Page 14 of Little Twisted Things

“A cheating history professor was found murdered. Twenty-two stab wounds, Elijah.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No. I’m not. I have to go see Captain Rivera.”

“He’s not going to be happy that you’re showing up to his house on a Saturday.”

“He’ll get over it.” I slung my purse over my shoulder and raced out of the station.

I pulled up to the house and rang the doorbell.

“Paige.” Miranda smiled. “It’s good to see you.”

“Hi, Miranda. Is the Captain here?”

“He sure is. Come in. He’s in the kitchen eating breakfast.”

“Thanks.” I smiled. I walked into the kitchen and found him sitting at the table.

“Paige, what the hell are you doing here?”

“Sorry to just drop by like this, but I need to fly down to the Keys.”

His brows furrowed. “Why?”

“Luke called me and said they found a body in the state park this morning. He’s a history professor over at the Florida Keys University. Married, three daughters, and cheating on his wife. Cause of death was twenty-two stab wounds.”

“No shit,” he said. “Twenty-two, you say?”

“It’s not a coincidence, Captain. It has to be Katherine. I know it. I can feel it.”

“You said she disappeared without a trace.”

“I know, but I have to go down there and check it out. Please, Captain.”

He stared at me, and I could see the wheels spinning in his head.

“What about your cases here?”

“Elijah can handle them.”

He set his fork down and sighed. “Fine. Take some time off and go. But on your dime. The department isn’t paying.”

“Deal.” I smiled.

As soon as I arrived home, I got online and booked the first flight out of New York. Twenty-two stab wounds. It wasn’t a coincidence.

I hadn’t thought about Katherine Tate since she disappeared. I’d forced myself not to. That investigation consumed me from the day we found the first murdered victim. The evidence. The bodies. The lies. Every road eventually led back to her. Then she vanished. One day she was here. The next. Nothing. No credit cards. No phone. No car. No passport activity. No body. It was as if she fell off the face of the earth. But Katherine didn’t strike me as someone who would just disappear. She wanted answers. She fought for them. She wanted justice. She wanted closure. She didn’t fit the profile, but somewhere along the blurred lines, she did.

Maybe I’d been chasing the wrong question. Maybe it wasn’t about where Katherine went, but who disappeared with her. I opened the file I kept at home and studied the notes. There were still too many holes. Too many things that never made sense. And too many answers that died the day Katherine vanished.

Now, there was a man who was found murdered beneath a state park tree in Key West with twenty-two stab wounds. And for the first time since this all started, the ghost was knocking on my door once again.

7

Dahlia

The house was quiet. Alex left for work, and today was my day off from the gallery. I brewed a cup of coffee and walked into the living room, pulling the blinds open to let the sun filter in. A silver SUV slowly pulled into Kris’s driveway. I was sure it was another friend dropping by to check on her. I watched closely as the woman stepped out.