Page 96 of Aftermath
“I know,” she sighed. “I just still can’t shake the feeling he’s not the one who attacked me.”
I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t help it. I pulled out the chair next to me for her to join. The same video I watched played when she sat down. Her eyes widened, watching the screen as she saw the same thing I did: Ethan dropping something in her drink.
“I know it’s hard to watch, but we need this to arrest him. He was definitely there that night. It’s likely the side effects from whatever he used that left your memory hazy,” I explained gently.
I did believe her, but the video itself couldn’t lie. Ethan was involved in this.
She nodded and stood. As she did, she pressed a gentle kiss to my cheek, and I felt my skin warm at the contact.
“I’m going to go up and read for a little, since it’s getting late,” she said.
“I’ll be up soon,” I promised.
I hadn’t missed a single night in the bed with her since that first time. We slept inches from each other, our presence enough to keep each other safe from the nightmares. She left the room, and I turned back to the laptop. I was desperate to find anything to connect Ethan to the most recent victim. I wouldn’t stop looking until I did.
* * *
I climbed in to bed with Len after a few hours of still finding nothing. She was turned away, reading the book I gave her. I tried not to disrupt her, but she closed the book and turned around, her brown eyes meeting mine.
“My family will be back in town soon,” she said.
“For the clambake?” I inferred.
She nodded her head. “It will be the first I’ve seen them since leaving the dinner, besides Calvin stopping by on my birthday.”
There was a hint of uncertainty there. If I could take away everything she was feeling to reassure her, I would, but there was no manual on how to do so. Everything with Len was a learning process. I was way out of my depth.
When it came to piecing together cases or evidence, analyzing what was in front of me, that was simple, an easy task. Trying to navigate what was happening between Len and I was impossible.
“They are your family,” I said. “I don’t think they’ll hold it against you.”
“It wasn’t just one dinner,” she said, and my eyebrows pulled together.
“What do you mean?”
“I haven’t seen them in forever, not truly. Jake kept me away from them as much as he could, isolated me from anyone who might notice how controlling he was. I’ve been blowing them off for years. After him, I avoided them, afraid the damage I’d done was irreversible.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “I avoided my family after everything with Blythe. I still haven’t seen them in person. But after everything, when Grey pulled me back from the very bottom, I tried to make amends with my mistakes. The second I called my mother for the first time in months, the relief in her voice was enough to make me realize her love was not something so easily taken away. I saw how excited your family was to see you that night. Just let them in and give them a chance. You never know.”
She gave me slight smile. “You really are always a voice of reason, aren’t you?”
I pulled her in closer so we were only an inch apart. My lips pressed to her forehead as I leaned in and kissed her.
“I’m always here to be what you need,” I said. “Goodnight, Lenny.”
She rolled over, smiling as her eyes fluttered shut. It wasn’t long before we both slipped into a deep sleep, easier than either of us ever had before.
22
STONE
I spentevery waking hour trying to find the connection we needed to arrest Ethan. It’d been over a week, but still, nothing. We had enough to bring him in for questioning based on the footage we found of him drugging Len, but that was it.
Mags had combed back through all the footage the FBI had collected and found a few more clips showing him doing the same to the other victims. I forced myself to watch each one, fueling my motivation even more.
Part of me wanted to hurry and bring him in so he couldn’t hurt anyone else, but I knew the second we showed our hand, he would retreat. There was a chance we’d lose him again. This time, he might move on to another town and evade us until he decided to kill again. If he waited three years this time, I could only imagine how long he could hold out the next time.
“You’re killing yourself working on that,” Len scolded from behind me.
