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)
“What’s that?” She points at something in the upper right corner.
I frown.
It looks like an account management icon, next to an email address. I read the address out loud, cocking my head.
“SighinBrian. Huh. It’s an email.” As I tap the icon, the account settings open, and I inhale, going stiff. “Looks like it was synched to the cloud.”
Talia blinks at me, perking up a little.
“So the data was backed up? Oh, but we don’t have access, do we? Can you get like, I don’t know, a warrant or a subpoena?”
“No need.” My determination hardens. “Because I know who might be able to get us in.”
If we’d been an hour later, we might have missed Ariana Lewis.
When she opens the door to her room at The Rookery, it looks vastly different from last time. Restored to hotel condition, all her belongings—and his—packed up and piled next to the door, anything personal swept clean.
She’s dressed plainly in jeans and a cardigan.
It’s not hard to tell the grief has been taking its toll on her, judging from the creases under her eyes to the way she’s shed weight. But she still finds a pale smile for me as her eyes warm with recognition.
“Officer Ainsley,” she whispers, looking past me at Talia, who wouldn’t even entertain staying behind. “And girlfriend?”
“Um, no, we’re—” Talia makes a flustered sound.
“Yes,” I cut her off. “Ariana Lewis, Talia Grey. Talia, Ariana.” I can’t explain our relationship to Talia, let alone to Ariana, and I’m not about to try.
This is easier.
That’s why I say it.
That’s the only damn reason.
Even as Talia goes silent, staring at me with her wide-eyed, delicate blush, I move on quickly, offering Ariana my practiced Officer Friendly smile.
“Sorry to bother you, but I’m glad we caught you. I know this is a hard subject, but you may be able to help us with Brian’s case.” I stop short of saying death, a word the grieving never want to hear.
Ariana’s smile fades, hurt flickering in her eyes, but she nods and steps back. “Come in. If I can help, it’s my pleasure. I just need to make my flight in six hours.”
I cock my head. “Your sister didn’t make it?”
“Oh, she couldn’t find anyone to watch the kids, so she’s been yelling at me nonstop to come home ASAP.” That weak smile flutters over her lips again.
She leads us inside, gesturing to the dining table. While Talia and I sit, Ariana starts making tea. She seems like the type who needs to keep her hands busy.
“So what’s this about?” she asks.
I nod at Talia.
Right on cue, Talia flips open her messenger bag and retrieves the camera, now wrapped up in an evidence bag, and deposits it on the table. Ariana looks at it and freezes, dropping the teakettle she’d been setting down on the counter with a clatter.
“You… you found his camera?” she asks, sounding so lost, taking a step closer to the table.
“We did.” I conveniently leave out how or why it’s in an evidence bag. No point in hurting this poor girl with what-ifs without good reason. “However, it was damaged in the fall, and the data was corrupted.” The lie works for now. “We’re working on piecing together everything that happened before the incident, and being able to access those files would help fill in some gaps for the medical examiner’s report. It looks like he had a cloud backup with his email address. You wouldn’t happen to know the password, would you?”
“…I don’t know. Is it his iCloud account?” she asks.
“I’m not sure. It seems like it might be Google, judging by the email address.”
Ariana just stares at the camera like it might magically bring her dead boyfriend back.
Talia gives me a worried look, then says, “It’s cool if you can’t remember. I know it’s hard for you right now.”
See? I knew bringing her with me was the right idea.
Part of me wants to be the man Talia brings out, who was able to be so kind to Ariana the last time I was here.
Only, right now I smell blood.
I’m all sharp edges.
If I’m not careful, I’ll be a spinning knife, cutting everyone around me.
Ariana looks at Talia for a few seconds, heavy with pain. She’s a small woman, but her sadness takes up so much space.
“Talia, right?” Ariana asks. “Have… have you ever been in love?”
Talia makes a flustered sound.
There’s a weird feeling as she looks down at the table. Her gaze darts over the smooth surface like she’s looking for an answer. The only place she won’t look is at me.
“Yes,” she finally answers.
Fuck.
Does she mean me?
How could she, when I’ve been such a prick?
Ariana’s gaze flicks to me before snapping back to Talia with a worn smile.
“Then you know,” she says. “You know that when you’re in love, you feel like your world revolves around them. Even things that don’t have anything to do with them are just like that, in your head. All the little things. Noticing something your boyfriend would like in a store or thinking of something random and funny and wanting to share a laugh. Naming your pet after their childhood stuffed animal. Or… or…” She swallows, her throat working so tightly it’s easy to tell she’s trying hard not to cry. “…or using their nicknames or birthdays as passwords. That kind of thing.” Her smile widens, but it’s trembling and heavy and hurt. “My email password is MySighingBriBri-something. How dumb is that?”