Chapter Two
Hayley Sutton.
That was the woman with Brian in that house. The one who was shot to death because of god knows what. It’s been wracking my brain since I saw the photo of her small tattoo they found on her body during their autopsy. Behind her right ear, she had a small crest tattoo that looked similar to a family crest. It isn’t one that I’m familiar with, but I promise I will know everything about it within the next hour.
This is how my brain works sometimes. I take the smaller details in a case and make sure they won’t come back around to bite me in the ass. There has to be a reason she was murdered the way she was. It all feels like deja vu.
A woman’s cry for help forces me to pull my face away from the screen, my eyes landing on a redhead woman who looks as though she may puke any second with her tear stricken face. “Please,” she pleads, staring at only me. I stand up from my desk, circling it as I make my way to the lobby. Something about her doesn’t sit right with me.
“May I help you, Miss…?” I drag out.
Her blue eyes flutter open, lock onto mine, and instantly steal every ounce of oxygen from my chest. Fuck me. She was brought here just for me. She can’t be real. “My sister, Hayley Sutton, she went missing yesterday afternoon,” she rushes out as she pushes her way toward me.
“Hayley Sutton?” I tilt my head curiously. “She’s your sister?” I look her up and down slowly. They may have a different parent, but these two don’t look a thing like sisters. “How do you know she’s missing? Are you sure she didn’t go stay with a boyfriend or friend last night and might not be home yet?”
She shakes her head. “No,” she whispers, holding herself a bit tighter with her small arms. “She doesn’t have any friends, and her boyfriends aren’t exactly the kind to keep her around after they get what they want from her. Hayley’s a bit of a wild child.” She shrugs her shoulders. “But she’s still my sister. I know her better than I know anyone. She doesn’t just disappear like this. Something isn’t right.” She starts to breathe heavier, hugging herself tighter.
“Multiple boyfriends?” I ask. She shakes her head, wrinkling her cute little button nose.
“They just don’t stay around very long. Most of the guys come around her for one thing only. She doesn’t make it hard for them to get it either. One thing she would never do is disappear like this. She always comes home at night.” Her eyes drop to the floor.
I cross my arms over my chest, leaning against the wall beside me slightly. No matter how beautiful this woman is, something isn’t right with her. She came in here on a mission and somehow she found me. The detective on her sister’s case. “Let’s start at the beginning again,” I clear my throat as I push myself from the wall, and hold my hand out for her to shake. “I’m Detective Martinez. Sebastian Martinez.”
She looks at my hand, taking a step back away from me. Without looking up at me, she whispers, “Natalia Sutton.”
I tilt my head to the side curiously, granting myself with a better view of her neck. Just like I expected, I see the bottom outline of a tattoo directly behind her ear. Were these girls abducted? Are they prostitutes? All these questions swirl around my head, but something inside of me screams that there’s more going on here than I can ever imagine.
“Natalia,” I whisper low enough that she doesn’t hear. “Let’s go to my desk and talk more.” I hold out my hand gesturing the way to my desk. She looks around as if searching for someone and shakes her hands. She nods her head, taking a step forward to show me that she’s ready to go. I’m not usually this patient with people, but she might be the only thing I have to answer questions for my current case.
We reach my desk, and I pull out a chair for her. She looks around again, searching for someone. I wait for her to take a seat, but she doesn’t make a move. Maybe what she has to say shouldn’t be heard by others in the station. Maybe she would feel more comfortable in a more private area.
“Would you like to go into a meeting room to talk more? They’re soundproof. No one will be able to hear us from the outside.” She nods her head quickly. “Follow me.” I lead us down the hall a bit until I reach an empty meeting room.
Opening the door, I turn off all the cameras and mics inside the room. I promised her this would be private, and I’m a man of my word. She takes a deep breath as she crosses the threshold inside the room. I close the door as she takes a seat on one of the couches in the room. She crosses one of her toned thighs over the other. “So, Natalia, when’s the last time you saw your sister, Hayley?”
She looks down where her hands are interlocked, resting on her knee cap. “Yesterday. She came by my work to tell me about something she had going on last night. She was really excited, so I was ready to hear all about it when she came back home. It’s not like her to disappear without a single trace or word. Something happened to her.”
“Where do you work? What were her plans?” I take out my pocket notebook and a pen.
Her eyes snap up, locking onto mine. “Th-the library,” she stutters. Something about her answer feels forced. “She always joins me for my lunch break. It’s not really her scene.” She begins twisting her fingers around one another nervously. It doesn’t take me long to notice the way she’s chewing on her bottom lip also. This girl has something to hide.
“And where was she going?” I ask again.
She takes a calming breath, closing her eyes before staring directly into my soul. “She had a date with a guy she just started seeing. They met at the bar where she works.”
“Did she mention the guy’s name or where they were going?” I ask with a dominant voice. If there is one thing I hate, it’s a man taking advantage of women. “What bar does she work at?”
She swallows roughly, closing her legs tightly together. “No. She wouldn’t tell me his name because he told her he was married. My guess is he threatened her because Hayley isn’t the type of girl who listens to rules. As for where he took her, she told me they were going to some hotel.” She shrugs her shoulders in defeat. “I can’t tell you where she works, though.”
I tilt my head curiously. “Classy place?” I teasingly ask.
She shakes her head as she wipes the tears away from her eyes. “If you consider this place classy, then I don’t want to see your usual hangouts.” She lowers her gaze, avoiding my eyes.
“I see,” I murmur. “Is there anything else you can tell me that may help us?”
Readjusting her body in the chair, I watch as she wiggles around. “I know more than I’m allowed to say. Please, just find my sister. Find out what happened to her.”
Her shining brown eyes finally meet mine with unshed tears. Part of me is screaming that this girl may know the truth. The other part is screaming that I need to protect her at all costs. But I can’t keep her hidden in the dark, she needs to tell me everything she knows. Maybe I can earn her trust enough to tell me about more than her sister because a part of me wants to know every second of her life since the day she was born. This girl will be my death.