Page 74 of Never Stay Gone
Why did the killer not want Carly Hurst to be identified? Why mutilate her and her alone? Why kill Sophie Espinoza and Carly Hurst at the same time?
It was the number, the goddamn number, that stood out to Dakota. Not what Carly said, but who she said it to.
Because that was the private cell phone number for Drew Riggs, Governor Amanda Riggs’s husband.
Chapter Eighteen
When Dakota was assignedto Governor Riggs, one of the many upgrades to his security clearance had included access to the governor’s calendar. It was mostly for Amanda’s benefit. Dakota was supposed to know where she was at all times, including when she was traveling, and he was expected to manage his life to flow alongside hers.
He’d had to sign a mountain of paperwork, swearing under threat of multiple years in prison that he’d never abuse or misuse his access, which was classified somewhere around the stratospheric level. It had been unthinkable to him, then, to even glance at that calendar for any reason other than aligning his time with hers.
Now he hunched over his phone in the driver’s seat of his truck, the desert wind howling around him, as he hunted through her schedule from three months earlier. He didn’t have access to Drew’s calendar, but Drew and Amanda shared important dates—and travel—with each other. He saw Drew’s and Wayne’s names and information pop up all over Amanda’s schedule.Drew to Houston, Wayne to Amarillo.
Dakota checked the dates of Carly Hurst’s Big Bend trip against Amanda’s schedule.
Ninety days ago, both Carly Hurst and Sophie Espinoza went missing. That same day, Carly had texted Drew, saying it was a surprise to see him—maybe, possibly, in Big Bend, where she was.
Ninety days ago, on Governor Riggs’s calendar:Drew to Pecos.
Drive time between Pecos and Big Bend was two hours. That was close enough for Drew to have driven down. But why?
His heart thundered, and his hands shook as he scrolled back another month.Go in chronological order. It could be a coincidence.
Amber Serrano, who went missing 120 days ago. One hundred and twenty days ago, on Governor Riggs’s calendar:Drew to Lubbock.
Libby Lynn, sixty days ago.Drew to Midland.
Jessica Klein, thirty-two days ago.Drew to Odessa. The night of the rally.
Lubbock, Midland, Odessa. Drew Riggs had made an uncomfortable number of trips to West Texas, all thirty days apart, and all within driving distance of Big Bend. Each of them the day a woman went missing.
Dakota closed his eyes. Dipped his head.
What he was thinking, what he was considering, was out of bounds. Drew Riggs? He knew the man. Drew was quiet, self-effacing, self-deprecating. He liked to make other people laugh, always seemed to make time for anyone who wanted to talk. He had a personality that drew people in, and the best quality he and his wife shared was that they listened. People—Dakota included—felt heard when they spoke to Amanda and Drew.
One night ten months ago, right after he’d been shot and he was just getting to know the Riggses, he’d told Drew all about the man who got away. He never spoke about Shane, not to anyone, but he’d told Drew, and afterward, Drew had put his hand on Dakota’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes and said, “I know. I know how it feels to have your heart broken when you lose someone you love.”
Dakota had been on a few too many pain pills and had had a beer on top of those, so he was both high and drunk—which was why he’d run his damn mouth to begin with—and he hadn’t stopped to think about what Drew said. Why did Drew know what it was like to be heartbroken?
According to the press, he and Amanda were each other’s loves at first sight. Starstruck on the battlefield, a careful flirtation while dodging bullets and bombs. Dinner dates of MREs until they got back stateside and both of them tried to ask each other out on a real date at the exact same time. They wereitfor each other, according to the Riggs legend. Happy ever after.
Who had Drew lost? If he’d loved someone other than Amanda, who had that been?
Jessica made a call.
Odessa. Jesus,Odessa. Every West Texas town Drew had traveled to was driving distance from Big Bend, but they were right on top of Odessa.She worked in Austin during summers when she was in college.
Jessica’s case file was digital, and he was able to pull up the whole thing on his phone. He searched for her calendar, which had been scanned and uploaded, and started hunting dates, the same as he’d done for Drew Riggs.
One hundred and twenty days ago:Jessica to Lubbock for the weekend.
Ninety days ago:Jessica to Pecos for the weekend.
Sixty days ago:Jessica to Midland for the weekend.
And thirty-two days ago, Jessica had slipped out and met a shadowy man in an anonymous Odessa motel when everyone thought she was at the tail end of the governor’s rally.
Where had Drew been at the end of the rally? Dakota tried to search his memories, replay the night. Drew started the evening at his wife’s side, beaming, clapping, and waving to the crowd. He stood behind her, playing his role as the perfect husband, until the cue came and everyone on stage melted away to leave only Amanda to shine in the spotlight. It was their routine, well honed after years of playing politics.
