Page 10 of The Alpha's Grave Secrets

“One with no friends, and mommy issues sounds like a real possibility,” Gun says, eyebrows raised.

“They always are,” Callie breathes.

A chuckle escapes my lips without my conscious permission;she’s right.

“The women seem to have a bit in common regarding their purchase history. They all spent money on things like fancy lattes, not from chain stores but from local coffee shops. They did activities like Pilates, yoga, and belly dancing. Got their hair and nails done and generally took care of themselves. Even though these women did not necessarily wear lots of makeup or high heels everywhere they went, they clearly are women who like to take care of themselves and take a certain level of pride in their appearance.” Hati says, several bank statements now sprawled out before him with color coordinated highlighter marks on each of them.

He blinks at the pages and then smacks his forehead, “They all frequented the same bar, well, four out of seven did. Seems like we should be checking that out, right?”

Backs straighten around the room, where interest might have been waning before, Hati has our full attention now. This is something tangible we can act on, “What’s the name of the bar?”

“‘Nothing Here’.”

“What do you mean ‘Nothing Here’? How do you know it’s the same bar then?” Gun scoffs with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.

“That’s the bar’s name,” Hati says, already googling it. “It looks like it’s a play off the old speakeasys. The decor and cocktail list fit that theme. Which tracks for the spending items I’ve seen here.”

“Craft cocktails, low lighting, carved mahogany, and a reason to dress nicely. Sounds like something I’d like, too.” Callie sighs,seeing too much of herself in these victims,“Does that sound like something Elara would be into?”

“Yes, and to that point, she’s also a Pilates fanatic and won’t touch a chain coffee shop with a ten-foot-pole unless on a road trip; even then, she’d always try to find a cozy local coffee shop to support,” a lump rises in my throat as memories of past road trips and vacations together come back to me.

Elara always knew how to turn even the most mundane of times into a magical adventure. All those hours spent alone in the car together on long road trips were never taxing, not like the time spent traipsing all over the country with my team.

Of course, that’s always under much more gruesome circumstances.

“I want us to take photos of the victims down to the bar tonight. Let’s canvas it and see if anyone recognizes any of our victims and what they can tell us about who might have been harassing, watching, or accompanying these women. A Thursday or Friday night abduction fits with a night out.”

“It does,” Bruce says, finally chipping in.

“Did the Medical Examiner ever find out when the other victims might have died or have any more information about what happened to these poor women while they were abducted?”

“I was here late trying to find that out myself. Some of the bodies are deteriorated enough that the M.E. believes they have likely been under ground for years. He’s running a few more specific lab tests and won’t have results until tonight or tomorrow, but we do know that our unsub has been at this for a while.”

Bruce drains the rest of his coffee and sighs, “These women were not nearly as lucky as Elara.” My stomach drops at the idea of Elara being lucky after what she had to endure. Still, before I can say anything, Bruce continues, “The bruising and healing patterns of the wounds on the bodies show that they were mutilated and abused before and after their deaths. There was also tearing that indicates they most likely were sexually assaulted.”

I swallow hard. Whyhad Elara been different? She really did protect herself. Thank the Goddess; she’s been trained to talk to all sorts of people.

Callie looks woozy as she pushes her half-empty coffee cup away from her and pulls her hair up into a floppy bun on the top of her head.

“This man has had his routines interrupted. He’s already been unraveling when it comes to how differently he treated Elara from the rest of his victims. Now, we’ve taken away his sanctuary, and one of his victims has been found alive. There’s no telling what he will do next. We need to get this guy, fast.”

Chapter 6

Elara

Electricity buzzes in the walls. I want to shut it all down, but I know that’s going too far. That knowledge still doesn’t stop me from daydreaming about ripping down the walls and tearing up the floors.

I want everything out of here, thrown in a pile in the yard, and lit on fire. I don’t want anything to remind me of who I was before and how different that feels from who I am now.

I’d probably do it if I could drag myself off this couch. Instead, I wear down the cushions day after day. Now, staring at a discolored patch on the wall ahead of me as though it’s the most exciting thing in the world.

The keys jingling in the back door sound like distant church bells. My heart sinks. The door opens, and the voice says, “I’ll talk to you later. Bye.” Ezra’s hushed voice comes from the back doorway before the door swings shut again.

Has it really been a whole day already?I can’t remember the last time I ate something or had a glass of water, and I can’t even remember the last time I used the restroom.

“Honey? What are all these batteries doing all over the kitchen?” Ezra calls after a few minutes of quiet.He’ll figure it out eventually, but in all honesty, I don’t even know what he’s talking about, even though I have the distinct feeling that I should.

Would Kato ask me stupid questions at a time like this? Had he ever?He’d been so good to me when my dad was murdered. He never pushed me to talk and never made me feel like I was crazy for how I was handling everything.

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