Page 70

“I think it makes her feel better that maybe she was just dealing with a garden variety creep, not a serial killer,” Roy added. “She took the news well considering I just told her her case is likely gonna remain unsolved.”

I tilted my head sideways. My lungs filled with ash.

“Mina?” Roy said. “You okay?”

Was I okay? No, I was not okay.

“Is that the only photo you have of those?” I asked.

Roy touched his arrow key and flipped to another view of a pair of sapphire-blue panties edged with lace. There was a large tear in one band of lace along the right hip. I closed my eyes, still hearing the fabric rip.

There was a matching bra. He bought them in a little boutique.

Roy’s phone rang. He answered it while I stared at that screen.

“Mina, I’ve got to hit the road. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Then he left me alone in his office. My teeth chattered. I felt frozen to the spot. No. How could it be? Except it was. The panties Corrine Egan brought in to be logged into evidence didn’t belong to her.

They were mine.

THIRTY

CORRINE

His texting didn’t stop. I read this one at least twenty times.

I’m not angry. I’ve never stopped thinking about you.

Things never should have ended the way they did. I never should have let you go. I should have come after you. I will now. You’ll know when it’s time.

I love you. Never doubt it.

I put my phone back on the charger. He was right, but not the way he thought. I did know when it was time.

Now.

Before, I had been too shy. Too afraid. In that, Sylvie was right. I let other people do too much for me. Not anymore. All of that would change. Today.

They said it would rain tomorrow. The biggest storm of the summer. There was an urgent knock on my door. My heart nearly pounded straight out of my chest. I could live on the next few minutes for the rest of my life. Just his reaction when he saw me. When he knew what I was willing to do for him. For us.

I straightened the table settings, flicking a crumb off the edge. I moved the cream and sugar to the center next to the bouquet of roses I’d arranged myself. I checked my lip gloss in the hallway mirror and fixed a smile on my face as I opened my door to greet him. My heart. He smelled just the same. His smoldering dark eyes bored into mine.

“You’re right on time. I brewed the coffee dark just the way you like it,” I said, smiling. I could barely catch my breath. It would only take a second or two, then he wouldn’t be able to resist touching me. My body ached for him and he knew it.

He looked past me into the apartment. “Don’t worry,” I said. “We’re alone. Did you park where I told you? No one will see you. I promise.”

“We don’t have long.” His eyes smoldered as he came inside.

THIRTY-ONE

MINA

Nothing made sense. Why would Corrine Egan have a pair of my underwear? I remembered placing that underwear in the hamper, blushing as I noticed the tear. I knew they’d gone missing. It had only been an absent thought as I tucked the matching bra into my drawer. They were caught in the dryer. Or mixed in with another load I had yet to fold.

But there they were, in a labeled evidence bag brought in by Corrine Egan. A woman who once wore the exact same red ribbon as I did. If she and Lock had been together—if everything I suspected was true—they’d met years ago. Way before Lock knew me.

I couldn’t trust Lock. I didn’t even feel safe in my own home now. So this morning, I packed a bag and made reservations to stay at the Bayview resort in town.