Page 16 of Before This Ends (Before)

“Miranda and Kingston?” Her eyes light up.

“No, they’re on their trip, remember?”

“Oh yeah.” The light in her eyes dims in an instant. Then again, she and Kingston have become best friends since Tucker and Miranda got together and started staying next door.

“Miranda’s friend Emma is coming over, and I think she’s going to take you to the zoo.”

“Really?” She sits up.

“Really.” I smile.

“This is going to be the best day ever!” She falls forward, giving me a hug, and I rub her back.

“But you have to promise to be on your best behavior, and you have to listen to whatever Emma says.”

“I’m always on my best behavior.” She leans back to look me in the eye, and I raise a brow. “Okay, I’m mostly on my best behavior.”

Mostly is right. She’s a really good kid, but every time I start thinking she’s pretty mature for her age, she’ll do something to remind me just how young she still is. Like a couple of days ago, when she had a complete meltdown after school, because the ice-cream place she likes going to wasn’t open. As if I had the power to change that and only didn’t because I wanted to ruin her day.

“How about you go brush your teeth, and when you’re done, you can help me make some pancakes for breakfast?”

“Okay.” She hops off my lap and skips to her bedroom, and I wait until she is out of sight to call Martinez and let him know I’ll meet him by nine at the station, and we can go from there.

After hanging up with him, I quickly scroll through the list of tips and leads that started coming in last evening after the girls’ story aired on the news. There’s quite a few, which gives me a little hope, since yesterday we were unable to make much headway in Anna and Grace’s case.

The medical examiner called us late last night after he completed the autopsies. He didn’t believe that either girl had been raped, but he did find semen on the sleeve of Anna’s sweater that he sent off for testing along with two hairs found on her jacket. He also informed us that Grace was shot once in the back hitting her heart, and another bullet grazed the side of her head. Anna was shot three times in the back, and once in the back of the head. He was also able to remove the bullets and found they came from a 9mm pistol.

We went over the video from Waffle House, the tapes crystal-clear, but we didn’t see anything more than the girls arriving, then leaving after saying goodbye to their friends in the parking lot. We’re still waiting for the footage from the other businesses around that area and hoping one of them will give us something.

The girls’ family and friends, for their part, didn’t offer any clues about who could’ve wanted to harm either of them. The only thing Anna’s parents were able to tell us that we didn’t find out from her friends was Anna told them she recently began dating a guy in Nashville who’s a musician. Hopefully, phone records will give us more on him, because without his name and only his profession inthiscity that information isn’t going to be very helpful in tracking him down.

When Winter comes back out of her room, I tuck all thoughts of work away and focus on the goodness I have in my life, because soon enough, I’ll be reminded just how fucked up this world is outside.

CHAPTER8

emma

“Emma!”

Hearing my name shouted in Winter’s cute little voice as soon as I get out of my car with my bag, I smile, shutting the door then walk around the hood. The moment I step up on to the sidewalk, I laugh as she runs toward me, wearing a pink fuzzy bathrobe over her pajamas with a pair of cute piggy-faced slippers on her feet. Skye following close on her heels.

“Hey, sweet girl.” I wrap my arms around her as she hugs me, then look up at her dad, who is standing just down the sidewalk, watching us with a small smile on his face.

I drop my gaze back to Winter when she begins bouncing in front of me, making me shake because she’s still holding onto my sides, her hands clinging to the vest I wore over my long-sleeved shirt.

“Dad said we’re going to the zoo today.”

“We are.” I laugh when she shrieks in little-girl happiness, then my heart warms when she lets me go but then wraps her tiny hand around mine.

“Come on! I made pancakes.”

“You did?” I ask as she begins dragging me with her down the sidewalk toward her dad.

“Yes.” She grins up at me. “With cocoa chips.”

“How did you know those are my favorite?”

“Lucky guess.” She stops when we’re in front of Miles, and I look up at him. Without my heels I typically wear, it seems like he’s towering over me. Then again, he’s a tall guy, so I don’t know why I’m even thinking about how tall he is compared to me now.

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