“Is that the analyst in you answering?”
“Yes, and his daughter, too.”
“So you think he is really sorry for how he treated us? How he treated Mom and Sam?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I do. I thought about this all afternoon. He is a stranger to us.”
She turned in her chair to look at Eric when she continued. “I mean what do we know about him, really?”
She said, “We know what Grandma told us. She always hated him. So how accurate was her assessment of him?
She added, “We know he had a big dysfunctional family who’d had many run-ins with the law and who he wanted to disassociate himself with. From what we learned his brothers were trouble with a capital ‘T’. So I’m guessing he had a rotten childhood and was probably physically abused by his family growing up.
“That would mess up anyone,” she noted.
Eric didn’t comment. His eyes remained glued to the road ahead.
She paused before delivering the next tidbit of news.
She looked at him and said in a low, calm voice, “Eric, I’m not going to head back to New York with you tomorrow. I’m going to hang around here for a few weeks.”
He frowned, glancing at her before returning his attention to the road. “Why? Did that slime ball ex-fiancé start harassing you again?”
Her time of peace had been short lived. After almost seventy-two hours of repose from Jason’s unrelenting messages, she’d received three messages this morning.
Two were sweet, explaining that he’d kept quiet so she could have time to herself to calm down and think about their relationship before contacting her.
He wanted her to call him so that they could work things out.
She got a third message two hours later when she hadn’t replied. It was an angry text saying she better answer him back or he’d come to her apartment tomorrow. Then she’d have no choice but to face him and talk to him.
“Yeah,” she replied.
“So what? You’re going to hide here?” He shook his head. “I don’t get you, Jessica. You’re a tough FBI agent who helps bring down psychopaths and serial killers and yet you’re scared to face wimpy Jason and set him straight.”
She felt the hear rise in her face. “I’m not scared.”
“They why don’t you want to face him and put him in his place?”
She opened her mouth to reply, but couldn’t. The truth was she didn’t know why she couldn’t face him.
Maybe it was because she still had feelings for him. They’d been together for a long time.
She shrugged staring out the side window. “I just need some time to think before I talk to him.” She took a deep breath, then continued, “Also Deputy Chief Carlson called me about an hour ago.”
“What did he want?”
“Well, apparently the owner of the motel was concerned about that hooded man hanging out in the words near the motel and called Carlson in to look at the footage and told him we were interested in this guy, too.”
“Yeah, and so what, he wants you to go down to the station to give a description of the perp?”
She nodded. “Yeah, and he wants our help, too, in catching him.”
Eric snorted. “Why he wants to arrest this guy for being creepy?”
“No, he thinks he could be the serial killer who has been abducting women and killing them around the state in the past three years.”
“So you’re going to help?”
She affirmed. “Yes, I said I would. I’m going to talk to my assistant director and see if I can work here for a few weeks as an analyst consultant on the case. I’ll work with the Whitewater Police Department, and other Wisconsin police departments and the Bureau on this.”
He tapped his finger against his chin. “Now that sounds interesting.”
“You want to help?”
He shook his head. “I doubt they’ll give me extra time to work on another case. I have two cases pending I’m working on. Wally needs my help.”
“Too bad. You and I make a good team, you know.” Jessica grinned.
He laughed and nodded. “Yeah, we do. Maybe we should quit our jobs and open up our own private practice.”
Her interests piqued, “Oh, I’d like that. Being a PI would be so cool.”
He put his hand on her arm. “Whoa, sis. I was only joking. There’s no way I could afford quitting my job and running my own business. So don’t get too excited.”
She chuckled and retuned her attention back to the beautiful scenery and houses they drove past. It was a big change from the sky scrapers in New York.”
“I’m going to see Dad while I’m here. I’m going to take him up on his offer to get to know him.”
Eric furrowed his brows. “You doing it because you feel guilty or because you want to?”
“Because I want to.” She tilted her head and leaned against the passenger door. “What about you?”
He huffed. “I don’t know if I can. You of all people know what I went through. I’d be rehashing memories I buried and don’t want to remember if I do.”
She rubbed his arm encouragingly. “Yeah, I know. And I don’t blame you if you don’t want to do it.”
He grinned. “Thanks for understanding.”
She hugged him. “I’m your twin. Of course I understand. We can practically read each other’s minds.”
He threw his head back, chuckling. “Yeah, that we can. Just like now I know what you’re thinking.”
Curiously, she asked, “What am I thinking?”
“That during the weeks you’ll be in Whitewater it would be the perfect opportunity to get to know Vincent Archer better.”
She took a deep breath. Her stomach fluttered at the thought of Vincent.
Yes, Eric knew her well. Sometimes too well.
About the Author
Athena Floras loves stories, both suspenseful and romantic ones. She spends most of her days writing and reading them, totally immersing herself into the whimsical, fantastical world of fiction. She hopes the stories and characters she creates will bring readers as much pleasure and entertainment as they have her.
The Girl Who Saw Too Much (The Firth Twins' Series Book 1) Page 12
