“I want a second opinion,” Ryan said with a shrug. “And I know how into true crime stuff you were in high school.” Ryan’s lips twisted. “I already talked to my partner.”
“I don’t understand all the paperwork.” Liv peered at the screen, then looked at Ryan with a furrow between her brows.
“The patrol officer takes the initial report.” Ryan talked her through the form. “In this case, he noted it looked like a probable suicide.”
“She didn’t —”
“I know.” Ryan cut her off.
Liv stared at her.
“I just can’t prove it.” Ryan let out a sigh, her hands going to her temple in a display of helplessness. “There’s not a ton that says it’s a suicide, but there's nothing definitive that says it’s not.”
“Then why —”
“Did the Chief go out and say it’s a suicide?” There was a wry twist to Ryan’s lips. “Elections are coming up.”
“Fucking politics,” Liv muttered. She didn’t swear often, but this deserved it. She was quiet for a moment, thinking it over. “What next?”
Ryan looked at her, seeming to consider her question. “I don’t know.”
11
Sunday 2nd October; 10am
“Have you looked into Cairo’s ex-boyfriend?” Liv tapped the pen Ryan had given her to her lips. It was a gesture Ryan used to do a lot in high school, one Liv had picked up.
There was a smile on Ryan’s lips when Liv looked at her. That connection was still there, the thing that had pushed them together. But Liv hadn’t let herself change. She was still that person who had pulled them apart, and it wasn’t fair to saddle Ryan with that.
“Charles?” Ryan flipped through some of the papers. She had taken a copy of her case file notes and spread it out over the desks so they could reference them. “Not yet. According to Steven they hadn’t talked in quite some time.”
“There’s a rumor Cairo was cheating on Steven with Charles,” Liv said, thinking back to the morning she and River had been hanging out in the coffee shop.
Ryan’s eyebrows were raised. “Really?” She sounded doubtful.
Liv nodded. “They broke up a few months before she started dating Steven, but according to the local gossip, they’ve been seen together once or twice.” River had kept her updated.
“That doesn’t equal cheating,” Ryan pointed out.
“It doesn’t mean they weren’t,” Liv countered.
A stalemate hung between them for a moment, then Ryan gave in with a smile. That smile turned to a frustrated frown. “Not that I can do anything with this,” she muttered.
“You could go chat with him,” Liv suggested.
“The investigation is closed,” Ryan said with tight lips.
“If I go with you, it’s just a friendly chat.” Liv warmed to the idea. “I’m a civilian, so you’re not investigating.”
Ryan opened her mouth as if to protest, then stopped. Liv could tell she was considering it.
“We need to find proof that she was murdered.” Liv’s voice was honest. They had to. If they didn’t, then Cairo’s death was going to be ruled a suicide and fade into the dust.
“Or prove it’s a suicide,” Ryan pointed out.
“Or that,” Liv allowed. But she doubted that was going to be the case.
Ryan paused. “Are you okay?”
Liv looked away. She had dreamt of Cairo last night. “Yeah.”
“Liv.” Ryan’s voice was gentle.
Liv sighed. “I don’t think I’m supposed to be okay.” Her gaze was distant. “Do you ever get used to that?”
Ryan shook her head. “If I ever get used to death, I’ll quit my job.”
Liv looked up at her, surprised. Ryan was looking back at her, still close in their chairs. Liv could feel herself leaning in, her body thrumming in time with Ryan’s.
Then she caught her foot on one of the chair feet and almost fell into Ryan. “Oops.” Liv flushed.
“It’s okay.” Ryan helped her sit back up.
“We should go,” Liv said in the awkward silence that followed.
“I’ll drive.” Ryan picked up her car keys.
“Not your patrol car.” Liv looked at her.
“My regular car,” Ryan said with a hint of exasperation. “I do drive it on occasion.”
“Is it…” Liv trailed off, following Ryan as they headed out of the house. She hadn’t been paying attention when she got there, but there was the dark blue Jeep sitting in the driveway. “That car is still running?”
Ryan reached out and patted it. “I take good care of it.”
Liv tried not to look at the backseat before she got in the front. There was plenty of things they had done in that car.
Would she really be able to move on from Ryan if she was constantly surrounded by reminders from her past? Not that she had a choice. But Ryan had looked at her like that, and there was still something between them.
Maybe it was just wishful thinking.
Ryan started the drive without speaking. Both of them knew where Charles lived. It was about a ten minute drive, which was both not long enough and forever.
“Did you meet Cairo’s cousin?” Ryan was the one that broke the silence.
Liv looked at her, startled. “Who?”
“Veronica.”
The named jarred Liv’s memory, and the blonde-haired woman rose in her mind. “Oh. Her.”
“Was she around when we were little?” There was a cautious curiosity to Ryan’s words.
“Not that I remember. Why?” Liv was curious now. Was it something to do with the case, or was Ryan asking for other reasons?
“She owns the bar now,” Ryan said.
That did surprise Liv. “She didn’t say anything.” Liv frowned. “I don’t remember seeing her around much.”
“She seemed to hide in the back a lot.” There was the same skepticism Liv felt reflected in Ryan’s voice.
Before they could continue the conversation, Liv pointed out Charles’s house. Despite the unkempt state of the inhabitant, the little grey house was well-kept with a lush lawn and cobblestone pathways.
“Here we go,” Ryan muttered under her breath.
Liv hid a smile. She led the way up to the front door, pressing the doorbell and hearing it echo inside the house. Her heart was starting to beat faster and her palms were sweaty.
The mystery-book reader in her mind remarked that was why
