Page 75 of Jessica's Hero
“Is it good news or bad?”
As soon as Kane shuts and locks the door behind Nora, the question bursts out of me.
Before he came home, I’d planned on being casualabout it. Not rushing him. I thought I’d wait for him to shower and change, serve up some of the pot pie I’ve been checking on for the last three hours, and then let him bring up the topic himself.
But here I am, asking him less than a minute after he walked through the door. It’s like I’m an impatient kid on Christmas morning, except I have a sinking feeling I’m not going to like the answers I get nearly as much as the second-hand Barbie Dream House I got when I was eight.
It could be good news, my optimistic side assures me. Kane could have found out I was just the random target of some weirdo on the internet, some guy who locks himself in his office and spends all his free time searching for innocent victims to harass. Who searches for their darkest secrets and weaponizes them all for his own sick pleasure.
I mean, not that internet psychos are good news. But at least it wouldn’t be someone I know. And it would be over. I can go back to my normal life—driving to work on my own, grocery shopping without an escort, and moving back home…
Although. I like being here with Kane. And I’m not sure if my house will ever feel the same again. I don’t know if I’ll ever feel completely safe, or if I’ll constantly be jumping at sudden noises, convinced it’s someone else coming to throw rocks through my windows. Or if I’ll ever be able to walk through the front door without being afraid that my home was invaded again.
“Sorry,” I hurry to add. “I know you just stepped in the door. And you must be hungry. We can eat first. There’s no rush?—”
Kane loops his arm around my waist and guides me away from the front door and into the living room. Hesits on the couch first and pulls me onto his lap, gazing down at me with a worried expression. “You didn’t eat yet? It’s after nine, Jess. You didn’t have to wait for me.”
“I had some popcorn with Nora. So I ate something. And I wanted to wait for you.”
As he stares at me, he strokes a finger across my forehead, tracing the line that appears whenever I’m stressed. “It’s not that bad, sweetheart.” He pauses. “First. Did you have a good time with Nora?”
“Yeah… We talked a bit. And then we watched this show calledExtreme Naked Castle Escape, which sounds strange, but it was actually pretty entertaining.”
“Extreme Naked Castle Escape?” Kane’s lips quirk. “I’m not sure I want to know.”
I appreciate what he’s doing; trying to ease into the conversation by talking about meaningless things first. But I really just want to get straight to it. “Kane…”
“Okay, okay.” He adjusts me on his lap. “So it’s mostly good news. And just a little bad.”
“Tell me the bad news first.”
“I can’t. It kind of goes along with the good.” Kane pauses, his expression shifting to something more serious. “So you know Blade and Arrow reached out to a contact of theirs—Alec, who used to serve with them for a while in the Army. Alec’s up in Vermont working for a security team there, and he created this program that analyzes fingerprints and crossmatches them with every database in the world.”
“Don't the police do that, too?”
“Yes. But we only have access to certain databases. Alec’s program can get into all of them. Privately-run businesses, international databases… it’s not by the book, but given the situation, the chief agreed to use the match as a starting point.”
My heart jumps. “So he found a match?”
If possible, Kane looks even more somber. “He did. From the partial we got on the package left in your office. And once we got a name, it allowed for further investigation. Surveillance. Talking to some of her friends and letting them know the repercussions for keeping her secrets.”
“Her?”
Kane gives me a little squeeze. “Her,” he affirms. “One of her friends caved. Admitted that she knew about your tires being slashed. And the rocks through your windows. From there, we were able to get a search warrant.”
“What did you find?”
“I tagged along,” he replies. “So I can say for certain the evidence will stick. There were rocks left in her office and paint that matched the same color used on the ones thrown into your house. The same wrapping paper that was used on the package. And—” He scowls. “More photos like the ones she sent you.”
“Who?” My voice rises. “Who was it?”
There’s a long pause. Long enough for my imagination to go wild. For me to consider everyone, even the people I would never have considered before.
“It’s Eliza.”
My body tenses. “Eliza? From work?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry, Jess. I know you were hoping it wasn’t someone you knew. But it’s her.”
