Page 47 of Investigate Away
“So she could have had an affair with the killer regardless of gender,” Callie said. “But she didn’t start doing it until the sixth victim.”
“And that’s what is fascinating to me.” He handed her his iPad. “I just made this note today, but that’s when the color of the trinket changed from gold to silver.”
Callie sat up taller and scrolled through his detailed notes he’d been making for the last year. Every little thing he’d ever thought of. It was more of a flow of consciousness than anything else, so some things he’d already proven incorrect. But sometimes, going back and examining the way his mind pieced together the information as it was presented gave him insight.
Or it just made him crazy.
“And you really think the killings started before Renee?”
“If the three ravens are a precursor of what is to come, then there had to be a single trinket to start.”
She handed him his iPad. “But the one you showed me didn’t have six murders.”
“Because they caught who they thought was the killer. I suspect if Adam hadn’t been released, our killer would have stopped. We gave him or her permission to finish his cycle when Adam was proven not to be the murderer and was released.”
“And Armstrong helped prove that right before she committed suicide,” Callie said.
He pressed his lips against her forehead, sliding down onto the mattress. In the last couple of days, they’d uncovered more information than he’d been able to in an entire year. “We make a good team,” he whispered. “That is when I’m not being an arrogant detective who thinks he knows everything and—”
“I’m not out for ratings, doing whatever it takes, including snooping in police files.”
“We both made a lot of mistakes. We’ve both changed. Why aren’t you willing to give us another chance?”
“There are a lot of reasons. One of which is I’m not willing to live in Seattle. Hell, I won’t be staying in Washington State, and this is your home. It’s where your family is, and I know you’re never leaving.”
He couldn’t imagine leaving the Seattle area. Whidbey Island was about as far away from his siblings and his parents as he could stand to be. However, he watched Ajax leave the police force, a career he loved, for a woman he couldn’t live without. Sure, they could have done the long-distance thing with Lorre’s career, but Ajax wanted to be by her side.
He didn’t want anyone else protecting her on a daily basis.
“I’d consider it for you,” Jag said.
She kissed his chest. Her hot breath tickled his skin, sending goosebumps rippling across his body. “You’d be so unhappy anywhere else.”
“I’m unhappy here without you.” He rolled to his side, holding her close, looking deep into her dark-almond eyes. “Sure, I’ve survived. I’m going about my daily life. I put a smile on. I laugh. It’s not the worst life, but it’s not my best. That was always with you.”
“Jag, please don’t do this. I will always love you, and I know that will never change. But I’m not staying, and I won’t have you leaving your family or your career to come with me when I don’t even know what’s next; only, I suspect whatever it is, it will happen in New York.”
He jerked his head back. “You want to live on the East Coast?”
“It’s the mecca of the publishing business. It’s where my editor and agent are, and this book is getting the attention of some true crime television shows.”
“And that’s what you really want?”
She nodded.
“I can be a cop in New York.”
“No. I’m not going to let you do that,” she said, jumping to a sitting position. “This.” She pointed back and forth between the two of them. “It’s a trip down memory lane. It’s a way for us to heal old wounds. It’s not a path to a future together. Maybe if we’d been in touch this past year. Or maybe if we hadn’t been so toxic when we broke up. But you and me, we’re over.”
“Are we?”
“Yes,” she said softly. “And if you didn’t think so before, you will after I tell you this.”
“I’m listening,” he said.
“I had a miscarriage a couple of weeks after I left last year.”
“You had a what?” He swallowed his breath. “You were pregnant? With my baby?”
