Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
She met his gaze, and for a moment he thought he saw tears shimmer. But then he realized it was just the stars, mirrored in her eyes. “You’re the first person who’s ever said that to me.”
He felt sad about that, but glad as well that he’d said it and it’d meant something to her. And he wondered if she had anyone in her life who she felt comfortable discussing her memories with when they came up. And if not, how painful must that be?
They were both quiet for a moment as he moved his mind back to what they’d been discussing. “The man who died . . .”
“The one I killed?”
“Yes. Who was he? His identity didn’t provide any information?” He could’ve looked up the case over the years. He’d thought about it on occasion and rejected the idea. There were so many shows and specials about the crime, but he ignored them and felt guilt about that for some inexplicable reason. But he told himself he deserved to leave that all behind because, initially, it had derailed his life trajectory. He could see now that the army had been the best place for him. He’d grown personally and cognitively far beyond what he might have had he just gone to college.
“If anything, his identity added credence to the theory that it was random. He was a lowlife named Collin Smith, but he went by Trig for reasons that were never made clear to me. The other man he called AJ, who got away, was never identified. But Collin Smith dabbled in drugs and all kinds of petty crime. He had an arrest record dating back to when he was Cyrus’s age. The police searched his home, and looked at his phone logs, but nothing came of it. There was simply no evidence it was premeditated in any way.”
“Hmm.” He thought again for a moment. Her memory suggesting the point was that her dad was tortured seemed very important. “What about situations similar to yours?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, if your dad seeing his wife and daughters tormented was the goal, it might point to revenge. Something happened to someone else because of him, and so those men were hired to give him a taste of his own medicine.”
“My mind went similar places at first, too, but again, the cops looked into all that and came up with zilch.”
Rex didn’t doubt they’d done their best. But even the finest departments only had a certain number of resources, and if he had to guess, he’d say they’d put the majority of those into hunting down the man who’d evaded capture. “Maybe if you spoke with your dad now, he might remember something he didn’t then? Especially if you bring up the words your mother said that now seem clearer. Perhaps those will spark a memory.”
She nodded, her brow still furrowed. “Yes, I want to tell him about Cyrus, too, of course. He’ll want to meet him.” She sounded slightly unsure of that, but maybe that was only because it would be a shock for her father to learn what she’d just been through over the past handful of days. It blew his mind that it hadn’t even been a week since she’d shown up at his door, harried and afraid.
And asking for his help.
“The other thing I’ve been thinking about is what Cyrus said about attempting to contact Hollis.”
Yeah, he’d been thinking about that too. According to Cyrus, Hollis hadn’t messaged him back, but Rex still had this itch under his skin every time he thought about it. The timing felt very suspicious. “Are you wondering if Hollis had something to do with Cyrus’s kidnapping?”
“I don’t know. I’d like to hope to God not. But . . . I need to speak with him. I think he should know what his son has been through and that he’s with me now. He didn’t want anything to do with a child when he was eighteen, and I can’t imagine he would now either. But I’d still like to see his face when I tell him about the kidnapping.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No. Thank you, Rex, but I have to do this alone. I thought Hollis Barclay was only a piece of my past.” She paused, her face somber. “But it seems we have unfinished business after all.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The Kiss family business thrived with Posey as the lead—and only—consultant. Matters that seemed too messy to fix were creatively settled by employing methods no one else had suggested. The need for disappearances decreased by 38 percent, dismemberments by nearly 60, and the business itself became much more stringent in how it selected its clientele. They charged more and boasted a 47 percent increase in their success rate, if success was judged by a lack of repeat customers.