Page 92 of Love Me Fierce

It makes me wonder if the killer places the necklace on his victims after he kills them. Like a token of his appreciation. A parting gift.

Is this what Ballard needed more time to piece together?

Fuck.

I hand the phone back. I’m not sure this information will help us, but I jot it down anyway.

“We know Marin worked at the feed store,” Zach says. “Do you know if she took on any other part time jobs? Maybe something that offered flexible hours?”

Ashley frowns.

“How about something associated with the college?” I add. “Like a research study she was paid to participate in?”

A flicker passes through Ted’s eyes. “She applied for one of those. But it only lasted a month. She got paid and that was that.”

Ashley’s troubled gaze lifts to meet her husband’s. “I didn’t know this.”

“I didn’t even think of it until just now.”

That same slick flush of adrenaline spikes beneath my skin.

Finally, a lead.

But is it the kind of detail that will crack this case wide open, or just another false hope?

“Can you tell me more about it?” I ask.

Ted’s lips purse and his eyes tense, like he’s trying to remember. “Uh, she only mentioned it once. It was right around the beginning of the quarter. I saw the flyer, and I asked her about it. She said it was easy. Just answered a bunch of boring questions.”

“A flyer? Do you still have it?” I ask.

Ted grimaces. “No. She crumpled it up and threw it away. Iremember now thinking sort of odd that she would put it in the trash and not the recycle bin like she usually did.”

“Did she mention who the project was for?” I ask.

“No,” Ted says. “They paid cash, though, I know that much.”

Next to me, Zach’s measured exhale tells me he’s thinking the same thing.

This could be our guy.

“Do you know how?” he asks. “Like in person, Venmo, etc?”

Guilt plays across his features, and I hate that he’s taken this small detail as some sort of failure. “I don’t. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right,” I say, even though I know it’ll come across as empty. If it’s our killer, and he used something traceable like Venmo to pay Marin, we can find him. But we scoured Marin’s financial records. I don’t remember a large deposit. I’ll be looking again though.

“How is this tied to what happened?” Ted asks, his lips pressing together, like he’s barely holding his emotions inside.

“We’re not sure,” I say. “But it’s very helpful.”

Ted looks away. He doesn’t trust me. Which is 100% my fault—I’ve let them down too many times.

“Any chance we could get another look at her room?” Zach asks.

“Of course,” Ashley says, standing.

“Would you mind if we stayed down here?” Ted asks, pulling his wife into a soft embrace.

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