Page 93 of A Curse On Black Lake
I turn around, and he’s pinning his lips together, trying not to laugh at me because I was too busy staring at him.
My gaze trails down his body to find his boots already on, with dust covering them.
“We’re you already outside?” I ask him.
“Yeah, let the goats out and fed the dogs,” he says.
“Did we weather the storm?”
“Yeah, for the most part. A couple shingles blew off the barn. I need to get that fixed.”
Killian drops his pencil and comes to my side, tossing bacon in a pan. I stir our eggs, and he flips the bacon.
Our arms brush, and I fight the desire to lean into him.
He bumps me again, reaching around my waist to grab the plates I pulled out. He puts a few pieces of bacon on each plate, and I scoop the eggs. We move like a well-oiled machine, like we’ve been doing this for years.
Wesit down, and Killian eats while he writes. I watch him as he multitasks, scribbling things down then he drops his pencil and looks up at me.
“What?” I ask, mid-chew of my bacon.
He winces and takes a sip of coffee. “It’s only a theory, but what if he made a mistake? Do you remember the details I told you about the woman on my property?”
“Yeah, she was naked, you found the flower, you said her hair was dyed. I think you had a little baggie of it. Looked kind of blond to me. And you said a K was carved into her skin.”
“Why do you think he would start dyeing hair? Why the change?” he asks.
I stop chewing and place my fork calmly on my plate. My palms sweat and I jump out of my skin as Killian’s booted foot slides next to mine. I hate thinking about this. I hate thinking about how this woman suffered, how all the others suffered.
“I don’t know. Maybe because she wasn’t good enough for him?”
“Or because he was doing one of two things, for some reason trying to frame me, which I guess he was successful with. The other is he messed up, so he had to make it look like someone else did it. When in reality, it’s the same guy the whole time. It’s like his morbid way of saving face,” Killian says. His eyes are bright, like he’s finally found the missing piece of the puzzle. Despite the circumstances, I can tell he was probably an amazing investigator. If I had to call the police, Killian is the one I’d want there.
I perk my ears to see if the Spirits have anything to say about Killian’s idea, but they’re silent.
“Guys like him are patient. If he couldn’t find what he was looking for, then he was rushing. If that’s the case, why dye their hair and carve into their skin now? That’s not a rushed thing. That’s a change in modus operandi,” he says, and scribbles on his paper.
I lift a shoulder and keep eating. It doesn’t make sense. None of it does.
“I’m sorry, this is terrible. You don’t need to hear this,” he says.
“It’s okay. But has a woman ever been put on someone’s property before? That takes time. I don’t think he was rushing. So why does it seem like there were other motives?” I ask him.
Killian tilts his head and writes something down. “I don’t think so, at least from what I can remember. I believe it’s alwaysbeen public places, or the edge of the lake. And that’s a good question…” he trails off.
“And why now? Is the timing important?” I ask him, a little freaked out, but it feels like he’s getting closer.
“I don’t know. Although it makes sense if we factor in the things Wyatt doesn’t know, like the Spirits, and your Grams. The Spirits said I knew him. With that information, it would mean the timing is important, and he didn’t make mistakes but made very intentional changes.”
Killian’s jaw ticks in frustration. He’s back to where we started.
“Keep in mind the Spirits could be referring to the one time you shook his hand at church, or he’s someone you arrested eight years ago. That’s what I mean when I say you have to be careful using their word as a foundation,” I tell him.
“I guess it’s plausible, but anything is at this point,” he says.
“There are no coincidences in Black Lake. And I have a sneaking suspicion maybe it’s linked to the reason I was sent to you.”
“I don’t know how. This guy has been killing women for years. He has never deviated from his signature until now, and you’ve never had a problem before.”
