“Lucy, is everything good?” Asher asked when he answered the phone.
Why did the people in my life always assume I was calling for a reason other than just to say hi? I mean I was, of course. I had a reason, but he didn’t know that. Maybe I might have been calling to ask if he wanted to come watch a football game with the guys and drink some beer. Was I that predictable?
“Yeah, I just wanted to warn you that I’m heading out of town.”
“Where to?”
“Glendale,” I answered.
“What the hell is in Glendale? Don’t you need to be here for this? We got a hit on the private phone number.”
“Was it registered to Sebastian?”
“No, his driver purchased the cell phone. We’re at Elliot’s house now to take James in for questioning.”
“Is that Doctor Bray? Send her my regards and tell her next time I see her that I’ll order her a Bloody Mary. I understand she likes those,” Sebastian said in the background.
I growled. “Listen, while you’re there, you might want to check the cellar for that room. The nurse is dead now, too. He strangled her with a scarf.”
“Is that right?” Asher asked after a moment of silence.
“Yep. I saw it last night, and worse than that, he knows my secret. He tortured answers out of her before he killed her. He must have followed me and spotted Nurse Betty talking to me outside the doctor’s office. That was the only time we’ve ever interacted in pulbic.”
“Lucy…” Asher whispered as if he were stepping away and didn’t want the others to hear the conversation.
“I know. I’m being careful, and the others are with me. He won’t get anywhere near me now, but, Asher, I’ve got to stop him. I’m the only one that knows what he’s been doing.”
“Okay, well, he’s not the one we’re taking in, but I’ll keep eyes on him. Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky, and he’ll lead us to one of the bodies.”
“He’s smart and slippery, Asher. Watch your back with this one.”
“Will do,” Asher said before the connection cut off.
I walked into the bedroom and started packing. Ford was zipping up his own suitcase. When I was ready, I set mine on the floor next to his. Ford took my hand and toyed with the new ring I wasn’t used to wearing.
“If it’s not your style, I can get you another one.”
“It’s perfect,” I said, lifting my gaze to his. “You didn’t steal it, did you?”
Ford chuckled. “No. It was my grandmother’s. My mom gave it to me when you were in the hospital. She knew even then what you and I weren’t ready to admit. She knew I loved you and that I’d eventually ask you to marry me.”
“She’s smart like that,” I teased.
Ford picked up the glasses with the camera connection, and he slid them onto my face. “It’s not as good as a tracker as the one you were wearing when we met, but it will do.”
“Who’s going to be watching the feed?”
“I am,” Sam hollered from the other room.
I turned the glass around so Sam could see my face. “I’ll try to keep it PG when you’re tuning in.”
Glendale was everything I remembered. It was bigger than Claymore Ridge, the next town over and Ford’s hometown. Glendale offered more culture and entertainment.
Ford and I made a quick stop by his parents’ house to share our news, and then ran by the B&B for a bite to eat. That place brought back hard memories of Sloan’s death, but they were my memories just the same.
Glendale’s business district was busy. It was a metropolis of sorts that had it all. Not even fifteen minutes away, tourists were jam-packed on the beaches for spring break. There was nothing quiet or quaint about this place.
When we pulled up to the police station, Carson and Noah were waiting. I’d insisted that Grant stay behind with Gigi to keep an eye on her. She complained she didn’t need the extra security, but I made her humor me by telling her she couldn’t be in the wedding if she didn’t agree.
Not that we’d made any arrangements or I was thinking about the future. We needed to focus on the here and now when dealing with an opponent like Sebastian.
Noah was on the phone, and I didn’t need to read lips to know he was talking to the one person he kept a secret from us all.
Being around the guys, I tuned into them. It was different than absorbing their blood. It was less intimate, and better than that, I could turn it off on a whim, unlike my other connections. Just thinking about them and concentrating let me see glimpse into their lives and routines.
Noah hung up as we approached, and Carson stood from his perch on the steps. “How did it go with the parents?”
“They’re over the moon. My mother is already trying to plan the wedding,” Ford said, squeezing my hand.
Whereas Ford and I had driven into town to spend time with Ford’s parents, the others had arrived courtesy of the FBI plane and rented cars while in town. If there was one thing I hated, it was being stranded without wheels. Access to a car meant freedom and doing my stint in the psych ward only made me determined that my freedom was something I’d never give up willingly again.
“I’ve called ahead, and they’re expecting us,” Noah said, slipping his phone into his suit coat. He opened the police station door and held it for us to pass. A short time later we were ushered into a conference room and left to wait.
Ford’s breath tickled my ear as he whispered, “If we don’t find anything here, we’ll keep trying until we get him.”
“Damn right we will,” Sam said into my earpiece.
I’d almost forgotten I was wearing the glasses and had an audience again.
Ford took my hand and kissed it just as the door opened.
I stood up, surprised and shocked as the female cop stood in the doorway. She had been one of my blood donors, a vital part in saving my life, then changing it forever. Breath caught in my throat. I’d only ever seen the woman in two different ways, and never face to face. Most times were in my head, thanks to our connection, and the other was when she’d chased the ghosts away.
