Page 186 of Little Sunshine

It wasn’t an interrogation room—at least not the kind they showed on TV—but that didn’t matter. The heavy weight of anxiety and past crimes sat in my stomach, making me feel like I was about to barf with every second that ticked by.

Ash plucked me from the hard metal chair and settled me on his lap. “Breathe, Camila.”

I inhaled.

The fraction of tension that’d left my body returned tenfold when the door opened, and a man and woman entered. I recognized the woman as the agent who’d come to the house.

I tried to move off Ash’s lap, but his arms tightened.

“Thanks for coming in,” the man said, his sharp gaze darting between Ash and me as he took the seat across from us. He set a tablet down on the table. His unnerving focus locked on me. “I’m Agent Nash, and you’ve already met Agent Grant. First, let me say that we’re sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks,” I said softly, even though I still didn’t feel like I’d lost anything.

“I know this must be very difficult for you, but we just have a few questions. What do you know about Eternal Sun?”

“Not much.” I gestured to Ash. “Just the little bit that he told me.”

“Your mother didn’t mention anything about the group or her boyfriend?” Agent Grant asked from her spot near the door.

“We rarely spoke.”

The agents shared a look before Agent Nash flipped the tablet over. He swiped at the screen and handed it to me. “Do any of these names or people look familiar? Have you ever seen them around your mother or heard her mention any of them?”

I carefully scanned the names and faces, but nothing jumped out.

For me, at least.

Based on the way Ash’s body tightened, his answer was likely different.

I’ll talk to him later.

“No, I don’t recognize any of them.” I set the tablet on the table. “And like I said, my mother and I rarely spoke, so I don’t know any of her friends or boyfriends.”

Wes tapped the screen. “You finally admitting there’s a connection?”

Agent Nash’s eyes cut to him, and his tone didn’t sound happy. “We think it’s worth looking into. To be thorough.”

Wes scoffed, but the agent ignored him as he peppered me with more questions. Since I really didn’t know anything about Veronica, there wasn’t much insight I could share.

He must’ve come to that same conclusion. His expression was dejected as he handed me a business card. “Thank you for coming in. If you think of anything, no matter how small or insignificant it seems, let me know.”

I nodded as we stood.

Like they were hanging out at a bar and not a police station, Wes and Ash bickered about hockey as we walked to the exit.

It wasn’t until Ash and I were alone in the SUV that I let my questions fly. “Who were the people in those pictures? And why did you recognize them? And what did they mean about a connection?”

He rubbed his palm across his beard as he chose his words. When he spoke them, he watched me closely. “I only recognized a few from the news, but they were recent murder victims.”

I remembered the news segment from outside of the crappy motel. “There’s actually a serial killer?”

“Don’t know for sure, but it’s a helluva coincidence if not.”

I stared out the windshield, not really seeing anything as my brain tried to wrap around that scary possibility.

Ash hooked a finger under my chin and turned my head so I would look at him. “What do you need?”

After mulling that over for a minute, I started with the most important thing. “I need you to go back to work.” He opened his mouth, but I kept going. “The more you hover, waiting for me to breakdown, the guiltier I feel that I’m not more upset.” His eyes softened, and his mouth opened again, but I still didn’t give him the chance to talk. “It’s sad that she’s dead. It’s even sadder if they’re right and all of those deaths are because of a crazy serial killer. But I’m not suppressing some deep heartbreak that is going to burst through at any moment. I just want to move on.”

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