Page 27 of Run for Her Life
She nodded faintly. There was a sound, and a young girl, around eight years old, dawdled down the stairs. “Sweetie, why don’t you go back to your room?”
“I want pancakes,” she said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“I’ll make you some in a few minutes, honey.” The mother wiped away a stray tear. The little girl looked at the woman. When the woman gave her a little wave, she ran back up the stairs scared. The kid had a better instinct than Michael.
Suddenly, Celina shot up from the chair fighting tears. “I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I came because… I wanted to offer my condolences. I will leave you now.”
She shouldn’t have come. It wasn’t just Michael’s ghost that would haunt her—now it was also the mother’s empty eyes that would keep her awake. His mother kept calling after her but the woman stumbled out of the house, almost wheezing as guilt choked her and Michael’s ghost followed her. Some ghosts werereal. Some were just memory. And sometimes, there was no difference.
She was quitting. She was done being the exterminator. But the question was—would she be allowed to?
EIGHTEEN
Zoe thumped the microwave that had frozen on her again. When it refused to work, she gave up and decided to eat her chocolate croissant cold. She retrieved it and dug her teeth into it, savoring the sweetness exploding in her mouth.
It was a gloomy morning in Pineview Falls. The drive from the motel to the substation was riddled with water pooling in cracked pavement and mist curling off the wet asphalt. The wind rattled loose power lines, making them sway like tired ghosts. The drizzle had become a steady downpour. Zoe looked out the window into the bleak, blurry landscape. Her heart did a little rattle.
“Jackie’s step-sister, Amy, is waiting for us.” Aiden appeared next to her, stifling a yawn. His cheeks tinged pink in embarrassment.
Zoe rolled her eyes. “You’re human, Aiden. You can yawn. Didn’t bring your mattress with you?”
He rolled up his sleeves. “I’m trying to be more flexible. It’s a personal project. Do you have one?”
It looked like friendly chatter to anyone else. But Zoe didn’t miss the pointed twinkle in his eyes, the little movements he made to conceal that he wasn’t curious about her response. Sheclenched her jaw. Would he ever stop trying to psychoanalyze her?
“Aiden, we can be friends if you learn to just accept me for who I am, as supposed to trying to find someone else in me.”
His hand, pouring the coffee, stopped in midair. He took a few seconds to reply, like he was choosing his words. “Maybe I’m just getting to know you. You ever thought about that?” He walked past her.
Her face flushed. When did she become so cynical? She wore the rainbows and unicorns on her face. She brazenly showed the world that she wasn’t jaded or dulled by what her profession entailed. It wasn’t a façade; it was who she was. At least,oneof who she was. There was another person that resided inside her, hidden in the folds of her brain and screaming to be free.
“Did you find anything? From my old case files?” she asked, trying to be more professional.
“I have a lead. But I just want to confirm something.”
“Oh.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say. “But you think whoever sent me that riddle has a bone to pick with me?”
He shrugged. “What other reason could there be but to challenge you? The letter was sent to you, Storm. Not the FBI. I’m looking into it.”
“Guilt is a shitty feeling.” She squared her shoulders and headed to their makeshift office, where a thickset woman with lush, golden curls and doe-like eyes sat, playing with the strap of her purse.
“Amy, I’m Zoe Storm from the FBI and this is Dr. Aiden Wesley.”
“What is this regarding?” She shook their hands confidently.
Zoe gestured at Aiden to go ahead.
“Jackie Fink is your sister?”
“Step-sister. My father married her mother. Jackie kept her biological father’s last name. Is she okay?” She frowned.
“When was the last time you heard from her?”
“I don’t know. Last week? What’s going on?”
Zoe braced herself to break the news. “She’s missing. We have reason to believe she might be in trouble.”
“What?” Her jaw hung open and then a range of emotions crossed her face, from confusion to shock to concern. “W-why? I don’t understand.”
