Page 39 of Dead Man's Wish
I flipped and flipped, begging for any sign that we weren’t wasting our time. Nearing the end, I turned the page to a set of photos that made my skin crawl. Brent had aged into his preteen years and was not a bit happier. Only, his appearance wasn’t what threw me—it was the cabin he stood in front of. In better shape, but not by much, was the building from my recurring nightmare. I’d never seen this photo before, nor did I recognize the location.
Carefully, I slid the picture from the plastic pocket and turned it over.
August 17th, Nicky moved away.
Something scratched at the back of my mind but I didn’t chase after it. I put the picture in my suspicious pile, which was mostly barren, and noted Ms. Hale’s writing in my notebook. The itch grew stronger until it moved me from the floor and to my desk. I sorted through stacks of folders until I found the original case files from Detective Westcott’s investigations.
I made my way to the first entry. Detective Westcott’s first murder was dated August 17th, 2019. We’d wondered about a triggering incident but found nothing significant back then. I pulled the paper and set it by the photo, taking note of the matching dates again. The photo still bothered me because despite not seeing that particular picture before, I’d definitely seen the building somewhere.
I switched gears.
Clearing my desk, I pushed Westcott’s information to the side and sifted through Bishop’s files. The man was stupidly organized, and I managed to go back to our incidents. Police reports, witness statements—he had all of it. I found the page of suspects he compiled for matching initials and behind it was Brent’s dating profile.
The profile picture was of a building, the cabin behind younger Brent. He’d cropped himself out but, visually, it matched. I gathered the dating profile pages and added them to the pile as well. My notes were expanding, and one question remained.
“But where is Nicky now?”
I grabbed my phone and sent a message to Jaiden outside of our group chat.
Little Swallow: You’re gonna lose your mind when you see what I found tonight. Love you, ride safe xx
I didn’t even have faith it would deliver given his cell reception was spotty through certain areas on the back roads. Defeat evaporated and in its place, hope swelled. The photo album was our best bet after all. I picked it back up and flipped to the next page. My phone lit up and rang. Unlikely that it’d be Jaiden so soon, I looked at the caller ID.Unlisted.I slid the green icon and let a smidge of fear trickle in.
“Hello?”
“Bexley?” There was a distant familiarity in the man’s voice, but it wasn’t fondness.
“Um, yeah. Is this . . .” I racked my brain for that stupid lawyer’s name. “Peters?”
“Yeah, work number. I have to keep it unlisted, sorry about that. I just want to give you a heads-up that I’m gonna swing by.” His nasal tone was more prominent over the phone and grated on the nerves in my head.
“You’re what?” I had turned a few more pages, completely uninterested in what this man had to say.Oh, fuck.Finally, there was a photo of Brent with another child. Despite the previous photos, he looked genuinely happy, or as happy as a budding psychopath could manage.
“Bexley?”
“I’m sorry, Jeffrey. I just found something for a client and got distracted. Can you repeat that?” I slid the photo from its plastic and sleeve, turning it over. In Ms. Hale’s handwriting, it read:
Nicky and Brent.
“I was leaving Bishop’s office earlier and he gave me a box for you. He said it’s box thirty-eight but that you’d know what that meant?”
“Oh, yeah, I asked him for more boxes.” The oddity of this entire situation dawned on me. “Wait, you’re coming by this late? It’s nearly midnight, Peters. Just bring it in the morning.” I pushed myself off the ground, dumping the photo in the pile and scribbling the note down on the pad.
“It’s not an issue. I’m gonna be in your neck of the woods anyway. Client got arrested and requested legal counsel.”
“Oh, bummer.” Really, I didn’t give a single fuck about this man’s client or what he had for me. Inside, I was spiraling and freaking the fuck out. My doorbell rang and I groaned. “Damn, you could’ve called sooner.”
I walked down the hall and turned for the entryway.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, it’s only been a few minutes since you called to tell me you were on the way and now you’re ringing my doorbell.” I laughed even though I wanted to throttle his ass. “Your social etiquette needs work, man.”
I turned the deadbolt and pulled the front door open.
“Bexley, what are you talking about?”
The door swung open, and I noticed a dark mass in the corner of my porch. A pool of blood formed a morbid halo around an officer’s head.
