Page 111 of Long Road Home

“Yo.”

“I could use an assist. Jax and I are locked in Dr. Rayland’s garage, and there’s a metric ton of evidence in here with us.”

“Sheriff has me watching the office. State police are on their way, since we’re another man down now. And the relief is coming in. Everyone’s pissed ’cause they’re gonna have to work different shifts. It’s a whole thing. The phone hasn’t stopped ringing.”

“So you’re gonna just leave Jax and I to freeze to death?”

Jax glanced over.

“No,” Kobrinksy said, “I already sent out the alert. Fire department will be there soon. I’ll text you when the time stamp comes up that the truck has been dispatched and let you know their ETA.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

Jax’s lips curled up. Kenna rolled her eyes.

“You said evidence?” Kobrinsky emphasized the last word.

“I left the sheriff a message. Radio him and tell him to call me.”

“Copy that.”

The call ended.

“So who shoved me?” Jax flipped up the collarof his jacket and rubbed his hands together. “Did you see their face?”

“Male, my height.” She paused to frown. “Actually, I’m just guessing based on body shape. Maybe it wasn’t a man, but a woman with a heavy coat on or lots of layers to disguise her figure.”

“Or Tilley.”

Kenna shrugged. “Right. I couldn’t see face or hair color. They’d covered both, as well as any visible skin.”

“So just a dark dressed figure.” Jax scratched his chin, and the stubble growing there. “Any idea what this sickness is about?” He waved at the room in general.

“Guess we should check out each piece.” Kenna glanced around. “It’s like a gallery, but why keep all this in your garage?”

“It isn’t the first place I’d look.” Jax moved ahead of her, wandering around like a gallery patron. “I’d search the whole house, assuming the garage is just boxes of junk. Storage. If her car is on the drive, I’d think it’s too full in here to use as a garage.”

“And it’s locked from the hall side with a padlock, so she’d be able to keep people from straying in here if she has guests.” Kenna shuddered. “This is some kind of…what? Fetish room?” She’d met people obsessed with death like that before. Crime scene photos were just images, they weren’t art. This was an attempt at art for the discerning fan.

“Easier to burn everything if the authorities are here. She probably kept nothing on her computer or phone. That’s the first place anyone in law enforcement is going to look for evidence these days.”

She went to the door and tried the lock, as if Jax hadn’t done something as basic as turned the door handle.

No tools. No stuff most people collected in their garage. Nothing she could use to pry the door open.

Kenna drew her weapon and aimed at the lock.

Jax slid his arms around her, his arms stretched down hers. His face close. His finger alongside hers so she couldn’t squeeze the trigger. “You won’t break the lock. The bullet will ricochet, and most likely it’ll hit one of us.”

“Then stand behind me so it’s me that gets hit.”

He eased around and pushed her back gently. “Not gonna happen.” His expression went completely neutral. “You’re not the only one in this relationship scared the other will get hurt.”

It wasn’t like she was out of control and reckless. She could listen to reason. “I won’t shoot out the lock, but the fire department better get here soon.” Kobrinsky hadn’t texted yet. How long did it take to dispatch a truck in this town, anyway?

“Call Maizie. We need to ID all of these people and get her started working out how Dr. Rayland got these images.”

“And where the printer is that produced ones this big,” Kenna added.

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