Page 63 of Cold as Hell

“Do whatever you need to do, because between the drugs for Kendra and Felicity’s heart being in Lynn’s drawer, I’m starting to feel like someone here doesn’t like me much.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

I don’t find anything in Sebastian’s room, and that’s not surprising. If he is being framed, it’d be wise for the killer to hide a “trophy” in Sebastian’s bedroom—a piece of clothing or jewelry—but the storm means it’d be hard to have gotten access to this room today. Either Sebastian or Mathias has been here or in the shop all day. Any evidence would need to be hidden later, which is why it’s a good thing I conducted the search now.

I’m also quick to warn Sebastian to keep both the shop and their apartment secured, but according to him, they’ve been doing that since the drugs were found missing.

Do I think Sebastian is being framed? Yes. Stealing the temazepam had seemed a matter of convenience. Someone knew he had sleeping medication and discovered Mathias doesn’t lock the doors. But the heart-shaped lure placed in Lynn’s underwear drawer is deliberate.

Not only does Sebastian match the basic description of the person Marlon saw, but the way that person moved suggested it was Sebastian. I know what Marlon meant by that. Sebastiancarries himself in a way that seems a study in contradictions. He gives off a very casual air, laid-back and unprepossessing. That’s what he wants people to see. It lowers their guard and helps them dismiss him. Sure, he might seem a little off, but certainly not dangerous. Just a kid. That’s why Lynn would have set her eye on Gunnar while never looking Sebastian’s way. Heseemsyounger than he is. Just a kid.

And yet, despite that affected persona of nonchalance, there’s a watchfulness to him, an alertness. He has a very relaxed stride, like the kind of guy who’d stroll into a bad neighborhood by accident. But the rest of him—his face and especially his eyes—tells a very different story. He is exceptionally aware at all times. That casual walk and eagle-eyed gaze could be emulated by anyone who has watched Sebastian.

Our killer isn’t acting on impulse. The theft of the drugs implies planning. What if part of that planning meant setting up a fall guy? Someone who bears a physical resemblance to them, especially when bundled in winter wear.

Who might frame Sebastian this way? Anyone matching his basic physical size, which includes a half dozen men and women in town. But the one that comes to mind first? The one who keeps sliding into the center of this.

Thierry.

From Sebastian’s apartment, I pop by and see Kenny, who confirms what Sebastian said about helping him and having coffee afterward. The times match up. Next I go to where we’re holding Grant. In Rockton, we’d had a cell in the police station for anyone we needed to confine. The problem came when we needed to watch—or guard—someone and didn’t want tomake them stay in a cell so small they couldn’t even stretch out on the floor. We do have a cell in Haven’s Rock, but we also have a windowless bedroom with a guard area just outside the door. That bedroom is where Grant’s being held.

I find both Dalton and Anders just outside the building door, talking.

“I need to speak to Grant.” I look at Dalton. “Ten minutes tops. Then I’m off to bed.”

He grunts and opens the door.

“I’ll grab my stuff for the night shift,” Anders says, and takes off at a lope.

Dalton and I go inside. The small exterior room has a cot and a chair. That’s where Anders will spend the night, right outside Grant’s door. Dalton knocks on that door.

When no one answers, Dalton sighs. “I know you’re in there, Grant. I’m just knocking to be polite and let you know I’m bringing Casey in.”

“Yeah? I just lost my wife. Polite would be not treating me like a goddamn criminal.”

Dalton opens the door. Grant is up on the bed, dressed, arms crossed, a kid who’s determined to spend his grounding like that.

“You’re here because you threatened a resident,” I say. “You were warned to stop. Warned multiple times, in deference to what you’ve gone through. But if you kept threatening, we needed to put you in here to cool off. It’s better than the cell.”

“You know who should be in the cell? That kid.”

As I move into the room, I take a better look at Grant. Couldhepass for Sebastian? He’s a couple of inches taller, but otherwise, if he had the walk right, he could have done it. Heavy winter wear—plus a blizzard—means I can’t rely too much on the description.

“You say you found the lure in Lynn’s underwear drawer,” I say.

“Yeah.”

“Hidden?”

He shrugs. “It was wrapped in a pair of her underwear, so yeah, hidden.”

“Would that be a safe place for her to hide something?”

He looks at me like I’m joking. “Uh, it’s herunderweardrawer. I don’t go in there.”

“Not even to put away laundry?” Dalton says.

Grant’s face screws up. “Why would I be putting away laundry?”

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