Page 13 of Riding Danger

It wasn't a secret that Lilly only went into the field if it involved troubles in her family.

“I don’t work with my husband in the field. And we prefer the term, behavioral analyst.” She folded her arms and looked around the scene. “What made you think to contact Agent Newton?”

Oh.She was testing me. She wasn’t disappointed when I decided to stay in town and raise Ethan where I had a support structure. But she did promise that when I was ready, she would be poaching me from the police force to assist her at Salinger Security. Even after fifteen years, she was still the only profiler at the company.

“The state I found him in. The marks at his throat and he’s down to his boxers. Also, the markings on his wrists and ankles that show he was restrained at some point. I didn’t turn him over because I didn’t want to contaminate the scene, so I don’t know about the markings on his back.”

“Shiloh.” Lilly narrowed her eyes at me. “The marks on their backs were not released to the press. And the report cannot be found on any police server.”

I rolled my lips and didn’t answer. We all knew Salinger Security hacked the department’s server from time-to-time. No one complained because it actually helped the department. But I also knew that most hacking routes could go both ways. And I had two friends who knew exactly how to do that.

“Are you going to force me to reveal my source?”

She rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore my question. “What else did you notice?”

“Victim was not killed here. But there was a substantial amount of bruising. Maybe from the original capture?”

“We’ll need to contact your father to see if he recognized the man at all.”

It was unlikely. Bowzer’s belonged to my foster father, Harry Bauman. So, it made sense to question him about a body found at the back of his diner. But, up until now, none of the victims had any connection to their dumpsites.

“Have any of the victims had any connections to the other towns and dump sites?”

Lilly tried to hide her small smile. “We are looking into that? There has to be a reason they are being taken in one town and then dumped in another.” She looked through her notes and frowned. “Did the CSI’s find anything incongruous around the body?”

That wasn’t in any of the reports I’d been able to access. “Like a calling card?”

“No, I think the marks on the back is the calling card. But we managed to find some kind of toy at every scene.”

On and on Lilly questioned me. At no point did she correct me. Further proof she was testing me and gaining information about the crime scene at the same time.

When we were done, she tilted her head and smiled at me. “So. Rumor has it that you and Ryder Hawkins were having a cozy chat at the recording studio earlier. And then someone saw his car outside the manor earlier. You know, around the time you have dinner with Ethan when you’re working the night shift.”

“My friends suck.”

“I don’t know. I heard it from Everly. Apparently, she had a front row seat to it all. No doubt the moms who chaperoned with you also had a hand in spreading things around town.”

Of course. “Look, I need to speak to Tess and Harry first. But Ryder is Ethan’s father. He is not the villain in this story. So please let the men know not to kill him.”

“I love that you know that warning is necessary.”

“Also, I am an officer of the law. So, no threatening, no kidnapping, and no attempt at driving him out of town.”

“I cannot promise anything. But if you say there are mitigating circumstances and he does right by that kid, he’ll have nothing to worry about.”

It was only once Joel and I were once again in the patrol car that I was able to check my phone. Joel took the wheel, allowing me a chance to read the messages from The Pancake Club. It was the name my girlfriends had given our group chat, since we’d started making pancakes for our birthdays when we were teens.

Maggie:So rumor around town is that someone’s baby daddy was at the recording studio this morning

Skylar:Yip. I was banned because it was a field trip day. But Connie Crows couldn’t wait to share when she caught me at the drugstore earlier

Maggie:I mean now that I know, I can totally see it.

Grace:It's those eyes.

On and on they speculated. Actually, I thought it was the wrong word. They chatted as if it was fact. Which it was. But they weren’t even concerned whether I confirmed or denied anything. Eventually the chat topic changed.

Skylar:Are we all doing the obstacle course tomorrow?

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