kansas! How can I help you? Are you ready for the next book in the Outlander series now?”
“Soon. I haven’t had a lot of time to read lately, but I have some time coming around Christmas to curl up by the fire and dive in.
I’m actually here for a birthday card. The family is having a big dinner this weekend for Aunt Sasha’s birthday, and I need a card to go with the scarf I got her.
” Kansas spotted Noelle, and her expression brightened. “Oh hi! Noelle, isn’t it?”
Noelle returned a smile. “That’s right. Good memory.”
Kansas turned her attention to the card rack but said, “I hear you and Eli have been spending a good bit of time together since you got to town. In fact, a little bird at the ABI office says you’re consulting on the investigation. Is that true?”
Noelle hesitated. How much did she want to divulge? Of course, Kansas was at least tangentially involved in the case as a member of the search and rescue team that had recovered the victims’ bodies. “I’m running some data analysis for Eli, yes.”
Kansas inhaled sharply, her expression saying she’d just had an inspiring thought. “Has Eli mentioned the family dinner this Sunday? It’s Aunt Sasha’s birthday, and the whole family is getting together. You should come! We’d love for you to join us as Eli’s plus-one.”
“Oh, uh…” Noelle squatted to pat the cat again as a means to stall. “He hasn’t said anything, and I probably shouldn’t impose—”
“Nonsense! When you have a hoard as big as the Coltons, what’s one more? Come as my plus-one if not Eli’s. It will be a great chance to meet the whole family at last!”
Noelle’s heart stuck in her throat, and her voice fled.
Her whole life, she’d wanted to be part of a big, happy, loving family like the Coltons, but she had no right to horn in on this gathering.
She and Eli weren’t an item, and she wasn’t staying in Shelby more than a few days.
She didn’t want to give Kansas or any of the Coltons the wrong idea about her relationship with Eli. Especially not Eli.
When she didn’t answer, Kansas flapped a hand toward her. “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Eli about it and let Uncle Will know to count on one more. It’ll be fine.” She pulled a card from the rack, read it and walked to the counter to pay. “I’ll take this one.”
Noelle sighed and whispered to Igor the cat, “What have I gotten myself into?”