Page 13 of Catch Me When I Fall

I made my way downstairs, out of the house, and was standing in front of the police chief once more. “Thank you,” I told her, dropping the keys in her hand before putting on my sunglasses.

She looked up at me. “Did you get anything?”

I nodded. “No, but with the vibe I was getting, I don’t blame her for not coming here.”

Amara looked out to the street, her high ponytail hanging down her back. “I remember that day like it was yesterday,” she murmured. “I pulled up and spotted Carrie sitting on the front porch, arms around herself, body trembling.”

I looked back to the front porch, going to the far corner, and in my mind, I saw her, sitting in a chair, uniforms all around her.

“She’d gone to the gym that morning. Back then, she was a tiny little thing. Borderline unhealthy, but she was obsessed with pleasing Robert—and her father, I suppose,” Amara continued, her voice filled with sadness. “That girl never stood a chance.”

My spine straightened as my ears registered what she was saying. “You saying that both Mayor Gelling and Robert were abusive?”

Amara looked back to me, folding her arms over her chest. “There’s a lot we don’t know. Carrie was close with everyone before she got married. According to Leon, she would be at Sullie’s on Sundays with the rest of them.”

Sullie’s was a local bar in Soulard, the resident hang out in the tangled web of St. Louis. Sullie Jones formed and ran the Crew. I, along with the entire team of Red Snake Investigations, knew that Sullie and his partner, Dom, were some of the most powerful men in the Midwest. They had connections and under the table businesses all over.

Sullie's also had damn good food, some of the best I’d ever had—it was the only perk about coming to St. Louis.

“Do you think she was abused by her father, Harrison?” I asked.

Amara looked up at me, her mouth tight. “What I think isn’t the truth, Mr. Grayson. Her father was a monster, and her husband was the city’s golden boy.”

I felt the tug again and, once more, I chose to ignore it.

I looked out to the street for a moment. “I’ve read your report,” I told her, getting back to the day of Carrie’s husband’s murder. “Carrie walked in on that, yes?”

Amara’s eyes dimmed as she nodded. “Then she fainted,” she confirmed.

“I’m going to need the notes on her treatment at the rehab—and anything from the hospital.”

The young police chief nodded. “I’ll get you whatever you need,” she promised.

“Bring it to me in an hour.”

“Where will you be?” she asked.

I started walking away as I answered, “Sullie’s.”

“You need anything else?’ Sullie boomed from the bar.

I looked up from my laptop screen and then to the near empty plate sitting beside it. When I looked back to him, I shook my head once. The bar was nearly empty, the lunch rush having finished up before I’d arrived. The band that was set to play this evening was doing a sound check behind me as I looked over Jake’s email, waiting for Amara to show up.

I’d scarfed down Sullie’s famous wings in half the time I normally would, needing something hot in my stomach, knowing full well that the next time I’d get a hot meal was up in the air.

When I was on the hunt, I didn’t have time to stop and eat. I put my needs behind for the sake of the bounty. After a hunt, of course, I would take a day to rest and refuel before starting up again. It was a constant cycle, one I’d grown accustomed to in the last three years.

My cell rang, vibrating in my pocket as a guitarist strummed some low chord behind me.

“Grayson,” I answered before downing the remainder of my water.

“Ash got you a plane ticket. You leave tonight,” Jake stated.

“Good,” I replied, clicking on the video footage of the airport.

Carrie was standing at the counter, her hood now pulled back. On instinct, I paused the video the second her face was fully revealed. I held my breath, studying her rounded face, straight button nose, and heart-shaped lips before looking at her hair.

I’d never seen anything like it.

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