Olly looked at Knox and saw he was as shocked and horrified as he was. It was what Olly feared the most. The carved letters in pale skin.
Inca.
Inca drove home alone, despite Tommaso’s insistence that he should come with her. She had gently declined. “I have so much to do, Tommaso, to get back to work and find a new place. Thank you for everything.”
She’d been at the Winter home for two days before the weather had settled enough to return home, but she had to promise Tommaso she would keep the dress he had bought her and wear it to dinner that night. Smiling, she kissed him goodbye. “I’ll see you tonight.”
He slid his hands around her face. “I’ll miss you.”
She opened the door to the Sakura to find it busy and Nancy and Scarlett run off their feet. “I’ll be down in one minute,” she promised them before running upstairs to change.
“More like ten minutes,” Nancy grumbled when she returned, but she kissed Inca’s cheek. “How was your sojourn at the billionaire’s mansion?”
Inca rolled her eyes. “Very pleasant, thank you. We burned one hundred dollar notes for warmth and made the servants race naked in the snow so we could bet actual gold bullion on them.”
“Sarcastic minx.” Nancy tried not to grin. “Get to work.”
“Yes, boss.”
Apparently, the entire town of Willowbrook had been going stir crazy at home during the storm and they had all descended on the teahouse that day. Inca, Scarlett, and Nancy didn’t get a break all day, and when evening rolled around, they were all exhausted. As they were closing, Olly and Knox came in. Inca locked the door behind them. Both men looked shattered.
“What’s going on?”
Inca went to make them some hot sandwiches as they told the women about the new murder victim. Nancy watched them carefully. “There’s something else you’re not telling us.”
Olly sighed and Knox looked uncomfortable. “You all better sit down.”
The woman exchanged glances but sat down as requested. Olly took a deep breath in. “The body we found, and the one found in Seattle … both had been stabbed to death and then mutilated. A name had been carved into the dead women’s stomachs. A warning. A threat.”
“What name?”
Inca already felt a heavy dread settle over her as both Olly and Knox turned to her. “Just say it,” she said in a low voice and Olly nodded.
“I’m so sorry, Inca. Yes. It was your name.”
Inca put her head in her hands. Nancy looked shocked and sick. “Are you sure whoever it was, meant …?” She nodded towards her daughter. Olly patted her hand.
“No, we can’t be sure, of course. It’s just, with the ethnicity of the victims, and the location of the deaths, and the relative uniqueness of your name, Inks, especially in the county, we have to assume that it could be a death threat.”
Inca threw up her hands. “But, why? I don’t think I have any enemies.”
“Could be someone who’s fixated on you. Anyone could have come in here and seen you. Or maybe there’s someone from your past?”
Inca shook her head, silent, shocked. “I don’t think so.” But in the back of her mind, there was something, something she had never told anyone, not even Nancy. Something she had forced herself to forget.
Olly was studying her face. “Inks, you okay? Look, we’re going to be on this twenty-four seven until this guy is caught.”
“Who says it’s a guy?” Scarlett wondered. “What if it’s a girl?”
“Unlikely,” Knox said, and Scarlett scowled at him.
“A woman is just as able to …”
“Scarlett. We know it’s a man, okay? Just leave it at that.” For once, Knox was without his usual swagger; he just looked shell-shocked. Scarlett opened her mouth to argue, but then took pity on him, squeezing his hand.
“There’s something else.” Olly looked at Nancy and Inca. “The woman who was killed in Seattle … this one was different. She was older, a former mental health patient. Inca, her resemblance to you is undeniable. We would like to take a DNA sample from you to test against the dead woman.”
Nancy gave a distressed cry and Inca stared at Olly in horror. “What?”