Page 62 of Before This Ends (Before)

Chief Marshall looks from Martinez to me, then sits back in his chair and scrubs his fingers over his cropped hair.

“Okay.” He drags in a breath. “We can’t make promises, Mrs. Taylor, but know the two men behind you haven’t forgotten your daughter or her friend, and they have been just as frustrated as you are.” That’s a fucking understatement. “I’ll make some calls and get our guys the information they don’t have on the case and ensure they have full access to anything they need.

“Thank you.” She slumps in her chair like that was all the fight she had left in her, and she syphoned the rest of it to come here and plead her case. To get someone to listen.

“They will be in touch with you if they find anything.”

“Okay.” She gathers her bag from the floor and stands quickly like she wants to get out of here before he changes his mind. “Okay, thank you again.”

“You’re welcome.” Chief Marshall’s face softens. “And please know that I’m— thatweare all very sorry for your loss and what happened to your girl and her friend.”

She doesn’t speak, just nods, and when she turns to face Martinez and me, I can see why she didn’t bother trying. Her face is blotchy, eyes red-rimmed, and cheeks still wet with the tears she hasn’t wiped away.

“Thank you,” she whispers to the two of us before she rushes out the door.

When it closes behind her, I turn back to face the chief.

“You’ll have an email from me by Wednesday afternoon with everything they have on that case, along with a court order for the phone records, if they haven’t already been pulled.”

I nod and see Martinez do the same out the corner of my eye.

“It goes without saying that whoever did this needs to be behind bars, but more than anything, that woman needs some closure. So, do what you need to do to give it to her.”

Shit, I already knew I liked Chief Marshall when Tucker and I were assigned by the FBI to come here and start digging for the corruption that had been brought to their attention. Meeting him, I doubted he was involved, and over time, I knew my gut was right. His deputy chief, on the other hand, is as slimy as they come, and so are the men that snake keeps close. The case Tucker and I have been building against them is painstakingly slow, but every day, we add another bar to the jail cell they will soon be living inside.

“Got it,” Martinez rumbles, and I jerk up my chin.

“Keep me up to date,” Chief mutters, dismissing us. Martinez turns for the door, opening it, and I step out before him.

“Fucking finally,” he says when we’ve cleared the hall. “I don’t know about you, but I’m really interested in seeing what information those motherfuckers have gotten and what they’ve been up to these last few weeks, if anything.”

“I wouldn’t expect to find a lot in the files Marshall is able to get. Even if he requests them, they could still hold information back just to fuck with us,” I mutter as we step outside. The two of us had been getting ready to take off for the evening when the chief called us into his office. Neither of us had a clue what he wanted to talk to us about, so we were surprised to find a woman seated across from him at his desk, and even more surprised when he introduced her as Grace’s mom.

“We’ll start from the bottom and figure it out.”

“Yeah,” I agree, stopping at the door to my SUV. “I’ll see you Monday.”

“See you then.” He takes off to his car, and I get in mine. As I’m driving out of the parking lot, I dial Emma’s number.

“Hey,” she answers, her tone soft—just like it was this morning when I was inside her.

“Are you off work?”

“Yeah, I’m home. Are you off?” I ignore the way “home” sounds wrong when I know she’s not at my house, in my kitchen hanging with Winter, or now in my bed.

“I’m heading home now.”

“Okay, I’ll get ready and meet you there.”

“Pack a bag.”

I expect her to put up a fight or say my name in that way she does that has a million questions attached to it, only she surprises me. “All right, I’ll see you soon.”

“Soon.” I hang up and let out a breath. Last night and this morning changed everything. I thought I was willing to jump too quick before, but now? Now, I know what freefalling feels like.

* * *

Walkinginto my apartment at a little after five, I expect to find it empty, but it’s not. Hazel and Winter are both in the kitchen, and it smells like they’ve been cooking. When I bought this place from Clay, I gave Hazel a key for when she’s in town, and she never once took advantage of it. And in the twelve years I’ve known her, I’ve only seen her cook a handful of times. She’s busy, always busy with work—something I respect. She loves her job and is really fucking good at it.

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