Right now, he had to focus on his daughters.
And the woman who had taken them away from him.
29
Ed answered the cell phone on his side of the bed before it could wake his wife or the child snuggled in the bed between them. From the size, he suspected it was one of four little boys. They had nine-year-old twins, then another boy a year younger. Ed’s grandson Matthew was the same age as his youngest son and was in his own bed down the hall.
The hair was too dark to be Matthew, though. So either James, Timothy, or Bobby.
One benefit of having a large house was plenty of bedrooms for his children and grandchildren. That didn’t help when it was storming and the kids got frightened. Usually, that was when Ed ended up on the couch, leaving Marianna with the little kickers.
For a while there, it had just been Ed, his daughter, and his grandson. Over the last few years, their family had grown.
Ed had one daughter in her early thirties—Matthew’s mother—and his wife had brought with her to their marriage seven wonderful boys whom Ed had adopted over eighteen months earlier.
In that time, Georgia had given him one beautiful granddaughter, who was now two years old, and was midway through another pregnancy.
His family.
He loved them fiercely.
He’d kill to protect them, each and every one of them—even his son-in-law, massive irritant though Hellbrook was.
When the director of the FBI received a phone call at six a.m. on his day off, it was never going to be a good thing.
It meant someone he knew was in serious trouble.
He took responsibility for the four hundred and eighty-seven members of PAVAD—from the newest intern and mail clerk, all the way through his assistant director, Fin McLaughlin.
His instincts were flaring. Telling him that something was going on. He listened quickly to the voice on the other line.
When he heard the name, he flinched.
He’d met the family before. What was going to happen now would never be easy. But it had to be done. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
By the time he disconnected, Marianna was waking, snuggling their son close. The kid in their bed was his youngest. Bobby was plagued by nightmares and still looked for his parents at night, especially when it stormed.
His thoughts landed on another child, a year or so younger than his son. Fear for that child, one he had met on a few occasions, had him making a quick decision. If it was Bobby or one of the other kids he loved, Ed would want the best there to help find him.
It was his day off, but there would be time to relax when this was over.
The little girl’s face flashed into his mind. She was just a baby. This…she didn’t deserve this.
“Mari...” He leaned over and kissed her quickly. No matter what Ed had going on with the bureau, he would always stop and show her how much he loved her. Show her how blessed he was to have her in his life.
Because he knew just how blessed he was.
“What is it?”
“There’s been a murder.” He explained the details quickly, quietly, mindful of the still-sleeping boy in the bed behind them. Marianna would have to get the kids up and moving in the next half hour, to get them to school on time. Then... “I’m going in. I’ll text you the address when I get there.”
“I’ll call in my team. As soon as I drop the boys off, I’ll join you there.” She slipped skinny arms around him. “We’ll manage this, Ed. I promise.”
He just buried his hands in her rich, dark hair and held her for as long as he possibly could. And he wondered.
Just what had happened out there last night to cause this.
30
It was the photographs that caught Jac’s attention first. Always.
No matter what crime scene she worked, it was the photographs of the victims that she studied first.
Photographs were windows into the victims’ souls, after all.
Her eyes focused on the victim’s face first, in the wedding photo that took center stage on the wall, as grief threatened to freeze her where she stood.
She had seemed content in her marriage, thrilled with her children. She didn’t work outside the home, but she’d mentioned volunteer work through a church and at the school to Jac a few times before. And flowers.
Rachel had loved flowers. She spoke so animatedly about mums and tulips and gladiolas. Her passion. A passion Rachel and Jac had shared.
It was Rachel.
Jac shouldn’t have been called to this scene.
The local police officer who had let her in had checked her creds and told her to step inside after she put on the familiar paper booties and gloves.
He’d told her the director of PAVAD was waiting for her.
Inside.
She’d already found Ed Dennis and spoken with him.
Jac’s name and address had been stuck to a post note prominently displayed on the refrigerator.
Director Dennis had wanted to know why.
He wanted to know what she knew about the family. Wanted to know how she was connected to Paul and Rachel Sturvin. If she knew anything of them outside of Brynlock.
She would.
Before the next day was over, she would know everything about them that she could.
Her first stop was the hallway.
Rachel had fallen in the hallway.
Rachel’s hand was stretched out in front of her. Like she was reaching.
Toward her daughters’ rooms.
Or for help. Jac’s throat threatened to close as she imagined the last thoughts Rachel might have had.
For her daughters. It would have been for her daughters. Just as Jac’s would have been for Emery, Max, Nat, and Miranda.
The ones she loved.
Jac crossed her arms over her chest to make herself as small as possible as she walked carefully around the area the forensics teams had sectioned off. Hugged the walls. There was a twelve-inch-wide path around the woman’s body.
Around…Rachel.
Rachel Sturvin lay dead in her recently recarpeted hallway floor.
Jac had seen more bodies than she wanted to count, but this...
This was different.
This
