Page 345 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

She pulled her cell from her purse and laid on top of the comforter. Four missed calls, all from an unknown number. No voicemails.

Addie tapped and scrolled through her apps, then the social media accounts she kept but rarely posted on. She wasn’t connected to anyone she knew—mostly, they were used for work when she needed to look up a victim or suspect. She played a couple of rounds of a word game and realized her eyes were getting heavy.

When she woke up, the lamp beside the bed was on, and she had a blanket over her.

Instead of it being dark outside, light streamed between the curtains. Muted by the cloudy sky and the rain that pattered against the glass.

A shadow outside shifted.

Addie blinked.

A figure stood out the window, hood up. Face in shadow.

She gasped and sat up. Her stomach muscles clenched. She reached for a gun she usually set on the side table. It was still in her suitcase, in the lockbox.

She looked once at the door, then back. The figure was gone.

Addie shoved back the covers and moved to the window. She stood beside the frame, out of sight, and shifted the curtain to peer out.

No one.

The house was cold enough she had to fight a shiver. Addie pulled the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around her.

Probably just a figment of her imagination. The remnant of some forgotten dream.

She still wore her suit from yesterday. After a quick shower, she changed into layers of every warm item she had, wrapped the blanket around her again, and headed for the kitchen.

A young woman in jeans and purple Converse sneakers stood at the counter with a T-shirt and jean jacket on her top half. Her hair had been straightened to within an inch of its life and was the same color as Addie’s.

The print on the wall was different. Before an old reproduction of a Thomas Kinkaid hung there. Now it was a striking black and white photo of Mount Hood that seemed familiar.

“Hey, kiddo.”

Mona turned toast in one hand. She took a huge bite. “Hey.”

She’d gotten better with makeup since last time. Addie had handed down her old car when she upgraded two years ago—the summer Mona passed her driving test.

“School today?”

“Yep. Math first, and my teacher is a pain, so I’ve gotta go.” She left her plate on the counter, along with the jam—the lid beside it—and breezed to the door with the remains of the toast in one hand.

Addie sighed to the empty kitchen and brushed back her wet hair. She kept the blanket around her while she poured herself a cup of coffee and trailed down the hall. Russ sat at his desk with the door open. Since there was a couch there, she took a seat while he pecked at the keyboard.

“You should take a typing class.”

“You should keep your opinions to yourself.” He looked over and gave her a toothy grin.

Addie took a long mouthful of coffee and then leaned her head back. “I slept a while.”

“You slept nineteen hours.”

Addie blinked.

“How long have you been pushing yourself?”

“Big case,” Addie said. “All hands on deck, and a complex profile to construct. It took a few months.” The two days in Seattle had been no less busy.

“You caught the guy?”

---