Page 14 of The Killer You Know

“Baxter.” Jack stands as Buddy runs to him. “Hey, Buddy. Looks like the team is all here. You ready to suss out a killer?”

Buddy gives a chipper bark as if agreeing to it. I wouldn’t complain if he got the job done.

“I’ve got pizza,” Jack says, motioning to the two large boxes nestled next to Nikki, the lid on one slightly ajar.

“Two large pizzas?” I muse. “This is going to be a long day.”

“I figured between Buddy and me, we could polish them off.”

“Count me in,” Nikki says, reaching in and helping herself to what looks like sausage and mushroom. “I’m starved. Did you get any sleep?” She looks my way.

“It was hit or miss. But my mom shoved a cup of coffee in my hand and I’m feeling a little better than a reanimated corpse.”

“Speaking of corpses…” Nikki motions for me to take a seat on the stool next to her and I do just that as she pulls forward a rose gold MacBook Air. “Let’s see what Robin’s got for us today.”

The laptop lights up and the screen displays a litany of folders and files, all of which are a digital representation of Robin’s work. And since her work was shedding her soul before her million loyal fans, that computer may as well be her diary. Or at least here’s hoping.

Jack lands in the seat on the other side of Nikki. “Let’s see what secrets we can uncover.”

“Jack dated her,” I offer without warrant. “How’s that for a secret? He dated Brittney Walker as well.”

Nikki’s fingers freeze over the keyboard as she shoots our resident Casanova a look.

“You’re kidding me,” she grunts.

“What can I say?” His lips twitch just shy of a smile. “I was a hot commodity back in the day.”

“You were trouble,” she says, shaking her head as her fingers get to clicking away.

We quickly deep-dive into the heart of Robin’s digital world as the sounds of the forensics office fade into the background and our focus narrows to the screen.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to navigating through someone’s life this way, but if it brings us closer to understanding what happened to her, then it’s a path I’m committed to follow.

“Look at this,” Nikki says, shaking her head as she runs from Robin’s inbox to each of her social media sites. “There’s an unbelievable amount of data here. Emails, blog drafts, social media. It’s a freaking goldmine.”

We sift through Robin’s files, her emails one at a time, and her browser history first. Every click reveals a little more about the woman. She really did live her life as if it were an open book. Or at least it appears that way.

We head to her Insta Pictures account, her most prolific work, and inspect the names of those who have left comments and likes.

“Derek Russell’s name keeps popping up,” I note, glancing at Jack.

“Who’s that again?” Nikki asks as Buddy curls up at the base of our feet.

“Vanessa mentioned him,” I say. “She was the woman who owned the house Brittney was showing. She said something about Brittney dating him.”

“So he’s the boyfriend of the kidnapped woman?” Nikki makes a note on the legal pad next to her. “I know what we’re doing next.”

“He owns a bar out in Elmwood, apparently,” I say. “A bar and grill. I know what we’re doing for dinner.”

“Good,” Jack says. “I’ve been meaning to catch up with him.” His demeanor darkens.

“What?” I ask. “What’s that look about? Did you like the guy?”

“He was decent.” He shrugs it off, but his expression dims another notch. “If you happen to like a chronic A-hole.”

“Ooh.” Nikki laughs. “This is going to be interesting. Good luck getting rid of me. I’m not missing out on this one.” She clicks away from the front page of Robin’s Insta Pictures account and heads into the direct messages. “Speaking of interesting, I bet this is going to be a party.”

11

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