Page 35 of Three for a Girl

“That sounds like a good idea. Why don’t you go inside—you must be hungry?”

“I had a coffee before I left the station.”

He picked up another puzzle piece, but Romeo’s hand shot over the table, and gripped Chad’s arm.

“Coffee isn’t very nutritious is it? Pasta, now, that’s good for you.”

Chad opened his mouth to argue, but one stern look from Romeo and he changed his mind. The odd energy was back, and Romeo wanted him gone. Chad tossed the puzzle piece onto the table, forcing a smile.

“You’re right.” He said, getting to his feet. “I’m starving.”

“I’ll be in soon.”

Chad tucked his chair under the table, watching Romeo. He paused, thinking of the right thing to say, but there was nothing. What Romeo wanted, what he needed, Chad couldn’t allow. He was supposed to protect the public from killers, not let one loose.

Romeo’s eyes met his. “I’ll be in soon.”

Chad clutched his neck as he left the outhouse, and once outside, he leaned against the wall, cursing up at the sky.

****

Ally met Chad on the stairs up to the incident room. She shot him a smile, but he struggled to return it.

“Christ, face ache, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Ally hummed. “Because that grumpy-assed ‘nothing’ really convinced me.”

“I didn’t sleep well.”

“Was it the heat? I was sweating buckets last night.”

“It wasn’t the heat.”

“Case on your mind?”

Chad shook his head. “Not that either.”

“Oh … well let’s hurry up and get it on your mind, it’ll be a good distraction.”

They were almost at the top of the stairwell when the door burst open. A wide-eyed Josh beckoned them into the incident room.

“He’s like an excited puppy when he finds something.” Ally snorted.

Chad held the door open for her, and she rolled her eyes at him. Josh rushed over to his desk, glancing up to make sure they were heading his way. Chad shot a smile at Faye, who reddened, looked away, and shot him one back.

“Wait till you hear this.” Josh said, “So I called around the companies Ellen was promoting, and guess what…”

Ally folded her arms. “Are you actually expecting us to guess?”

“Not one of them had any kind of agreement or contract with Ellen. They weren’t paying her to promote their products.”

“It says she’s a social media influencer.” Ally said.

“She isn’t, she never was, and I checked out Kerion, too, and he’s not contracted with any of the brands he promotes either. They don’t even get freebies.”

Chad frowned. “Where do they get all their money from?”

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