Page 2 of Cold Case Murder Mystery

“Of course... not.” She certainly wouldn’t be calling him if everything wasall right, and he knew it, even if her first instinct was always to tell everyone she was fine and everything was just great. Luckily, she no longer cared what Zeke thought of her. She didn’t care if he thought her request was needy because she didn’tneedhim. Or want him.

The end.

“I think I’m being followed.” Best to be quick and to the point.

She squinted out the window, to where the silver sedan still sat. She couldn’t make out how many people were in it, but she knew no one had gotten out. The license plate was shrouded in shadow and had never been close enough for her to read the letters or numbers, no matter how she’d tried.

There were a few beats of silence. She didn’t rush to fill them like she might have once. She’d learned a thing or two about how to use the skills from her job in her personal life. She’d learned a thing or two aboutlifesince parting ways with one Zeke Daniels.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“The diner.” Only one of those around Sunrise.

“Give me about fifteen.”

She didn’t know exactly what that meant, but the line went dead and she rolled her eyes. He’d never been a man of many words.

Certainly never the ones she’d wanted to hear.

The waitress served her the food she’d ordered and, even though she didn’t feel hungry anymore, Brooke forced herself to eat. It was important to keep up her energy and focus for her job, and not let emotions get in the way.

People following her or not, she was going to keep working on this case. She was going to give the detectives every last piece of information she could so they could get to the bottom of it.

So far, she’d unearthed almost twenty skeletal remains in that cave.Twenty. And she didn’t think she was done. It was a gruesome thought, and gruesome work but it gave people answers. So the nightmares were worth the outcome if she could provide answers.

Her phone trilled. A text from Zeke.

Get up, pretend you’re going to the bathroom, then take back exit. Waiting in my truck.

Well, he hadn’t gotten any less demanding in the years since she’d last seen him.

Another text came in.

Leave your coat.

Now she scowled at her phone. Typed her own response.

I like my coat.

Leave it so they think you’re coming back.

Hard to argue withthat,she supposed. But she also needed to pay her bill. She could hardly stiff this small-town diner for her meal. Surreptitiously, under the table, she rummaged through her purse until she found a twenty. She slid it under her plate, making sure her arm would hide what she was doing to anyone who might be watching from outside.

Then she got up and made a big show about asking where the restroom was. The woman pointed to the hallway leading to the restrooms... and no doubt the back exit Zeke had spoken of.

Brooke’s job was investigation—oldinvestigations at that—so she didn’t deal with a lot of danger, but she’d seen her fair share as a member of the North Star team.

And before.

But she didn’t think aboutbeforeif she could help it. Too many old ghosts, nightmares and regrets.

She walked past the restroom door, through the kitchen, without paying any mind to the speculative look from a dish washer, and then out the back.

Where a large, shiny black truck was parked as close to the door as allowed, its passenger-side door open. Head high, she did her best to crawl up into the seat without looking foolish. She doubted she’d managed. But she settled in the seat and closed the door behind her.

She didn’t want to look at him but supposed she had to. She braced herself for impact, plastered a polite smile on her face and turned to face him as he began to drive.

He had not changed. Which was a real bummer. Because Zeke Daniels was ostensibly the most attractive man she’d ever laid eyes on. Worse, he knew it, if he thought about it at all, which was questionable because she figured his thoughts were likely more serious in nature.

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