Page 1 of Shattered Hearts

CHAPTER ONE

Gage

The holidays slowed everything down. Pop and I haven’t been able to do much legwork to make any progress on most of the cases that are waiting in our active pile, and there’s only so much you can do online. I still went to the office, kept Pop company. More like he was keeping me company because I couldn’t be home alone.

I haven’t seen Zarah in two weeks.

Zane won’t let me near her.

Christmas came and went, Pop and I doing our usual. The holiday felt emptier this year, though this Christmas was the same as last year and the year before that.

I sent Zarah a Christmas card and a picture of us at Max’s award dinner. Someone had taken it and emailed it to me. I blew it up, framed it, and stood it next to the award on my bookshelf. It’s all I have left of her, except for the gaping hole in my heart, which sounds really melodramatic but you try being separated from the person you’re desperately in love with. Wondering ifshe’s okay. Wondering if she hates you. Wondering if you’ll ever see her again and knowing the answer is no.

I guess we’re over . . . I didn’t get a response.

After Mom saw Zarah and me together, she stopped badgering me about the holidays, and it’s a relief. I can’t look Rourke in the eye anymore. Reading about his true feelings in Max’s journal, I don’t want anything to do with him.

“What are we working on?” Pop asks, bumping into the office, a bag of grease and two large to-go coffees clutched in his hands. He’s been doing his best to keep me out of a funk, but it’s a tough job. The only things that have kept me sane are regular workouts and bringing Baby on long runs.

“Meredith Mesa’s ‘evidence,’” I say, playing the video over again on the desktop.

The ME, the same doctor we spoke to about JodiAnne’s cardiac arrest, said Savannah Mesa died from self-inflicted wounds to her wrists. She bled out in the tub. Ross snuck me photos of the scene, and it’s as grisly as you’d imagine.

“Find anything?”

The only thing I’ve found watching the shaky video clip she took with her phone is a headache.

“No. No matter how many times I watch it, the figure looks the same. Face hidden by a baseball cap, generic uniform, generic toolbox. No logos or a company name anywhere. The knife Savannah used to slit her wrists had only her fingerprints on the handle.”

“Toxicology report?”

I scowl. “Came back clean. Or so Dr. Krout says. But what would he look for doing a suicide’s tox screen? She’d been drinking. You almost have to be drunk to take your own life.” I know I wouldn’t have the guts sober.

Put my Glock in my mouth and pull the trigger.

Yep. I’d have to be blitzed.

“But therewasa stranger in their house.” He sets the bag and coffees on the desk.

I shrug. “Yeah. A workman, a maintenance man, an IT guy. I spoke to their neighbors for all the good it did me. A woman driving home from the grocery store said she remembered a power company’s utility van parked on their street. She said she only remembers because she was afraid there was an electricity outage and she was hosting a holiday party that night. The Mesas won’t talk to me, and the staff refuses to answer any questions. They’re afraid of getting fired.”

“So, what do we got?” Pop settles into the chair I usually sit in. I’ve been glued behind the desk for the past hour replaying the shadowy figure in the hallway, searching for any kind of clue. I pry the top off one of the coffees and gulp, letting the warmth soothe me. I get the blues this time of year. The holidays are over, it’s cold outside, and there’s no end in sight. Valentine’s Day usually bites. Will be worse this year. I won’t see Zarah, and I’m not interested in dating anyone else.

“Nothing.”

“What are we going to tell Meredith?”

“I said we’d talk to Troy, the fiancé, first, then we’ll have to let her down easy. The holidays screwed us up, and he and his parents have been out of the country for the past two weeks. He’s supposedly coming back in the next couple of days.”

“Was Savannah seeing Jerricka Solis?”

“Nope. According to Meredith, Savannah hadn’t been in therapy since her mom and dad sprung her from Quiet Meadows.”

“That’s too bad. The ice queen was a coincidence after all.”

“Yeah.”

Pop sips his coffee. “First of the year is coming.”

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