Page 30 of Silent Desires

After about forty-five minutes of her working, I realize she hasn’t paused at all. She’s reading and answering the questions as she goes, not even needing to skim back through what she just read.Does she have a photographic memory?

I want to know more about this intoxicating girl in front of me. I want to know what makes her smile, why she doesn’t talk, and above all, I just want to make sure that she’s going to be okay. It’s very clear there’ssomething going on with her, and I just can’t figure out what it is. I hope she’s not connected to the murders happening in this small town, but it seems more and more likely that she is at least connected to the person who is.

“Mina, love?” She looks up at me. “Are you finding that work easy?”

She thinks for a second, biting her bottom lip. I want to bite it for her.NO!No, I don’t. She nods her head, unaware of the battle going on in mine.

“You know that one book there is equal to an entire twelfth grade geography class? Which means you’re learning what other students are learning in an entire semester in less than one period. That’s remarkable, do you realize that?” I ask her, not trying to hide the admiration from my voice.

“Once you finish that book, let’s move over to political science, shall we?” She nods her head and smiles, then turns back to her geography book to finish it up. It only takes her about another five minutes to completely finish, and I’m still amazed at how smart she is. I pass her the political science textbook and workbook and try not to blatantly stare at her while she works.

Eventually, I glance at the time and realize the period is almost over. She’s already halfway through the book. I tap her hand that’s resting on the table, and she quickly looks at me, surprised, as if she forgot I’m here.

“Are you enjoying that subject?” She puts her hand up and turns it back and forth as if to indicate so-so.

I smile back at her. “It’s almost time for gym class. Shall we get this stuff packed up? You can take these home with you and bring them back on Monday, if you like. I can even give you a couple more to work on over the weekend if you have some free time?”

She smiles at me and nods enthusiastically. I give her some textbooks, and as she’s putting her stuff in a bag, I hear a knock at the door. “Enter.”

Max and Jasper walk in and give her wide smiles. She smiles back shyly. I wonder why she feels shy around them when she’s spent more time with them than she has with me, and they’re closer to her age.

“Hey, Sweetheart, did you enjoy your independent study with Mr. Hargrove?” Max asks.

She nods sweetly at Max as he moves forward to grab her bag and throw it over his shoulder. Jasper grabs her hand as the boys say bye to me, and Mina gives me a small wave and a smile.

“See you later, Mina,” I say, and she smiles and turns with the twins to leave my office.

I can’t help but wonder what she thinks when she sees me. Does she see a creepy old man? I feel like the smile she gives me means she sees me as something more, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I can’t afford to get involved with a student.

Chapter twenty

“Is it enough?” I ask Ben from where I sit on his bed. After a minute, I prod him again. “Ben?”

“Come on, move faster.”

I sigh, knowing if he’s talking to his computer, he’s gone into his hyper-focused mode. He had a tendency to do that when he’s trying to solve a particularly hard puzzle.

He’s been known to accidentally skip meals and forget to go to sleep if we don’t stay on top of him. But if there is anything to be found, he’ll find it. You don’t graduate top of your class at MIT without being the best.

“Ben?” I ask again, trying to get his attention, but a glance at his screen tells me he’s deep in the middle of his search.

I pull my pocketknife out and stare at the initials C.M. as I rub my thumb over them. Carlos Mendoza. We went through training together and were then deployed together. Unfortunately, only one of us made it home. I flick it open and spin it in my right hand, an action I’ve done a million times before, when I’m restless. It’s like a reflex at this point. I hate sitting around doing nothing, but without more info, there wasn’t much I could do.

My mind drifts to a certain brunette girl. Playing that game with Mina today had been a genius idea. I only wish we had stopped before we pushed her too far. Although I can’t say I was upset about having her fall asleep in my lap.

I’ve been intrigued by the mute girl since she first stepped on our radar. At first, I thought she definitely sounded like someone hiding a dark secret, being mute was a decent cover to not expose yourself. But the more the twins told me about her, the less I thought she could be involved.

Besides, she’s far too young. This serial killer hasn’t just been killing young girls from Blue River, they’ve left a trail of bodies all over the country dating back almost ten years. The only reason the FBI isn’t on the case is because they can’t find any pattern to the locations. After we were hired by a past victim’s family to find their daughter’s killer, we started looking into murders with similar victim profiles and cause of death, and were shocked to find how many appeared to be done by the same person. After that revelation, the local police agreed to work with us to solve this case.

It was only from talking to the friends of a victim in the last town that we got the clue of Blue River, and when a girl fitting the victim profile turned up dead, we knew we had to quickly infiltrate ourselves in the high school. Past patterns proved that anywhere from three to six girls fitting the profile would turn up dead before the killer moved on. We also know that many of the more recent victims have been reported dating a college aged male, so unless Mina is amazing at disguises, she can’t be the killer.

She could, however, be helping them. Right now my money is on this Jeff character she mentioned, although I have a feelingher mother is somehow involved as well. But for all we know, Mina is lying about not having a father to protect him, and he could be our killer.

We got a lot of new info from Mina today, but whether it’s all true, and whether it’ll be enough to figure anything else out, is still unknown. If what she’s said is true, we know her father has been gone for most of her life, her mother is dating a guy named Jeff, and she’s lived in a dozen cities over the years. It’s not a lot to go on, but it’s something. And if anyone can find something with what little info we have, it’s Ben.

He might be the tech guy, the tracker, on our team, but I handle security and protection, the muscle. If Mina poses a threat to us, I need to know now. Of course, now that I’ve met her, I understand why they all feel so protective and obsessed. She’s fragile and delicate. I just need to be a hundred percent sure it’s not an act. I don’t think I glanced away from her once the whole time she was here. She’s gorgeous—and only seventeen fucking years old.

I drop my head back onto the bed dramatically and sigh. I need to stop thinking about her like that.

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