Page 110 of Blake

“You cooked?”

“Does cereal count?”

She laughed on her way out of bed.

Twenty minutes later, Blake stood in the farmhouse kitchen with a mug of coffee in one hand and his phone in the other. The house was quiet except for Devon moving around upstairs and Willow’s occasional meow.

Emmett had checked in shortly after seven that morning. Nothing unusual had been reported overnight, and he’d handed off the exterior security to Gwen and Jethro. Draven was still out there, too, and Lucas was manning the office.

Blake had argued that he could take a shift himself, but Emmett informed him, in no uncertain terms, that he was to stay inside with Devon.

For once, Blake hadn’t argued very hard. Now he was staring at his phone, studying the latest information on Meridian.

The phone rang as Lincoln Boone’s name appeared.

Blake bypassed the usual greeting, going instead with, “Please tell me you have good news.”

“Depends on your definition of ‘good’.”

He set his coffee down. “What happened?”

“They found Scott Mitchell.”

Blake’s stomach sank. “Alive?”

“No. Body turned up early this morning. Maintenance crew discovered him behind an abandoned commercial building in Northeast D.C.”

“Cause of death?”

“Still waiting for the new M.E. to make the call, but I wanted to let you know before the news got out.”

Blake rubbed his forehead and sighed.

Lincoln spoke up again. “Listen, I’ve asked Scarlett O’Neill to take a look at the evidence. She was already at the medical examiner’s office this morning consulting on an unrelated case, and agreed to help.”

“Scarlett?”

“Yeah, Dr. O’Neill. You’ve met her, right?”

“Briefly.”

Back when Janie had been a killer’s target.

“She’s the best forensics experts I’ve ever worked with. If there’s something unusual about Mitchell’s death, she’ll find it.”

At this point, Blake was willing to try anything if it meant ensuring Devon’s safety.

“What’s the plan?”

“I’m bringing Scarlett to the safe house this afternoon. We need to go over a few things with you and Devon.”

He frowned. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but why not over the phone?”

The fewer people traveling in and out of here, the better.

“Because we’ve got some evidence I’d rather discuss in person.”

Blake couldn’t tell if that was good news or bad.”