like this. Mitch was here Sunday after our date. Two images, the first one was of three men. I’ll describe them to you later. The second one was of Mitch being attacked, beaten, and carried down the stairs. The room upstairs is his personal space and has been trashed. That’s it, and I don’t want to share with Jayne quite yet.”
“All right.” Violet pried my hand free, red half-moon circles clearly visible from where my nails had dug into her skin. “How do you know when the image happened?”
“His clothes were the same, and he had a plastic container with two pieces of apple pie in it. It was one of my purple containers.”
“Not many of those around. I’ll take a quick look upstairs and then show Jayne. Did you leave fingerprints?”
“No fingerprints. I don’t suppose we can…disturb the scene…let my fingers stroll through his lair?”
“Not on my watch. No way are we going to step on any legal toes, at least not yet.” She planted her shades over her eyes, cutting off further discussion.
I sank down on the bottom step. “Then we have to get me out of here before you notify the police and they start asking questions. There’s no way they’ll accept my hinky touch thing, and I don’t have it in me to go through a psych evaluation. I had to do enough of that when I was a kid and my parents were trying to insure I didn’t need medication or prolonged therapy.”
Jayne chose that moment to pop around the corner of the house. “What’s going on here?” Her gaze shifted between Violet and me. “You’re hiding something.”
Any attempt at denial would have been absurd, considering that both Violet and I must have looked like teens sharing an illegal substance.
Jayne stepped over me, took the stairs two at a time, but staggered to a halt when Violet clamped a hand on her shoulder. I’d never seen Violet move so fast, like one of those ninja characters.
“I haven’t checked it out,” Violet explained by way of an apology for the bruises that would surely appear on Jayne’s shoulder. “Wait. Here.”
Even I knew that wouldn’t happen. I didn’t try to stop Jayne, ignored the creak of stairs as she followed Violet. Mitch was alive. In trouble, but definitely alive, and all I cared about was finding him. Fast. My head was sorting through possible rescue strategies when Violet and Jayne joined me at the bottom of the stairs.
“He’s my brother, so I’ll report it. Besides, I want to be here when they search his study.”
“Good idea.” I added my support to Jayne’s plan before Violet got all bent out of shape about not being in control and insisted on staying at the scene.
Jayne pulled an oversized bundle of keys from her pocket and separated one off, handing it to Violet. “Go. Take my car. I’ll drive myself back in Mitch’s—” her voice broke— “truck.”
Violet eyed the two of us, and palmed the key. “Right. Call me with the name of the investigating officer, Jayne. I’ll want to check in with him later.”
Jayne dutifully nodded, crossed her arms, and began pacing, her steps uneven. The reality of the mess upstairs must have hit her hard, because her breaths were short and ragged and her eyes brimmed with tears.
“I know this is hard, Jayne, but you have to report this. Now.” Violet nudged me toward the Murano. “I want to know they’re on the way before we leave.”
Jayne pulled her cell out of a back pocket and punched in some numbers. As soon as she started describing the scene, Violet and I took off in the Murano. We were dead silent, both of us lost in thought—until my stomach began to request food. Loudly.
“Hungry are you?”
“Yeah, I am. But it doesn’t matter. The brutality, it’s…we need to find him, Violet, before they….” I couldn’t say kill him. Couldn’t even think it.
“Agreed. But we don’t have enough information to start looking yet.” She slid a sideways glance at me. “I want to get your impressions of those
“All right.” Violet pried my hand free, red half-moon circles clearly visible from where my nails had dug into her skin. “How do you know when the image happened?”
“His clothes were the same, and he had a plastic container with two pieces of apple pie in it. It was one of my purple containers.”
“Not many of those around. I’ll take a quick look upstairs and then show Jayne. Did you leave fingerprints?”
“No fingerprints. I don’t suppose we can…disturb the scene…let my fingers stroll through his lair?”
“Not on my watch. No way are we going to step on any legal toes, at least not yet.” She planted her shades over her eyes, cutting off further discussion.
I sank down on the bottom step. “Then we have to get me out of here before you notify the police and they start asking questions. There’s no way they’ll accept my hinky touch thing, and I don’t have it in me to go through a psych evaluation. I had to do enough of that when I was a kid and my parents were trying to insure I didn’t need medication or prolonged therapy.”
Jayne chose that moment to pop around the corner of the house. “What’s going on here?” Her gaze shifted between Violet and me. “You’re hiding something.”
Any attempt at denial would have been absurd, considering that both Violet and I must have looked like teens sharing an illegal substance.
Jayne stepped over me, took the stairs two at a time, but staggered to a halt when Violet clamped a hand on her shoulder. I’d never seen Violet move so fast, like one of those ninja characters.
“I haven’t checked it out,” Violet explained by way of an apology for the bruises that would surely appear on Jayne’s shoulder. “Wait. Here.”
Even I knew that wouldn’t happen. I didn’t try to stop Jayne, ignored the creak of stairs as she followed Violet. Mitch was alive. In trouble, but definitely alive, and all I cared about was finding him. Fast. My head was sorting through possible rescue strategies when Violet and Jayne joined me at the bottom of the stairs.
“He’s my brother, so I’ll report it. Besides, I want to be here when they search his study.”
“Good idea.” I added my support to Jayne’s plan before Violet got all bent out of shape about not being in control and insisted on staying at the scene.
Jayne pulled an oversized bundle of keys from her pocket and separated one off, handing it to Violet. “Go. Take my car. I’ll drive myself back in Mitch’s—” her voice broke— “truck.”
Violet eyed the two of us, and palmed the key. “Right. Call me with the name of the investigating officer, Jayne. I’ll want to check in with him later.”
Jayne dutifully nodded, crossed her arms, and began pacing, her steps uneven. The reality of the mess upstairs must have hit her hard, because her breaths were short and ragged and her eyes brimmed with tears.
“I know this is hard, Jayne, but you have to report this. Now.” Violet nudged me toward the Murano. “I want to know they’re on the way before we leave.”
Jayne pulled her cell out of a back pocket and punched in some numbers. As soon as she started describing the scene, Violet and I took off in the Murano. We were dead silent, both of us lost in thought—until my stomach began to request food. Loudly.
“Hungry are you?”
“Yeah, I am. But it doesn’t matter. The brutality, it’s…we need to find him, Violet, before they….” I couldn’t say kill him. Couldn’t even think it.
“Agreed. But we don’t have enough information to start looking yet.” She slid a sideways glance at me. “I want to get your impressions of those
Similar Books
