Page 85 of Obsession

He ended the call but made no attempt to resume their trip to the Selbys, and her stomach took a nosedive.

His phone rang again. “I have to catch this.”

She nodded. Why couldn’t he let it go to voicemail? He knew she was waiting to hear what he’d learned.

“Ryker,” he said.

She strained to hear what was being said on the other end of the call, but Sam’s side was all she could hear.

“Really.” He was quiet again, then his shoulders slumped. “Okay. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll tell Emma.”

“What will you tell me?” she asked after he hooked the phone on his belt.

Sam stared through the windshield, not answering.

“Sam...”

He licked his lips. “The first call was from the ring company. Their research showed only one ring was shipped to MississippiState in 2012 with the initials RTW. It was made for Ryan Thomas Winters.”

“Maybe someone stole it.” She knew better, but right now she was looking for any lifeline she could find. Emma would almost rather believe Ryan had dropped it digging the grave. At least that way her brother would still be alive.

Silence. He cleared his throat, then he turned to her and the answer was written in his face. “The last call was from Nate. Turns out the private testing company has the integrated microfluidic system...”

“And? Spit it out, Sam!”

“It’s a Rapid DNA testing machine. The DNA in the toe bone was a match to yours.”

Cold shot through her body, leaving her head swimming and her muscles useless. She sank against the seat.

“It’s not official and won’t be until the state results come in,” Sam said. “But ... it was Ryan’s body in the grave.”

His voice penetrated the murkiness filling her head. No matter how many times she’d prepared herself, it wasn’t enough. Her brother was dead. Her mouth was so dry, she couldn’t swallow.

“I’m sorry, Emma,” he said. “Do you want me to take you somewhere? Maybe to see your dad? We can talk to the Selbys later—they’re not expecting us.”

Ryan is dead.And his murderer had gotten away with it for ten years. Emma sucked in a life-giving breath and willed steel into her backbone. “No. We have to find out who killed Ryan, and we have to start somewhere.”

She turned her gaze to Sam. The pain in her heart was reflected in his eyes. He was hurting too. Emma rubbed her good hand across her face. “Give me a minute to pull it together, and then let’s go talk to Mary Jo’s parents.”

He reached to the back floorboard and pulled out a bottle of water and uncapped it. “Here,” he said, handing it to her.

She took a long draw. The water wet her dry mouth but almost made her throw up. It was one thing to think her brother might be dead and another to know it for a fact. “Who could have killed him?” she whispered.

“I don’t know,” he said. “But I promise you I’ll do everything in my power to get justice for him.”

“Do you think it’s the same person who killed Mary Jo?”

Sam didn’t answer right away. “I think she’s the key,” he said. “I haven’t told you, but I talked to the owner of the Hideaway last night. Charlie Shaw.”

She bolted upright. “What did he say? Did Mary Jo leave with Ryan?”

Emma listened as Sam filled her in on what he’d learned from Shaw. “Let me get this straight. Mary Jo came with one person and left with Ryan and Trey and Gordy?”

“Yes.”

She was having a hard time wrapping her mind around the information. “This doesn’t make sense. Why weren’t Trey and Gordy in Sheriff Carter’s report?”

“I have a theory.” He rubbed the steering wheel.

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