Page 81 of Aftermath
Len used her elbow to nudge her friend. “Don’t be rude,” she scolded.
The two let out a giggle. I’d been gone no more than fifteen minutes, and already, I found them on their second margaritas.
“Miranda?” the waitress said and held out another drink.
“It’s Mallory,” Len’s friend snapped, annoyed.
“Sorry, I got mixed up, but you ordered another margarita, correct?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s mine,” she said and snatched the glass from the woman.
“Thank you,” Len said to the waitress, who turned red.
“Let me know if you need anything else,” she answered and turned, hurrying off.
I smiled at Len, trying not to give anything away while we continued our drinks at the pub.
* * *
Hours passed and Len stared at the wall where we’d updated our information. It’d been like this since we returned from the pub. Eventually, she and Mallory tired of the place and parted ways, much to my satisfaction.
Len continued to look at the two pictures we’d hung of our most likely suspects. Visualizing it all helped me build the pieces of the case and see things from a bigger picture, even if it was cliché.
The sheriff and Ethan’s photos hung side by side, the best leads we had.
I knew what I had to do next, but I dreaded it. The moment the FBI arrived, I’d have to turn over what I’d found so they could look over that security footage. Asking Mags now was too risky. It was an active case, and if she found anything, it would raise too many questions that could reflect on her reputation. I wasn’t willing to do that to her.
Instead, I’d wait.
“I don’t see it,” Len said suddenly.
“That sounds like the margarita talking,” I teased, but Lenny scowled back at me.
“I only had two. Mal was the one who left tipsy.”
“For that, we are lucky, or she may have never agreed to let you come back with me,” I answered.
Len chuckled.“Thank you. For letting her come along. It was nice to feel normal, even if just for an hour.”
I pulled a chair from the dining room table to sit next to her.“What are you trying to see?”
“How it all connects. How do you know it could be them?” she asked.
“I’m building the profile piece by piece. That’s what all of this is,” I said, motioning to the wall.
“How?” she repeated.
“I’ll show you,” I said, taking her hand and helping her up.
I walked her over to the start of the wall, where we hung the photos of the victims.
“What are the two things investigators found to be common amongst them?” I asked.
I sound like such a teacher. Maybe the academy had become a bigger part of me than I thought.
“The pub,” Len guessed.
“And?”
