Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 138169 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138169 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
“You’re selling me more on reaching out to him.”
“You haven’t yet?”
“No.” I shake my head, settling in to just hold her. “With this kind of investigation, you have to be delicate. Find the right moment. Considering how rarely the staff leave the big house, if he slipped out for a secret meeting, it would draw attention. I’ll have to catch him when he’s out running errands.”
“Don’t they come down for groceries and stuff sometimes?” she asks.
“The shops mostly deliver to the house, but every now and then you’ll see a maid or valet at the store.”
“Next time I’m there, I could do it.” Her voice quivers, and that anger simmering inside me burns that much deeper. “I could—you know—drop a hint. That the next time someone needs to run an errand in town, it should be him.”
“Only if you can do it without drawing suspicion. Be careful.” I kiss the top of her head, then pull back enough to look down at her. “You feeling up to more walking?”
Talia lifts her head, looking around, taking in the trees around us and the sunlight through the leaves.
It’s not hard to tell her previous enjoyment of the beauty around us is dulled, diminished.
I fucking hate Xavier even more for that, for taking the shine out of her.
“Sure,” she says, straightening her clothes and stepping back. “What are we doing out here, anyway?”
“Looking for the Jacobins’ next cook site. I caught a trail about a hundred yards back, and we’ve been following it.” Impulsively, I reach over to catch her hand, holding it tight as I turn to lead her toward a break in the trees—another bit of crushed grass and scuffed leaves showing me the way.
Rolf pants as he settles into a steady pace at my side.
“I need hard evidence I can use to get a search warrant for the Arrendell mansion. Unfortunately, your word isn’t enough, especially when we can’t confirm the camera Eustace gave Xavier is the one I’m looking for.”
Talia stays close as we squeeze through the trees. “Why are you looking for a camera? I thought it might be important, but I didn’t know you already knew there’d be one.”
“The dead hiker. Brian Newcomb.” I pause to push a low-hanging branch up so she can duck under it. “His girlfriend said he was out taking photographs, but we didn’t find a camera on his body or anywhere near where he camped. Though we retrieved his phone, there’s nothing on the camera roll that hints he uses it for his photography much. Mallory found a few selfies and did a deep dive on the data, and nothing’s been deleted recently. So I think the camera might have incriminating evidence.”
In the pocket of shadow under the boughs, her eyes almost give off their own cerulean light, wild with comprehension.
“Which means the murderer probably took it…”
“Yeah,” I confirm, leading her deeper into the trees.
We’re quiet as we walk and our hands stay locked.
It should be awkward, uncomfortable.
I’m not used to being with a woman who needs me this close when we’re together, who always wants to touch me.
Hell, you’d think I’d find it clingy and annoying, considering the women I used to date back in NYC—icy, withdrawn types who were distant by nature.
Exactly how I liked it then, their bodies freely accessible and their hearts walled away.
Not Talia.
She practically hands me her heart like it’s a kitten and begs me to be gentle.
How do I keep something so soft without breaking it?
I’m still pondering that as we break into a clearing near the crest of the hill we’re on.
Rolf’s ears perk as he turns his face up to the sun.
Even my breath catches as we turn back to look down at the splendor of the valley below.
Redhaven really is goddamned gorgeous, sitting pretty as a painting cupped in the palm of these woods.
All red gabled rooftops and steeples, its cobbled streets laid out like the spokes of a wheel. Still Lake glimmers, this shining mirror throwing back the sky’s liquid gold.
I slide my phone out and take a picture.
Something to remember this town if I leave.
When I leave.
Yeah, that’s coming.
It’s starting to get dark by the time we move on.
I start to get that tingle down the back of my neck again.
It tells me we’re close, and I slow down, creeping through the trees and holding my finger to my lips to keep quiet.
Sinking lower, I conceal myself more among the trunks, and she mimics me. Her footsteps are painfully loud as she follows, but she’s moving as quiet as she can, barely raising a whisper of noise.
There.
A break in the trees. More disturbed earth up ahead.
I motion for Talia to stay put as I slip closer, hiding behind a thick tree trunk and peering through the gap.
Right on target.
The ground slopes down to a small valley.