Page 6 of Six
“If it’s easy,” Six responded. “And then maybe you can walk me through anything you’ve found?”
Six followed Heather into Jeremy’s kitchen, where a big pot of drip coffee sat in a machine. Pouring them each a cup, Heather then gestured to the small bistro table that sat in the breakfast nook.
“I haven’t found anything,” Heather said after she’d taken a seat. “The police were here yesterday and had a quick look around, but it was clear they thought it was nothing but an accident, so they didn’t take anything.”
“What about his laptop and phone?”
Heather’s gaze dropped. “They were both with him when he…yesterday. They’re destroyed.”
Six reached over and put her hand on Heather’s. It was a paltry thing, but all the comfort she could give the younger woman. At least for now. If Jeremy had, in fact, been murdered, Six would stop at nothing to bring the perpetrator to justice.
“And his paper files?”
Heather bobbed her head. “We don’t have too many of those these days, but what we have is at the office. That said, most of them are for older, closed cases. With the exception of the basics, like retention letters, contact information, and things like that, the files for all our cases are electronic.”
“Are they backed up?” Six asked.
Heather’s gaze lifted to meet Six’s, and the woman blinked, then slowly nodded. “Of course. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. We have a cloud storage provider. All the systems are backed up every hour.”
“You’ve had a lot on your mind, and it’s been less than forty-eight hours. Why don’t you let me look through his files? I’ll sign what I need to so that you don’t run into any confidentiality issues with your clients,” Six said.
A beat passed, then Heather nodded. “You know,” she said with a half-smile, “I’m so out of it that I would have just handed over the passwords. Thank you, Vi. Thank you for looking into this. I don’t have any reason to think someone would intentionally kill my brother, but after watching the video, I can’t get the thought out of my mind.”
Six squeezed Heather’s hand, then let go. “I’ll do everything I can to find out what happened,” she said. “Now, why don’t you draw up that confidentiality agreement and I can get to work digging through his files.”
Chapter Four
By the timeSix was back on the road and headed toward Cos Cob, night had fallen and along with it had come a storm. Crossing the Tobin Bridge, her rain-sensing windshield wipers ratcheted up a notch as she maneuvered around a semi-truck that was kicking up enough spray to power wash her car. Knowing the drive home would be longer than usual, she smiled when her phone rang as she crossed over Admirals Hill. At least she’d have some company.
“Are you driving in the storm?” Devil asked. Of the four of them, she and Devil were the only ones who worked in Boston. Cyn worked at a university about forty-five minutes northwest of Cos Cob, and Nora traveled for her work as a veterinarian.
“Yes, you?”
“No, I’m home. The ventilation system at the lab had some trouble today so they didn’t want anyone in the building.” Devil was a medical doctor who worked primarily in research. What precisely she researched, Six hadn’t a clue, but she did know that it sometimes led to Devil and Nora working jointly on a project.
“How are you?” Devil asked, her voice uncharacteristically sympathetic. Not that Devil was cold, but she was, well…reservedwould be the closest word Six would use to describe her friend. Together they were like fire and ice. But somehow, their differences made their friendship stronger. Devil needed Six to remind her that human emotions were a real thing, and Six needed Devil to remind her that maybe not everything needed to be emoted about at all times.
“Was hungover this morning, thank you very much. But other than that, I’ll be fine.” Because she’d always befine, that’s how they were all raised. A country couldn’t afford to have an agent benot fine.
Devil made a little “hhmm” noise. Her friend saw through—but understood—the lie. “Is there anything we can do? Have you talked to Heather?”
“Actually…” Six proceeded to fill Devil in on her discussion and visit with Heather. By the time she finished, she was merging onto Highway 128, and the storm had amped up to include thunder and lightning.
“Want me to reach out to the medical examiner?” Devil asked. “I can see if there’s anything in the injuries that might tell us something.”
That gave Six pause. “Would the injuries look different if it were an accident versus intentional?”
“Not usually, but sometimes there’s an anomaly that isn’t consistent with a true accident.”
Six didn’t have to think about her answer. “Yes, please do. Even if there’s nothing, at least we can close down that avenue of inquiry.”
They chatted for a few more minutes about the logistics of the case, then ended the call. She was less than ten miles from home and despite the raging storm, Six’s body started to relax. It always did when she returned to Cos Cob, whether she’d been gone for a day or a month.
Flicking on some music to drown out the sound of the storm, she glanced in her rearview mirror and started at the sight of a car right on her tail. Frowning, she alternated her attention between the mirror and the road. There were fewer than a half a dozen cars in sight. There was no reason for someone to be driving so close—not on a good day and definitely not during a storm—and no reason they couldn’t pass her.
Turning on her rear camera—an aftermarket perk she’d had installed—she tried to get a glimpse of the driver. Or at the very least, of the license plate. Unfortunately, both were a bust. The vehicle had no license plate and it was too dark to see anything inside the white SUV except for the outline of a person behind the wheel. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as the similarities between the car that had killed Jeremy and the one behind her clicked into place. Then the lights from an oncoming car illuminated the one following her, and her heart stuttered. In that brief moment, she’d caught a glimpse of the SUV’s front. To the left of center, a dramatic dent ran all the way from the hood to the bottom of the bumper.
Rage flowed through her body at the very real possibility that the car behind her was the one that had killed Jeremy. Whoever they were, they must have followed her from his apartment. Little did they know, they’d just thrown a match into a hornet’s nest.
