Page 39 of The Familiar Stranger

I set the remnants of my sandwich aside and pulled my laptop back out. “Let’s start at the top.”

And we did.

We bounced facts back and forth, things we knew for sure. Our review ofWhat We Knowdidn’t take a lot of time, but the list was lengthy and twisty. I entitled another document theWhat We Need to Knowlist—things we needed to further explore.

The high priority point ofWhat We Need to Knowinvolved going back through all my cases and seeing if something jumped out. But we decided to tackle the easier-to-attain second and third items: whether a note had been found on or near Iggy and whether there were any other crimes in the FBI database with similar threatening messages.

Maddie called Iggy, which she’d been wanting to do anyway, and I called Kat.

“I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon,” Kat said after just one ring. “Always a pleasure. Listen, I know something’s going on. As vague as you were during our last conversation, I could sense something’s brewing. Talk to me.”

I blew out a loud sigh, inhaled, and let loose. “I feel bad even calling, with everything that has happened to you, but if you’re up to it, I could use your help. It won’t take long, promise.”

“Don’t even think twice. What can I do?”

Even in her state of flux, she was here for us. And she knew we’d do the same for her. We’d been through two major cases together, me as a private investigator, Maddie as medical examiner, and Kat as detective. Once in Tarpon Springs, Florida, where we solved the murder of Maddie’s sister. And the other just outside of Chattanooga, where we’d really established our connection as sister investigators, putting a murderous hair stylist behind bars.

“Right, so … I need you to check your databases for other crimes out there that might involve threatening notes with these specifics—” I shared the details of our notes, size, smell, words “—I don’t want to come off as taking advantage of our relationship, your contacts. I hope you know how much I respect?—”

“Stop, Sloane. I’m glad you called. Tell me everything.”

Before I knew it, I’d shared the entire list ofWhat We Knowand other tidbits of our latest escapade.

Trying to stop a whack-job from killing people I cared about … and me.

“That’s big, Sloane. Why didn’t you tell me when I called while you were on the road to Savannah? Now I feel bad for monopolizing the entire conversation with my situation.”

“You needed to talk, and I needed to listen. In a way, we’re on a similar path right now, though they’re not the same.”

Still on the phone with Iggy, Maddie cocked an eyebrow in my direction.

There was a moment of silence, then Kat spoke up. “It gets to you, this business.”

“It sure does. Makes me think twice about sticking with it sometimes.”

“Your situation is open ended,” she said. “You have to work this through before you can make any major decisions about hanging up your days as a private eye.”

I hadn’t gone all the way down the retirement road yet, but I could admit, this series of tragedies—as a result ofmyinvestigative work—gave me the willies. I’d heard of cases coming back on detectives, but it was not something I’d ever worried about.Isn’t gonna happen to mesyndrome. And now, I wasn’t even sure it was something I could deal with, but Kat had picked up on it.

I diverted, saying, “Are you okay to check the databases?”

“I will, and I’ll get right back to you.”

I thanked her, threw my phone on the bed, and rubbed my temples. When I looked up, Maddie was eyeballing me.

“Did Iggy have a note?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “But I’m sooo glad to hear you’re taking this serious enough to consider total retirement. It’s the life, trust me.”

“I’m not considering it right now,” I said, then added, “Kat will get back with me about any other similar crimes. How’s Iggy doing?”

“He’ll be out in another day or two, he thinks, then back to California. He sounds great, and I freaking miss him! Maybe I’ll hitch a ride with you to New Orleans, depending on how long it takes us to solve the crime spree at hand.”

“I’d love that,” I said, and I meant it. It was one of the few times I’d seen Maddie’s heart open up and stay that way—on one man. Besides that, I knew seeing Henry again was going to be a soul-ripper, and Maddie had a way of revealing the light, even in the darkest of times. It sounded selfish, but sometimes it was nice to lean on someone. Cade, Maddie … my people. I wasn’tthatgood at leaning, but I was working on it.

Maddie went on and on about Iggy, his wounds, his band, his upcoming gigs, and I set my investigator’s brain on pause so I could give her my full attention.

And I did.

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