“It’s you,” I whispered.
Chapter 22
She glanced at her partner and then back at me. “Do I know you? Have we met?”
Had my dream only been one sided, or had this woman really astral protected or something and was now playing possum? Heat claimed my cheeks. “Sorry. You look familiar.”
“Dr. Bray was in an accident a couple days ago. She hit her head. You’ll have to forgive her,” Noah announced, standing up. He introduced himself and everyone else at the table while I took my seat.
I couldn’t tear my eyes from the woman. She’d been in my room with the ghosts of the missing women that we’d found reported in this town.
The man who’d walked in with her shook Noah’s hand. “I’m Detective Jon Morris, and this is Detective Gabriella Graves.”
“I understand you’re here about Susan Brighton?” Detective Graves asked.
“The FBI is interested in her case because she fits the profile of several girls that have gone missing in our area,” Carson said.
I shook the confusion from my mind, trying to get my head back in the game. The cop was from here. Of course, she was. The donated blood had come from here. It made sense.
“And what profile is that?” Detective Morris asked.
“The white dress and the scarf,” I said absently.
“Clothes? That’s why you’re here? Have you found some with her blood on them or something? I don’t understand,” Detective Morris said.
“I do,” Graves said. “Dr. Bray followed the clues.”
“Excuse me?” Ford asked.
“She sees spirits, right? Twenty women and you’ve traced them back to our town.”
“It was you,” I said, and my voice broke with vindication. I wasn’t losing my damn mind.
Detective Graves rose from her seat. “Jon, why don’t you catch them up to speed on our cases while Dr. Br
ay and I go grab us some coffees from the diner.”
Talking in private I could handle. Maybe then the cop would come clean about why the hell she’d looked like an apparition in my room with those dead women. Maybe then I could figure out what the hell was actually going on.
“I’m going to need a ton of coffee.” I hopped up a bit too excitedly. I slipped the glasses off my face and handed them to Ford.
Detective Graves led me out of the room and out of the building. We’d made it three steps up the sidewalk when she spoke.
“Why have my cases started haunting you?”
“How were you in my bedroom when you aren’t dead?” I asked.
Graves sighed. “Oh, Dr. Bray, I don’t know you well enough to share those secrets.”
“You can call me Lucy. We’re connected,” I blurted out. If I was going to get this woman to trust me enough to learn her secrets, it might help if I offered her one of mine. Maybe then we could skip to the points that mattered most.
“Connected how? Are you claiming you’re some long-lost relative or something, because I have to tell you I can spot a lie,” Graves said with a chuckle.
“You’re a blood donor, right?”
Graves pulled the door open for the diner and stepped in. “Yeah, and?”
She ordered several coffees to go and then led me to a table near the exit.
“Your blood saved my life. I was in an accident and needed three pints. Yours was one of them.”
“Hacking a blood bank is illegal.”
“I don’t have the skills for that, but like you, I have my secrets too, Detective.”
“Call me Gabby,” she interjected.
“Sebastian Elliot is on your cop radar, isn’t he, Gabby?”
Gabby raised a brow. “Where did you hear that name?”
“It’s a long story, best told over a bottle of wine. We don’t have time to unpack that now. I just need to know if you like him for Susan’s disappearance, because I believe he’s hurt so many more than just her.”
The waitress carried over our coffees in three to-go coffee containers. Gabby handed me one and took the other two before walking to the door.
“Suspecting he killed Susan and proving it are two different things, Lucy.”
“I’m hoping I can help you with that,” I said with a shrug. “He’s still killing, and knowing what started him down this path will help me bring him down.”
“Well, the way Susan’s best friend tells it is that she was in the popular crowd in high school. She had a group of tight-knit friends, but just as many others who were ready to kill her.” Gabby glanced at me. “You know the type, cheerleader who dates the captain of whatever.”
“Yeah, I get it.”
“Guys asked her out all the time, and she wouldn’t just say no. She’d make a public spectacle about it and embarrass the ones who didn’t stand a chance.”
“And Sebastian was one of them?”
“Sebastian’s father died and left him and his mother with an inheritance. So, he had money even at that young age. He thought that alone would get her to at least entertain the idea. He bought her things and left them for her in a creepy stalkerish kind of way. We had several suspects, but that story stood out.”
“Did he have an alibi for the time she went missing?”
“Yes. His mother claimed that he was home at the time of the disappearance. I’ve never had anything to link him to her abduction, but I can’t let it go.”
“Because of the other missing girls?” I asked.
“Yeah, because of the others,” Gabby answered. “They all knew him. Granted, they knew a lot of the same people, but his name was repeated over and over again, and he’d be the first one to show up to help in the search parties.”
I pulled the door open and followed Gabby into the police station. We carried coffee and a bag with cream and sugar to the conference room. I stopped her before she walked in. “I see ghosts because of your blood in my veins. I see Sebastian murder because his is flowing in my veins too. He’s still killing, and he’s targeted me. I just haven’t figured out the connection of why you two must have donated at the same time.”
