Page 42 of Off the Hook

Jake lifted his gaze, tears brimming in his eyes. He nodded, resigned. “Of course, anything you need.”

“Can you come by the station tomorrow then?” I held out my card. “Call me, and I’ll meet you there. It will just take a few minutes.”

“Thank you, Detective.” He tucked my card in his pocket and turned away, immediately surrounded by friends and family.

“You ready?” Oscar asked. “I still have to finish my notes.”

“Yeah, let’s go, I don’t see anything suspicious.”

Oscar let out a sarcastic huff, his gaze turning toward Coulter. I was grateful he kept his thoughts to himself for the time being. After paying our respects to Doreen and Ed, we headed back to the car. I peeled my button down shirt away from my chest, fanning myself while I waited for Oscar to unlock the doors. Even winter in the Keys wasn’t cool enough for these uniforms.

I took off my suit coat and was stowing it in the backseat, when I heard a tentative voice. “Detective?”

“Yes?” I stood and turned, one hand on the door.

“Um, Jake told me who you were. I’m Amber, Kylie’s best friend. I was wondering…Have you figured out who did it?”

“Hi, Amber,” I said, extending my hand, “Detective Ramirez. Doreen told me about you. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” she sniffled. “Are you going to catch who did this to her?”

“We have a few leads,” I said cautiously.

“Have you talked to that Coulter Rodman?” Amber turned to glance in the direction of where the Rodman family was still gathered outside the church. “He’s bad news.”

I stood up straight. “Coulter? Why?”

Amber’s expression hardened, and I caught sight of Oscar smirking as he made his way around the car. Amber’s eyes darted as she stepped forward, lowering her voice. “I think he was abusive. There was this one time they got into a huge fight at his shitty apartment on Coral Way. It was so loud the neighbors called the cops,” she said, hands on hips. “He got hauled in for domestic violence.” Her face contorted in disgust. “Of course the charges were all dropped. His dad’s friends with the Sheriff, you know.”

My heart sank, but I maintained an even tone. “When was this?”

“Christmas break… must’ve been our junior year. We were back from UM for the holidays.”

“What did Kylie say happened that night?”

“She didn’t say much,” Amber said bitterly. “She refused, changed the subject every time I asked. I was so glad whenshe broke up with him. She was so much better off with Jake.”

Oscar glanced over, I could see the ‘I told you so’ in his eyes. Coulter was innocent, I knew it in my bones. But with the mounting evidence against him, time was running out to prove it.

CHAPTER 20

COULTER

The twenty-four-hour fever dream with Faith felt almost like a distant memory after the heaviness of Kylie’s funeral. But getting close to Faith had eased my grief. Seeing her at the funeral comforted me, despite the guilt I felt at the irony that she was the good that had come from this horrific tragedy.

It was understandable that Faith was distant, and awkward, at the funeral. I don’t know what I expected her to say, but I did find it strange she didn’t even say hello. And I hadn't heard a peep from her since. I didn’t think much of it when she didn’t answer my text or my call last night. But the day was half gone and she still hadn’t responded.

My mind reeled with possibilities, and it honed in on the worst.... Was I just a big regret that Faith wanted to pretend never happened? As crushing as the thought was, my indignant self preservation took over. I had no idea what was going on with her and that was not okay.

This had gone on long enough. I needed to hear her voice.

After I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed, the screen lit up with the picture of Faith I had snuck when we were fishing. After wrestling the monster tarpon, her nose pink and hair tousled, and a look of pure bliss on her smiling face. I grinned at her image while the phone rang on speaker.

Two days ago felt like a lifetime. Another dimension. I paced the dock while the line rang. And rang. While I debated on whether to hang up and text her, or leave her a voice message, Faith finally picked up.

“Detective Pierce,” she answered, sounding distracted.

“Hey beautiful,” I said as confidently as I could. “How’s it going?”

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