Page 57 of The House Beyond the Dunes

“What do you want?” Annoyance burns through the worry. I’m tired of his questions and unspoken accusations.

He moves toward me, pausing when he’s only a foot away. Close enough to make me aware of his height but not quite crossing the edge of my personal space. “You keep rubbing that scar on your palm. Does it calm you?”

I drop my hands to my side. “It’s been a long couple of days.”

“I’ll bet.”

“What do you want?”

“Did this house reveal anything to you about Stevie Palmer or Nikki Kane?”

Hearing the names catches me off guard, and I don’t recover fast enough to hide my shock. I think about the journal entries Stevie’s sent me, her teasing notes, and the nameSteviein Kyle’s journal. “Could Stevie have been one of Kyle’s clients?”

“I asked Kyle’s partner, Dr.Romney, but she doesn’t remember Stevie. But she also said Kyle blocked out some Friday evenings for people who required more privacy.”

I’ve never met Kyle’s partner. Seems Becker knew the man better than me. “Why are you so interested in this missing woman?” I want to know more about her, but he doesn’t need to know that. “Women who live on the fringe vanish all the time, and cops don’t put this kind of effort into finding them.”

He ignores my statements. “Dr.Romney found Kyle’s private appointment book when she was cleaning out his office yesterday. I got a look at it. Stevie Palmer had one session with Kyle Iverson on Friday, July 7, 2023. But it appears she never returned after that session, nor did she return to Joey’s Bar. She vanished.”

His words settle in my stomach. “Do you think she’s dead?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ve never met the woman.”

His gaze holds me. “Dr.Romney thought it was odd Iverson never created a billing account for Stevie Palmer.”

Why is Stevie reaching out to me? What is so important about a one-time client/possible girlfriend of Kyle’s?

“I honestly don’t know what to say. Stevie is as much a mystery to me as to you.”

“Kyle never mentioned her?”

“We only dated a few weeks. And he never discussed any of his patients with me.”

“Dr.Romney thinks Stevie Palmer might have been sleeping with Kyle.”

It would be incredibly unprofessional if Kyle slept with a patient. “This doesn’t sound like the man I knew.”

“You barely knew him.” He shakes his head. “A man’s bedroom escapades aren’t my concern until the women around him vanish.”

“Any leads on Nikki Kane?”

“Not yet.” His gaze travels to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the ocean. “This area is really isolated. Plenty of places to hide a body.”

“Body? You think Nikki and Stevie’s bodies are hidden up here?” The abandoned house in the woods comes to mind.

Detective Becker holds my stare. “I do.”

“Who would’ve hurt them?”

He shakes his head, as if I’ve asked a stupid question. “Your boyfriend, maybe?”

Blood seeps from my head, leaving me dizzy. The detective’s gaze burrows into me, searching for any crack in my demeanor. He’s the kind of guy who, once he finds a way in, is impossible to shake. I don’t trust him. “Do you have any proof?”

“No. Not yet.”

“What is the point of this conversation, Detective? Trying to scare me into babbling something incriminating about Kyle? Because if that’s the goal, you aren’t winning. Kyle never once tried to hurt me. He was a gentleman.”

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