Page 4 of Say Now
"Dr.Payne, this is Special Agent Claire Martinez over in Montana.Your name was mentioned to me, and honestly, all the help we can get on this case to close it quickly."
"What’s the case?"Alison asked.
"A forensic psychologist," Claire said."She was found murdered.She consulted on a case a few years ago, and we think her killer is using the same M.O.as the killer from the case she consulted on.I just figured that with this being a weird one, and the victim being a forensic psychologist, you might be the best person to consult.Bring in the big guns, you know?"
Alison held the phone to her ear and thought about it.She looked across the table at Derek.He held her gaze as he considered it, too.
"Go," he told her."I’ll stay here and look into Morris Bridges.Go take care of business there, and I’ll take care of business here."
"Special Agent Martinez?"Alison said."If you can organize a ticket for me, I can be on a plane tonight.
CHAPTER TWO
Alison drove the winding mountain roads near Missoula, Montana, under the cover of darkness.The forested slopes on either side were steep—the pine and fir trees were snow-covered.The snow had stopped falling, and that which had been on the road had turned to a dark slush.Alison drove under the speed limit, feeling the car slipping ever so slightly on the tighter corners.
She glanced at the map app on her phone, which was sitting on a holder on the dashboard. The phone was hers, the car was a rental picked up at the airport.She had spoken to Special Agent Martine while at the airport waiting for her plane, and it had been decided that it was best to go straight to the crime scene to view it while it was as fresh as possible before heading to her motel for the night.
It was late, well after midnight, and the lack of traffic on the mountain road only made Alison nervous.If she broke down in the middle of nowhere, she hoped she would get reception or that someone else was out late.
And what would someone else be doing out so late?I’m visiting a murder scene.
The one thing she was glad for was the amount of snow that had fallen.It provided extra illumination for the journey to the city.
There had been no flights directly into Missoula until the morning, and it was later in the morning, but there had been a flight into Kalispell Glacier Park, which was only a two-hour drive.Alison would have liked a more direct route, but it was beautiful.
The Clark Fork River came into view, the water frozen over and glinting silver between the breaks in the trees.Rocky outcrops thrust upward above the tree line.In the distance, to the left and the right, the dark grey mountains were towering silhouettes against the black night.
Then the familiar lights of a cityscape, and Alison gripped the wheel with a little less force.She turned on the radio, not needing the extra focus to sustain her.It was what she was used to—city driving instead of mountain driving.She watched the GPS more carefully now that she was back in civilization.The sultry woman's voice led her to the west side of the city and a brick office building.
The building was dark when she got there; all the lights within were off.It was three stories tall, and there were no signs on the front to identify the offices within.The parking lot was mostly empty.Two cars sat there—one was covered in snow; the other was not.
She parked next to the one with a faint light inside, seeing a woman’s face illuminated in the glow.The woman got out when Alison parked.She carried two cups of coffee.
"Dr.Payne, I presume?"the woman asked when Alison exited her car.
Alison nodded.
"Special Agent Martinez, but you can call me Claire," she introduced, holding up the two takeout cups."The coffee’s not very hot, and I wasn’t sure if you are the type of person who wants a jolt of caffeine before getting to work or if it’ll wreak havoc with your sleep schedule."
"I had about a gallon of coffee on the drive here, and it only just kept me awake,’ Alison admitted."I’ll take some more to get me through."
The Special Agent smiled and handed one of the cups to Alison.That freed up a hand, which she stuck out—Alison took it and shook it.
"That car?"Alison asked, jerking her head to the car that had obviously been parked there for a while.
"It belongs to a guy who works here.Apparently, the battery died, but he’s not due back in for a couple of days, and he’s planning on returning with one of those portable chargers to get some juice back into it and get it back home."
Alison nodded.
"You ready to go in?"Claire asked.
"Lead the way."
Claire Martinez was around thirty with long blonde hair tied up into a ponytail, soft features, and bright eyes, despite the hour.She was attractive, but Alison noticed that the woman hadn’t smiled once since she arrived.It felt like a defense mechanism.Alison knew what it was like to work as a woman in a male-dominated field.You had to work hard to be taken seriously, and Alison hazarded a guess that Special Agent Martinez did that by looking serious at all times.
"How was the drive through the mountains?"Claire asked as they walked together toward the front door.
The air was cold.It bit at Alison, but not enough to chill her after being warmed in the rental car over the past two hours.
