Page 55 of Three for a Girl

Carter lowered his hand, and glanced past Chad to his car in the field.

“Your airbag didn’t go off either. Closer to bad parking than a dramatic crash.”

Chad didn’t comment, he eyed the ground, keeping distance between him and Carter who kept trying to approach.

“What were you doing out here?” Carter said, “There’s nothing around for miles.”

Chad’s neck prickled, he stopped backing away, and lifted his chin. “What about you?”

He looked Carter up and down, out of his doctors uniform he wore jeans and a black T-shirt. He’d recognized him by his eyes, the caught in headlights look like when Chad had demanded to know if he liked football.

“I had a day off.”

“And you drove here?”

Carter flicked his eyes toward his car. “Quiet roads. Don’t worry, I keep to the speed limit,” He winked. “I took her out for a spin.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Is that acceptable, detective?”

Chad sagged. “Yeah … sorry.”

“Are you lost?” Carter asked. “Sometimes the sat nav plays up around here.”

“I’m not lost, I was just…”

Searching for a serial killer.

My serial killer.

He shook his head. “Exploring, driving around.”

“I’m gonna call for a recovery vehicle.” Carter said, tapping his fingers on the trunk. “You need one?”

“No, I think I can reverse out of there. We need to exchange insurance details.”

“No need, we didn’t collide, we just parked poorly.” Carter grinned as he whipped his phone from the pocket and made the call.

Chad’s gaze drifted away from him, following the wire fence. The building beyond drew his attention, and he squinted, thinking he could see a figure in the distance. Romeo? In a flash he saw the barn, the burning painting of a monster. Green, sad eyes surrounded by licking flames.

“What you looking at?” Carter asked. He’d finished on his phone and was putting it back in his pocket.

“What is this place?”

“Lakenwell. It’s a military base.”

“Military base? Doesn’t look like it’s being used.”

“Not on the surface at least. The fence runs all around it, and there’s a huge, padlocked gate covered in cameras. It’s being used for something, storage maybe.”

Chad closed his eyes, Romeo would avoid cameras at all costs. He twitched his nostrils, drawing in smoke.

“Can you smell that?”

“Guilty.” Carter said.

Chad looked at him. He stood with his hands raised, smiling at Chad.

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