Page 93 of Secrets and Sin

She had to keep it all together and pretend that she knew nothing. Play the game until they could get to a safer location.

If Deputy Blake had killed before, he probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill again.

The first thing she needed to do? She had to find a way to let Zack know.

* * *

“Don’t you think that’s sort of weird?” Tate asked. “You’ve both been apart for eighteen years up until about a week ago, but you’ve both seen those tattoos.”

“Some people have the same tattoos,” Frankie pointed out. “They’re not always one of a kind.”

“True, but that’s a good point,” Zack said. “If both Lucy and I recognize these tattoos then it has to be someone that we’ve both seen this week.”

“Who have you seen?” Frankie asked. “I mean, both of you, although not necessarily together. It’s summer so short sleeves aren’t unusual unless it’s in the evening.”

“We saw Farrow but briefly. And he was wearing long sleeves,” Zack said. “And we saw Ethan, but we know it’s not him. He was in the video.”

“What about the guys you met for beers?” Tate suggested.

“Lucy didn’t meet them except for maybe at the wedding, but everyone was wearing long sleeves there. I met Daniels, but Lucy didn’t meet with him either.”

“You met Angel,” Tate reminded him. “But that’s definitely a man’s arm.”

“A man’s arm,” Zack echoed, his gaze suddenly far away. “Yes, it’s a man’s arm.”

“Okay, we’ve narrowed it down to half of the town’s population,” Frankie said. “That’s progress. We can call the cops and tell them that it’s a guy. It’s a start, I guess. I feel I also need to bring up that it’s been eighteen years. Tattoos can change a bit on the body over time. I read an article that said that tattoos fade and can blur over the decades. In addition, our skin ages, too. And if the person likes to get ink, they may have other newer tattoos on their arm, as well.”

A new tattoo? Zack’s mind was racing through all the images from the last week, a movie in fast forward. It was only when he remembered their meeting with Angel that it hit him.

Angel and Deputy Blake had showed off their matching tattoos. But that had also revealed all the other ink on Blake’s arms.

That’s where he’d seen them. Those tattoos were on Blake’s arm.

And Lucy was with Blake. Just a few doors down.

If Blake was involved with Farrow and trying to cover up what had happened all those years ago, it wasn’t a safe place for her to be.

Hopefully, they weren’t too late.

* * *

Lucy had never been in this position, having to deal with a man that might possibly be a killer, too. He was certainly a criminal, videoing young girls without their consent. That was for sure. Whether he had something to do with Sarah’s disappearance or Ethan’s shooting was an open question, but she needed to assume that he had.

Blake wasn’t making it easy, however. For some reason, he seemed to be following her around the store, not letting her alone for a moment, constantly on her heels. She couldn’t get to her phone to text Zack, and she hadn’t been able to tell Jane and Cooper what was going on.

Bless them, though. They were both giving her strange looks. She must have been giving off a strange vibe because Jane was currently wearing a worried frown.

“Are you okay? I can handle this if you’re not,” Jane whispered. “Just make up an excuse like you have a migraine. I’ll back you up. Cooper and I can finish this.”

“No, I don’t want to do that.”

She was trying to communicate with her eyes and facial expression, but nonverbal wasn’t her strong suit. Jane appeared more puzzled than ever.

Lucy had picked up a stack of books and placed it by the register where Blake was standing next to her to catalog their damage into his police report. They were halfway done when Zack, Tate, and Frankie came in the back door.

Zack had a strange expression on his face that she was sure matched her own. They hadn’t been together very long, but she instantly knew that he knew. She didn’t have a clue as to how he’d figured it out, but somehow, he had.

Her body tensed, and she had to quell the urge to run into his arms where she could feel safe. But she couldn’t do that. They all had to act like this was any other night, and Blake was any other cop.

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