Page 97 of Midnight Secrets

Ellis sighed. “Oz…”

“I won’t be too late. There’s just something I need to do first. I’m close, El. I can see the end of this case.” I drummed my fingers on my desk, eager to head home. The man in the video was the key to all of this. I could feel it in my gut.

“Fine. But don’t count on seconds. Mina’s making elk stew, and it smells delicious.” Without saying goodbye, he hung up.

That did sound good, and my stomach made sure I knew it.

Food would have to wait. At least for a little bit. That nagging feeling I knew who was in the footage wouldn’t go away. I needed answers more than I needed food.

“Oh, Detective, I’m glad I caught you.”

I looked up to see Nina in the doorway. “Hi. What’s up?”

She walked in and held out a full-color flyer. “I forgot to put this in your mail stack. The deadline is in a few days.”

Accepting the paper, I glanced at it, reading over the information. “A law enforcement competition?”

Smiling, she nodded. “We enter one or two people each year.”

“I’ll look into it, thank you.” And I would, but I doubted I would enter. Not this year. I was still settling in.

“You’re welcome. Have a nice evening.” With a little wave, she left.

I set the paper on top of the pile of mail I already had going, then turned to my computer, closing windows, so I could shut it down.

My hand froze on the mouse as the zoomed-in photo of the sweatshirt from the crime scene came up on the screen.

Wait…

My chair protested as I leaned forward, bringing my face closer to the monitor. Was that?—?

I glanced at the flyer Nina just brought.

It couldn’t be.

Lifting the paper from the stack, I held it up to the screen.

The colors for the competition logo and the text placement matched.

Marie’s lover was a cop?

Oh, man.

My heart thudded.

This could be bad. We were a small department. Everyone was privy to this case, because everyone had been working it. Murders were an all-hands-on-deck kind of thing here.

Shit…

I speared my fingers through my hair and sat back, chair protesting again.

Who could I trust?

The chair screeched again as I quickly sat up. With several quick clicks, I closed out the rest of the windows on my computerand shut it down. Trading my patrol truck keys for my personal truck, I hurried out of the building.

More than ever, I needed to figure out who the man was in the video.

CHAPTER 34

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