Page 36 of Haunted By Sin

“Where did you park?”

“Directly across from the front entrance of the bar,” Bit said before flashing Brook a smile. “Once you told me why the plans had changed, I made sure to load everything up in the van while we were here. We’ll have hours of footage to go through when we get back to the lake house. I’ll also run the footage through our facial recognition program. Anyone who came here tonight will be run against those people at the pier.”

“I think most everyone will match given the crowd,” Brook replied wryly as she tossed her napkin into the small plastic basket. “Still, I have to commend you, Bit. That was excellent planning and a reminder that you should be out in the field more often.”

Bit wasn’t so sure about her last statement, because he was a lot more comfortable behind his computer screens. Granted, he had been in the field here and there, but it wasn’t his preferred place to be during an active investigation.

“When Mindy comes out of the restroom, we can see who she joins afterward,” Bit pointed out as he took the straw from his glass of ice and slid it into his new soda. He finally understood the direction of Brook’s thoughts. “You don’t think Mindy is working with the unsub, but you think the unsub might be using others to his advantage without their knowledge.”

“Such a tactic would fit his profile,” Brook murmured before they both fell quiet, waiting for Mindy to reappear from the restroom.

A part of Bit wished Mindy hadn’t interrupted his conversation with Brook. It was rare that they spent time together without the others around, and he always valued her input when it came to any type of advice. While she was right that he should try and rectify the misunderstanding that he had gotten himself into with Zoey’s mother, doing so might damage the rapport the two of them had already established over the video call.

“Mary Jane and Adam are getting ready to leave.”

Brook leaned back against the high-top chair as she discreetly observed the couple. Bit noticed two things at once—Adam Bouras stood to pull out Mary Jane’s chair while the federal agent at the bar casually reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. The man’s movements weren’t hurried, and no one detected that his imminent departure was based on Mary Jane Reynold’s decision to leave the bar.

It wasn’t long before the couple stood at the door with Adam getting ready to open an umbrella. The rain was still coming down in torrents, though there appeared to be less lightning than when Bit had first arrived. As the door was about to close behind them, the federal agent somehow managed to join them without anyone the wiser.

Bit turned to monitor the door to the restroom when the air shifted at the table. He wasn’t sure how or why, especially considering that Brook hadn’t altered her expression in any way, but something had caught her attention.

“Boss?”

Brook slowly set her club soda down on the table. The restroom door opened to reveal Mindy, and her face lit up with recognition. Her smile grew as she continued to walk across the hardwood floor of the bar. Bit followed her progression until she reached…Cav Buckley.

The man must have entered the establishment right after Mary Jane’s exit. No wonder Bit had sensed a change in Brook. It didn’t help that Cav peered over Mindy’s shoulder and purposeful winked in Brook’s direction.

“Boss, I don’t know why Cav Buckley is back in town, but he had alibis for the first three murders.” Bit understood the need for further verification, but he was one hundred percent confident that the lawyer had nothing to do with their case. “I have security footage from one work event, plus two nightclubs for the other evenings in question. The man likes to drink, party, and flaunt his money.”

“I don’t think that Cav Buckley is here because of Mary Jane Reynolds,” Brook replied softly as she reached for her purse. Bit wasn’t sure exactly what she meant by that statement, but there was an edge to her tone. Normally, she would have paid the bill with a credit card to expense the meal when they got back to the city. Instead, she pulled out a fifty-dollar bill before securing the money with her glass of club soda. “I need to take care of something, Bit. I’ll meet you back at the lake house.”

Brook made no move to leave the table, and it was obvious that she was waiting for him to leave. He stood, grabbed his phone, and then removed the keys from the front pocket of his jeans. He thought over the information that had been in Cav Buckley’s background check, but the only thing of interest had been a restraining order filed by a woman over five years ago. Bit assumed that it had been in relation to a domestic situation, but maybe there had been more to it than that.

Brook’s slight nod of encouragement when he glanced her way had him finally turning away from the table. It was as if she was planning on doing something that she didn’t want him either witnessing or taking part in. He could only assume that she wanted him to have some type of deniability, but whatever it was seemed to be going over his head.

“Bit?” Brook called out, stopping him maybe ten feet from their table. He turned around to find that she had stood from her chair and was in the middle of securing the strap of her purse over her shoulder. “I’ll be home in thirty minutes.”

“Copy, Boss.”

Bit understood the meaning behind her statement. If she wasn’t at the lake house in a half hour, he was to alert Agent Tirelli and local enforcement. He still wasn’t sure exactly what she was planning on doing or what it had to do with Cav Buckley, but he would do as she requested because he trusted her…just as she trusted him.

Chapter Nineteen

Brooklyn Sloane

May 2024

Saturday — 9:37 pm

The bass coming from the speakers above the bar reverberated through the wooden floorboards as Brook weaved through the crowd. The rain had driven everyone indoors, and this was the next best place to be. Unfortunately, the air had become thick with the stench of sweat and alcohol. She was looking forward to breathing fresh air, but there was something she needed to take care of before driving back to the lake house.

“Excuse me,” Brook murmured as she brushed past a couple deep in conversation about a popular movie.

She was determined to reach the empty stool left by the federal agent who had followed Mary Jane home. Since the stool was positioned at the far end of the bar near the wall, it would provide her with the privacy needed to get her point across.

Brook didn’t bother to relinquish her purse. She kept the thick strap over her shoulder as she perched on the edge of the stool. She wouldn’t be sitting for long, either.

The bartender moved toward her, but Brook raised a hand, palm out. She didn’t plan on staying, and she wouldn’t be enjoying a drink, either. What she wouldn’t give for a hot cup of coffee, though.

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