“I can answer that.” Gabby gave a decisive nod and walked into the conference room.
Chapter 23
All conversation stopped as we passed out the coffee. Gabby walked to the front of the room and stood there as if collecting her thoughts. I picked up the glasses and slid them back up my face. This trip wasn’t a waste after all. Even if it didn’t provide clues about Sebastian, knowing Gabby was chasing Sebastian and would continue even if something were to happen to me somehow relaxed me a bit. It eased my worries that I wouldn’t go to my grave with him walking free. The cop lifted a weight off my shoulders that I hadn’t realized had turned so damn heavy.
“One year ago, Sebastian Elliot came into town. It’s not uncommon, as he still has family living here, but like Lucy has guessed, something never sat right with me about the guy. Jon and I inherited the case, and we re-interviewed everyone. I just happened to be behind the two-way mirror when Jon was interviewing Elliot. Everything he told Jon was a lie. I just couldn’t prove it.”
“How did you know he was lying if you couldn’t prove it?” Carson asked.
“It’s my thing. Some people call it a sixth sense. You can call it whatever you want. He wasn’t the only one lying, but his lies weren’t small, like the others. His toppled the Richter scale.”
I doctored my coffee while listening intently.
“He didn’t associate me with the case because I wasn’t in the room, so when he showed back up, I followed him.”
I paused with the fifth pack of sugar, holding it over my coffee cup.
“You followed him to the blood donation center and you all donated?” I asked.
All eyes turned to look at me as if I’d just handed them all the answers.
“We did. Elliot was stalking a mother of three who works out of her home as a medium.”
I slowly lowered the sugar packet to the table. “All three of you gave blood at the same time?”
“Yeah,” she answered.
I linked my fingers and rested my hands on my head. This was unbelievable. The three donors who’d saved my life were connected in more ways than I could have fathomed.
“Why was he following the other woman?” Noah asked, taking the spotlight off me while I digested this new information.
“I believe she was his next target.”
“Why her? What made her special?” Carson asked.
“I believe it’s because she did a reading for one of the missing girl’s family. We understand that she gave them a description of the killer and his initials.”
“He must have gotten wind of that information,” I said, finding my voice.
“I think so. I think he’s got eyes and ears everywhere still,” Gabby answered. “Personally, I think he was just here to see if she could pick him out of a crowd.”
“What is his fascination with white dresses and scarfs?” I asked.
“We didn’t know there was a fascination. Only Susan disappeared wearing those clothes.”
“I think he keeps wanting to repeat the kill. I think all the woman he killed rejected him in some fashion.”
“All except the nurse,” Ford corrected.
“Right. She was killed because he wanted information on me.”
“Why would he want information on you?” Jon asked.
“Because I poked the bear,” I answered.
“Not to mention, she can now see our dead girls just like me,” Gabby answered.
Noah and the others knew I could see ghosts, even if I hadn’t told them I was seeing all of the missing girls. They didn’t act surprised, even though Jon did. He turned a questioning gaze toward me and tilted his head as if digesting this new information.
“Maybe you can get them to talk and tell you where their bodies are. Graves hasn’t been able to get them to do anything.” Jon sai
d.
“You might want to warn the medium to watch her back. Sebastian has ears and eyes everywhere. He probably already knows that I’m in town. I’m sure it’s a matter of time before he’s figured out why.”
Jon and Gabby shared a look.
“I’m on it,” Jon said, heading to the door.
Even now, I knew I was playing with fire. Sebastian Elliot wouldn’t be far away from me. I was a toy he wasn’t tired of. He’d come looking for me. I was sure of it. “I think she’s okay for now. I’m the one he wants, and I’ll take that threat with me when I leave.”
Noah rose from his chair. “If you don’t mind, we’d like a copy of the case files for all of the missing women that you believe he’s responsible for.”
She nodded.
“We’ll regroup in the morning and make a plan,” Noah said, heading for the door with everyone following.
I wasn’t as fast to leave.
Ford hung out in the doorway, and I held up my finger. “I’ll catch up in a few minutes.”
Ford nodded as if understanding my needs. He probably understood them better than me. Ford walked out and pulled the door closed behind him.
“I can’t tell you much since I signed a confidentiality agreement with the government, but I can tell you that my transfusion has entangled my mind with all of yours. It’s why I can see ghosts, why I can see deaths, and why I can see the other women. That connection I have with each of you is in my head.”
Gabby’s eyes widened, and her face paled. “When this is over, I need details about how all that works.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
I walked to the door and turned around at the last minute. “One more question, where do you think he’s dumping the bodies?”
“That question has been plaguing me. The spirits aren’t talking to me, and without evidence, there is no way to pin him with murder. Whatever proof we do find has to hold up in court, especially for him. We’ll need nothing short of a confession if he’s going to see any jail time.”
“Why aren’t the spirits telling you?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I see them in the forest, but every time I give chase and demand to know where theirs bodies are, they don’t answer.”
Broken Justice (Fractured Minds Series Book 6) Page 9
