Page 89 of Tempt Me

One by one, the letters are deposited into the clear bags.

“What are those?” Dad snaps. “Let me see them.”

Apparently, the sheriff is still under Dad’s thumb. He holds the letters up so Dad can read them. I watch my father’s face slowly darken, until he’s practically beet-red.

“What the fuck is this,” he says in a low growl.

“We don’t know, Dad,” I say.

“You found these?” he says. I nod. He turns to the sheriff. “What does this mean?”

“We aren’t sure yet. We’ve got to get these to the lab for processing.” Sheriff Briggs puts a hand on Dad’s shoulder. “This is the first break we’ve had in the case in years, Russ. Caden did good.”

“And why didn’tyoufind these?” Dad says acidly. The sheriff blanches. “Why is it that my son has found these crucial pieces of information and not the fucking police force?”

My thoughts exactly.

“There was no reason to search the house,” the sheriff protests. “The burglar didn’t—our theory was—we had the security camera footage from the back doors to the home. No one entered or exited your house that morning except you and Marion.”

“It seems like you were all so married to this burglar theory, you didn’t stop to consider anything else,” Von says. “I’ll be escorting this evidence to the lab with your officers to ensure no further screwups on the part of the MBSD.”

“That won’t be necessary little lad?—”

“Sheriff, if you call me a little lady, I will file so many lawsuits against the department you’ll be drowning in paperwork until Christmas,” Von snaps. “Like you said, this is the first break in my mother’s case in years. You were all about to give up and let it die as a cold case until my brother showed up and did your jobs for you. I’m not letting those letters out of my sight until they have been handed over to the lab technicians. I’m not about to let a murderer get away on some technicality.”

I was going to insist on going with them but clearly Von is the better option. It’s kind of nice how in sync our family is in this moment. I flash her a grateful smile.

Sheriff Briggs sighs. “Very well. Patterson, you’re coming with me. Davis, Rodriguez, Falco, I want this study searched from top to bottom. Everything by the book.”

“Yes sir,” one of the deputies says as the others nod.

Sheriff Briggs turns to my father. “If there’s anywhere else Marion might have kept things, I want you to show these men, okay?”

Dad clenches his jaw and nods.

Von stalks off down the hall with the sheriff. Noah gives me a half wave. I hope this isn’t one of those “police procedure” situations where he won’t tell me what’s going on. I want to know what the lab finds as soon as the results are in, procedure be damned.

I take out my phone, instinctively wanting to tell Isla about what’s happened, before remembering she hates me and doesn’t want to speak to me ever again.

Dad is staring into the study as the deputies begin to tear the place apart, opening every drawer, looking through the bookshelves. One is examining my murder board with an indecipherable expression. Another picks up the photograph of Mom and Dad on their wedding day.

“Don’t touch that,” Dad snaps and the deputy looks up, surprised.

I put my hand on my father’s shoulder. “Come on, Dad,” I say. “Let’s leave them to it.”

I may not be the Magnolia Bay Sheriff’s Department’s biggest fan right now, but hovering and snapping at these officers isn’t going to help anything. My father’s back stiffens.

“Fine,” he says, shrugging me off and stalking down the hall. Finn and I follow him to the kitchen, where Dad strides out the back door. We watch through the windows as he crosses the lawn, disappearing into Mom’s garden. Finn slumps into one of the stools while I lean against the fridge, my head spinning.

“What do we do now?” Finn asks.

“We make sure the police do their job,” I say. “Where else do you think Mom might have kept stuff she didn’t want anyone to know about?”

“I don’t know.” Finn’s face goes tight. “I didn’t think Mom was the kind of person who kept secrets.”

Me neither. But it looks like we were wrong.

Even still, we’re one step closer to getting answers.

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