Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 130159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Slowly, he nodded and faced her. “And when the threats started, that’s who I assumed he meant to hurt. I stopped investigating in September because Tristan had just been born, and Autumn was overwhelmed. Being a new mom was more…decision-making than she was used to. She got mastitis and had to go to the hospital for a few days until the infection eased up. My mom helped me juggle the baby while my wife healed, but work stopped until our family got back to normal.”
“You hadn’t received any threats yet?” Heavenly asked.
“Directly? No. But the witnesses being wiped out were a message for me. I knew that.”
“Yet you picked up the case again.” Beck raised a brow.
“I told myself to quit, that it was getting dangerous. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. In late October, I started in again, right where I’d left off.”
Heavenly gasped. “Seth…”
“I began receiving threats immediately. Direct ones, in writing. But since the killer had always targeted the ‘problem’ and never their family, it didn’t occur to me…” He shook his head. “I’m sure that sounds stupid, but I was young and cocky. I thought I was somewhere between untouchable and invincible. I had a gun and a badge and a whole police force behind me. Even if I wasn’t the most liked detective—a lot of guys with more seniority thought I’d only been promoted because of pure, old-fashioned nepotism, thanks to my dad’s best friend, Gene, pulling the right strings—I was convinced the precinct would want to catch this killer. Any decent cop would, right?”
Beck frowned. “They didn’t?”
Seth shrugged. “They probably did, but my cases started piling up, and the brass made it clear that my first responsibility was to the new investigations, not the one least likely to be solved. After all, the department looked bad if I didn’t get someone in jail and on the DA’s docket fast. But that still didn’t stop me. I started using days off, taking vacation time… I was obsessed. The answer was right there. I could feel it. So yeah, I laughed at the first note that warned me to back off. I ignored the second one that told me I’d be sorry if I didn’t focus my attention on something else. In fact, the killer might as well have thrown down a gauntlet. No way was I giving up.”
“Did you tell anyone about the threats?”
“Sure, my old beat partner, Tony. And, of course, Gene. They both insisted I take the threats seriously.”
“But you didn’t?” Beck crossed his arms, almost angry.
Despite the fact Heavenly knew this was all in the past, fear for Seth assailed her. He’d thumbed his nose at danger and been incredibly reckless. Even if he hadn’t known the killer would come after his family, he’d known full well a madman was coming for him. And he hadn’t cared.
“I couldn’t,” Seth shot back. “I felt like I owed the victim…”
“Why? You were responsible for other victims, too.” Heavenly shook her head, shocked to find herself fighting tears. “And your safety mattered.”
“It should have. I was a new father, and Autumn relied on me in every way—financially, mentally, and emotionally. But I was too driven to just give up, so I trashed the third note that came in mid-December. By then, someone, probably the killer, was following me. I acted like I wasn’t aware and tried to lead him into a dark fucking alley where I could rough him up for answers. But it was like this perp was a half-step ahead of me. Just before I’d corner him, he’d disappear.”
Heavenly sat up straighter, her eyes going wide. Had Seth been insane? “Did he follow you home? Is that what happened?”
Seth shook his head. “No. But that was another reason I never imagined he’d come after my wife and son. Anyway, I’d taken the week before Christmas off that year. The holiday fell on Sunday, and since I had the least seniority, I was scheduled to be back on duty by then. So Saturday, Christmas Eve, was my last day off. I’d been up half the night, thinking. I had a hunch, so I got up early, kissed my wife and son, and told them I’d be back that evening to take them to my mom’s for family dinner. She and the baby were planning to go to her parents’ place for Christmas.”
“You didn’t spend your last day off with your family?” Heavenly didn’t understand.
Clearly, Beck didn’t, either. “You spent it chasing ghosts instead?”
Seth closed his eyes. “Yeah. And believe me, no one regrets it more than me. If I had a do-over… Would it have changed the outcome? I don’t know. Maybe I was already in too deep. Probably. Even Liam’s mom called me from Ireland a few days prior to warn me I was into something too dangerous. Back then, I thought her psychic shtick was shit. So that morning I was stupidly ignorant of the tragedy about to unfold.