Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Surprised and a bit concerned, Sienna nodded as she stepped aside with Ingrid.
“I just wanted to say good work on this case. I’m confident we’re going to unravel all of this thanks to your and Kat’s collective brainpower and creative thinking.”
“Thank you, Sergeant,” Sienna said, grateful for the compliment but still a bit confused. Why didn’t you pull Kat aside too?
Ingrid raised one sharp brow as though she had read Sienna’s mind. “I also wanted to tell you that I looked into precisely why you were being hustled out of the NYPD.”
She felt a sinking in her stomach. “Oh, I see.”
“And I hired you for the very reason they were going to let you go. It’s why I wanted you on our team.”
Sienna blinked. “Oh,” she breathed. “I see.”
Ingrid’s lip quirked, and she gave a quick nod. “I’ll let you get back to work. I’m going to go check out the scene inside.” With that, she turned and left Sienna where she stood.
Sienna watched her leave, a warm glow emanating from inside, the feeling of what she could only describe as justice rising within. She breathed deeply but then pushed that aside. She’d have time to bask in it later. Ingrid was right—what they’d just learned was significant. And it meant that the journal writings Danny Boy, a.k.a. Daniel Hastings, a.k.a. Oliver Finley, had given them were somewhat true.
She worried her lip, immersing her mind in the information. Although . . . if he’d been abducted, how was it that his mother was with them too? Had his father remarried? Was “Mother” his stepparent? Kat was near the porch railing, writing something in her notebook. She looked up as Sienna joined her. “Is everything okay?”
Sienna smiled. “Yes, all good.” She was sure Ingrid would repeat the compliment she’d given Sienna about their work to Kat later. She leaned against the porch railing. “Regarding this case, you know what’s weird?”
“What isn’t weird?”
Sienna let out a small agreeable chuff. “What’s weird is that the bed the dead body upstairs, presumably ‘Father,’ was left in, the place where he rotted and turned to bones, it was a single bed.”
Kat cast her eyes to the side. “Hmm. Yes, I see what you’re saying. If he shared a room with Mother, where did she sleep?”
“Right. I mean, there are a couple of other rooms upstairs, but from all appearances, Father was a single man.”
“Then again, if you were Mother, would you have shared a bed with that dude?”
“I don’t know. It seems like Mother did whatever Mother wanted to do at a certain point, but before that?”
“Detective Kozlov?” one of the POs who’d helped them clear the house earlier called as he approached. “Can I get you to sign off on a few things?”
“Sure.” Kat accompanied the officer back inside the house, and Sienna brought her phone out. There were two texts from Gavin that she hadn’t seen, as the last several hours had been spent trying to figure out what the heck they’d walked into.
She stepped to the side of the porch, out of the way of the steady stream of law enforcement and criminalists going in and out of the house, and dialed Gavin’s number.
“Hey,” he said, picking up right away. “I saw on the news there’s something going on in Old Northwest. Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. We’re pretty sure we found our suspect.”
“Danny Boy?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“You apprehended him?”
“No, he wasn’t here, but he left plenty of evidence.”
“Oh.” There was a pregnant pause. She knew he wanted to ask for more details but was glad he didn’t. She couldn’t share all of them anyway, but she also didn’t have the clearest picture of what was going on. “I get it if you can’t—it’s been a long day. But if you’re up for dinner, I’d love to have you here. You haven’t seen my place yet.”
She smiled, letting out a soft breath. My place. The sudden yearning to be at this unseen place immediately, snuggled up in his arms, almost knocked her off her feet. She steeled her spine. There was work to do, and they had time for that. So much time. “I’d love that,” she said, glancing at the door, where Kat and the PO she’d been signing paperwork for were coming out. “It might be a little late. Will you keep it warm for me?”
“As long as it takes,” he said softly.
She smiled again. “Okay. Oh, hey, have you talked to your mom?”
“I texted her earlier after I got your message, and she texted me back, but I haven’t spoken to her. Apparently, she came down with a bug or something. I haven’t gotten hold of Argus yet.”
Her brow dipped, but she felt better. No wonder she’d seemed flushed when she’d left Sienna’s house earlier. She’d try Argus shortly. Right now, she needed to focus on work and on apprehending the man who’d already murdered three people and might be setting up the clues that would lead them to another. “Okay. Will you text me when you do talk to them?”