Page 41 of Murder in Calusa Cove
Chloe narrowed her gaze and stared. “Why do you say that?”
“It’s a long story,” Hayes said. “But our department was involved in a scandal. She thought dating me would get her the scoop. I didn’t realize what was going on until it was almost too late.” He shook his head. “I fed her false intel, she reported on it, and let’s just say, she’d like to hang me out to dry.”
“That’s mean,” Chloe said, but smiled.
“It was deserving.” Dawson chuckled. “But we’ve digressed.”
Chloe stared at Buddy with what could only be described as a look of pleading in her eyes.
Buddy scanned the area, then nodded.
Chloe crouched again, eyes focused on the edges of the scene with the kind of intensity that came from chasing ghosts for too long.
“Do you think she was killed here? Or was she dumped? Do you believe the body’s staged?” Buddy asked, stepping to her side.
“This scene is clean. No drag marks. No disturbances in the brush coming in from the trail. That alone says something.” Chloe let out a long breath. “She was carried in. This was staged. It all goes back to the questions Hayes asked earlier. Why Calusa Cove? What does this all mean to the killer? What’s the message he’s trying to send to us, because this feels like the killer is communicating to…us.”
Hayes took a step back, giving them space. He didn’t need to be in the middle of this. Not when Chloe had flipped that switch inside her that made her hyper-focused, all business, and emotionally sealed off. He respected it. He also hated it.
Because this wasn’t just about the murder. It was about her—about what it was doing to her.
Chloe stood again and turned toward Buddy. “We need to re-map where all the other bodies were found, where the victims were from, and where they went missing from. All of them. Overlay them on a topographic grid. I want to see if there’s a geographic pattern involving Calusa Cove. We need to focus on that. I believe it’s important.”
“I already had Remy start pulling parcel data from the county records office,” Buddy said. “But if we’re doing overlays, I want you doing it. You’re the one who’s been chasing this guy the longest.”
She hesitated.
“I know you’re on leave, and the brass is up my ass,” he added. “But as long as no one breathes a word to our boss, we do this our way. We’ve got two dead bodies with fingers missing in a matter of days. You know this case as well as I do, and I can’t be in more than one place at the same time.”
Chloe’s nod was small, but it was a yes.
Hayes glanced out over the dark water, the soft lap of tide barely audible over the muted hum of police radios and camera shutters. Somewhere nearby, an owl hooted once, low and hollow.
The swamp didn’t care that someone had died here.
But he did—and so did Chloe.
“We need a list of everyone who’s had access to this land since Keaton moved,” Chloe said, her mind already spinning. “Anyone who’s been out here in the last month. Surveyors, developers, squatters, whoever.”
“That’s easy,” Hayes said. “It’s a short list, and I can compile it for you.” Hayes turned back to the water. He didn’t say it aloud, but he didn’t need to.
Someone had brought a body back here like it was nothing.
Someone wanted them to see it—and someone had just changed the game.
Hayes moved a few steps away from the shoreline, needing space from the body and the cold detachment in Chloe’s voice. She had to compartmentalize—he knew that—but damn if it didn’t leave him wanting to pull her out of this whole thing and make her breathe for five minutes.
He barely had time to shake that thought before he heard the voice that always managed to crawl under his skin.
“Well, if it isn’t Special Agent Chloe Frasier’s shadow,” she said, stepping just inside the barrier with a smug smile and zero shame.
Hayes slowly faced her, folding his arms. “You’re not cleared to be in here.”
Stacey flashed a laminated press badge like it meant something. “Relax, Hayes. I’m not here to contaminate the scene.”
He arched a brow. “Then what are you doing?”
“Following a lead. Trying to confirm if the Bureau is finally admitting this is the work of a serial killer.” She looked around casually, eyes flicking toward Buddy and Chloe, who stood a few yards away. “Given the presence of not one, but two FBI agents, I’d say my instincts were spot-on.”
