Page 45 of Taken from Her
“By letting yourself be protected too,” Lavender said, stroking Diana’s hair that fell soft against her fingers.
“By letting myself be known.” Diana pressed a kiss to Lavender’s collarbone. “Really known, not just in the uniform but out of it too.”
They were quiet for a moment, processing the magnitude of what they’d both acknowledged.
“What happens now?” Diana asked, tracing lazy patterns on Lavender’s skin.
“Now we figure out how to build something sustainable together,” Lavender said. “How to love each other while serving the community and being partners…in everything.”
“The investigation will continue, and there will be other cases and crises.”
“And I’ll still run the cafe and give community support.” Lavender smiled. “But we’ll face it together. We’ll be better at everything because we’re not carrying it along anymore.”
Diana’s arms tightened around her. “I want that. The partnership and shared life. All of it.”
“Even when it’s complicated?”
“Especially when it’s complicated.” Diana’s laugh was soft against Lavender’s skin. “Simple never taught me anything worth knowing.”
The harbor rocked them gently as they settled into sleep. Lavender knew that tomorrow would bring them new challenges, but tonight, they’d proven that whatever came next, they would face it together as partners in every sense of the world.
The cats purred their approval as she fell asleep, anchored by the certainty that they’d found something worth protecting in each other and in the community they served together.
9
The morning light streaming through Diana’s office windows carried hope that she hadn’t felt in weeks. Evidence photographs spread across her desk told a story that was finally starting to make sense: cell phone data, surveillance reports, and community intelligence coming together and pointed toward a breakthrough.
Diana studied the forest topographical maps Detective Morgan Rivers had delivered an hour earlier, red pins marking locations where all three missing women had not just casual recreational connections but a meaningful relationship with Phoenix Ridge's wilderness areas.
Her coffee had gone cold while she absorbed the data. Tara's environmental activism had taken her on weekly flora surveys along remote forest trails. Isabel's photography expeditions sought the interplay of light and shadow beneath the canopy. Joanna's trail running had been for mental health as much as exercise, following paths that wound deep into the coastal forest where cell coverage disappeared.
"Chief?" Morgan appeared in her doorway, laptop bag slung over her shoulder, excitement barely contained behind professional composure. "Ready for the briefing?"
Diana gathered the maps, her pulse quickening with anticipation that felt both professional and deeply personal. "Conference room. Five minutes."
The team assembled quickly. Detective Julia Scott already had her notebook open, Captain Michelle Reyes was consulting patrol schedules, and Lieutenant Angela Hodges reviewed tactical considerations. Diana spread the forest maps across the conference table, noting how much steadier her hands were than they have been in weeks.
"Cell phone data from all three disappearances shows coordinated forest activity," Diana began, her voice carrying authority. "Someone was monitoring forest trailheads on the nights Tara, Isabel, and Joanna vanished."
Morgan pulled up data on her laptop, connecting to the conference room display. "Same device signature and coordinated timing with the women's known routines."
Julia leaned forward, studying the timeline analysis. "Community members provided intelligence about unusual vehicle activity near forest trailheads. Dark sedan with its engine running."
Angela consulted her notes. "The forest terrain provides natural concealment, multiple escape routes, and isolation from backup support. If our perpetrator has been using this area for staging, it's been strategically chosen."
Diana studied the surveillance data one more time, pieces clicking into place. Four weeks of investigation, and finally they had a course of action to take.
"I need to see these sites firsthand," Diana decided. "The forest terrain and vantage points."
"Should we put together a standard evidence collection team?" Michelle asked, already reaching for her radio.
"Not initially. I want Lavender's assessment of the locations first. She knows how the missing women used these trails." Diana gathered the maps. "If we find any evidence, we'll call in full support."
Angela frowned slightly. "Chief, if this is an active staging area?—"
"We'll have backup on standby. But going in with a full tactical presence might contaminate whatever evidence and intel are there." Diana looked around the table. "This perpetrator has been studying the community’s behavior for weeks. We need to understand what they saw."
Julia nodded. "Community perspective first, then an official response."
