He reached for the shovel and pierced the mound of sand with it, tossing what he scooped on top of her. He did this over and over again as her body slowly disappeared into the sand.
And when done, he took a step back, staring at his work as a whole.
He smiled again. She was nowhere in sight, and he was certain no one would ever find her.
Chapter One
One week later
Tara flinched as another roll of thunder rumbled. She had just placed the casserole she had made onto the table, but no one was sitting at it. John and his parents stood by the window, staring out with eager eyes.
“It’s getting pretty bad out there,” John said as he turned back to the table, letting the curtain fall.
The storm had just started brewing within the past hour. It was a low-grade hurricane that had just been upgraded from a tropical storm that very morning.
The dinner had been planned before there was even a mention of the storm, but after they heard of it, Tara extended the invitation for them to stay over. After all, John’s parents’ condo was located right along the Potomac River—a flood zone.
John’s mother, Claire, was still staring out the window when John and his father, Tommy, sat back down at the dinner table.
“Got any beer?” Tommy asked as he pulled in his chair, his round belly grazing the edge of the table as his deep-set eyes scanned the room for a sign of any.
John began to stand up, but Tara was quicker.
“I got it,” she said as she placed a hand on John’s shoulder, causing him to settle back down in his seat.
Tara was always well prepared for when his parents came. She always carefully chose a dish they would all enjoy, and she always had Tommy’s beer of choice. One thing she had learned very clearly over the years was that once Tommy liked something, he never wanted anything different. He was the type of man who would buy the same pair of shoes over and over again, each time they wore out. And he was certainly the type of man who only liked one brand of beer—Sam Adams.
Tara grabbed one from the fridge and placed it on the table in front of him. He thanked her as she settled down in a chair across from him.
“I hope this clears up by morning,” Claire finally said with concern as she too moved away from the window. “Do you still have work in the morning?” she asked, turning to John as she pulled out her chair and took a seat at the table too.
“They’re letting me work from home.”
His mother nodded. “I just hope this doesn’t ruin any other plans,” she added casually as she reached for Tara’s casserole with her long, bony fingers.
Awkwardness momentarily swept through the room, and John and his father shot Claire a quick look, as if she had said something she shouldn’t. But then they looked toward Tara and their eyes quickly fell.
John reached for his water glass, taking a sip. “Well, the only plans I have other than work is band practice, and it’s not a big deal if I have to cancel.”
A look of confusion momentarily crossed Claire’s face. But then it just as quickly vanished, as if she suddenly understood something he couldn’t say. She nodded.
It was certainly true that John did have band practice. Music was something he got back into recently. He had played drums in college, but that was over four years ago, and then life had gotten in the way. John had started his Master’s in the city, while Tara started working in the NYPD before starting her training at Quantico two years later to join the FBI, where she now worked as a general special agent for the BAU. There had always been something pulling him away from his drums—earning a living, soaking up the time with Tara before she left—but now their lives were settled, his more so than Tara’s. After meeting some local friends who needed a drummer for their classic rock cover band, John and Tara agreed that it would be good for him—that it would be a good distraction if Tara had to get up and leave again on assignment—and it also added excitement to his life that he had been missing for quite some time.
But Tara knew very well that band practice was not what Claire was referring to. Normally, Tara would ask what was meant by her comment, but she had sensed it was not something she should question. In fact, she had this strange feeling for the past few weeks––that all three of them knew something she didn’t.
It had all started with John acting odd. He didn’t want her to look at his phone, and he would step out of the room when certain people called––including his mother. Meanwhile, Claire had been smiling way more often than usual, which made Tara suspicious. She had always been exceptionally kind, but Tara knew that when Claire held information, she showed it in everything she did, and lately she looked as if she was ready to burst at the seams.
The only person who was acting normal was Tommy, but he was always mostly quiet, often overpowered by Claire. But John and Claire’s behavior was enough for Tara to suspect that a proposal might be on the horizon. And while it certainly excited her, the timing made her uneasy, and she didn’t quite understand why John would think it was good timing either.
She wasn’t sure if she could handle the pressures of planning a wedding right now. She had just finished her first big case only a month ago, when she had come face-to-face with the Appalachian Trail Killer, barely escaping with her life. And while her arm that he had slashed had healed, she was still recovering emotionally.
