Page 11 of Her Last Farewell

"You’re right, and I understand," Rachel said, keeping her voice steady. "But we just found a woman's body less than twenty-four hours ago. I'm not comfortable dismissing any disappearances right now, regardless of the circumstances."

Leery nodded, and his eyes cast downward. It was the look of a man who had completely missed the point. As he seemed to settle into understanding the mistake he'd potentially made, Rachel turned to Keith, who was watching their exchange with desperate eyes.

"Mr. Grimm, was it?” she asked the young man.

“Just Keith.”

“Okay, Keith. Would you mind speaking with Agent Novak and me for a few minutes?"

Keith's shoulders sagged with relief. "Yes, please. Thank you." He looked back to Leery with a distrusting look—maybe with a bit of sadness as well.

They led him to a small interview room off the main bullpen. The space was cramped, with just enough room for a table and three chairs. A small, dusty window let in some late morning light that somehow gave the room a dusty feel.

“I overheard what you and Deputy Leery were talking about,” Rachel said. “I take it Andrea is your girlfriend?”

“Yes.”

"When exactly did you last see her?"

Keith ran a trembling hand through his disheveled hair. "Yesterday morning. We had breakfast together at my place—just coffee and toast. She was in a good mood, talking about maybe going back to school now that she's clean. And maybe moving in with me." His voice caught. "She had her therapy appointment with Dr. Tharpe scheduled for this morning at ten. But when Dr. Tharpe called me asking where Andrea was, I knew something was wrong. Andrea takes her recovery seriously. She wouldn't just skip therapy."

"And you've tried calling Andrea?" Novak asked.

"A hundred times. It goes straight to voicemail now. I went to her place, but her car was gone. There’s a neighbor about fifty feet down the road from her but he wasn’t any help. And as far as I can tell, no one has seen her since we had breakfast yesterday. Not the women at her work, either.”

Rachel leaned forward. "Keith, I need you to be completely honest with me. Is there any chance Andrea might have relapsed?"

"No," Keith said firmly, meeting Rachel's eyes. "I know what you're thinking—junkie couple, probably scored some drugs andwent on a bender. It’s our reputation around here and, based on how Leery is acting, not one we’re ever going to live down. But we're past that. Iswear.We sort of kicked it for each other, you know? And Andrea…she’s been clean for eighty-seven days. She counts every single day. Has these little milestone cards she keeps in her wallet. She was so proud of hitting the three-month mark next week." His voice cracked again. He shook his head as his eyes began to well up with tears. "Something's wrong. I can feel it."

Rachel shared a look with Novak before turning back to Keith. "We're going to look into this, okay? Can you write down Andrea's address and Dr. Tharpe's contact information for us?"

Keith nodded, immediately grabbing at the notebook and pen sitting on the table. He leafed past a few pages of what appeared to be random notes taken in this very room by officers in the past. As Keith scribbled the information down, Rachel whispered to him. “Excuse us for one moment.”

She opened the door and stepped out of the interview room. Novak followed behind her and stayed close as she motioned for Deputy Leery to join them in the hallway. Leery came over, still with that troubled look on his face. "I want to run something by you about the Rhodes case."

"Sure thing,” he said. Rachel thought he might be very anxious to help in any way he could after the agents had seen his very fast rejection of Keith Grimm.

"Those marks on Carla's wrists and ankles—they weren't just from a single instance of being tied up. The bruising patterns suggest prolonged restraint, probably over several weeks or months."

"Yeah, all that’s been covered. So what are you thinking?"

"I think someone held her captive all this time. And I think they forced her to write that suicide note before taking her." Rachel kept her voice low, recalling how Novak had alreadystated that he felt like this theory was a bit of a stretch. "Think about it—the note gives everyone a reason not to look too hard for her. By the time the body's found, the trail's gone cold."

Leery rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That's quite a theory, Agent Gift. But why go through all that trouble? Why not just kill her right away?"

"I don't know yet," Rachel admitted. "But now we have another woman missing, and for now, I am going to operate under the assumption that they're connected. If I'm wrong…oh well. But if I'm right, it could be huge, and it could get us to the end of this a hell of a lot faster."

"Keith Grimm's girlfriend? Come on, that's a stretch. Carla Rhodes was an educated accountant. Andrea Haskins is a recovering addict. What possible connection could there be?"

“Maybe just that they were there…in the killer’s sight. Sometimes that’s all the connection that’s necessary.”

“She’s right,” Novak said. He hitched a thumb back to the little interrogation room and said, “he’s currently writing down the information for Anrea’s therapist. I think we should talk to this Dr. Tharpe," he said. "If Andrea was having any thoughts of self-harm or showing other concerning behaviors, her therapist might know. It might be another link."

“What?” Leery asked. “Suicidal tendencies?”

“Could be.”

The mention of self-harm triggered something in Rachel's mind. She quickly walked back to the desk where they'd been reviewing Carla's file, flipping through pages until she found Julia's statement about her sister's state of mind before disappearing.

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