Page 41 of Mine to Save

“Do you want to know what doesn’t make sense to me?” Trinity jumped off the table and twisted her back. “My dad left Pensacola when I was sixteen, seven years after he was released from prison. Why were there no murders in that city?”

“Funny you should mention that.” Rhett waggled his finger. “For starters, he was on parole, living in a halfway house for those seven years. They monitored his every move. It might have been hard for him to commit that kind of crime without getting caught. However, I’ve asked for a list of all homicides even remotely similar to these, both solved and unsolved, within a hundred-mile radius.” He tapped the folder.

“Okay. Then what about the eighteen years from the time he left until two years ago when these started? Because don’t serial killers have to kill?” she asked.

“I’ve spoken to an expert on serial killers,” Emmett said. “There are triggers that could cause someone to go on a rampage like this.”

“Explain it to me,” she said with her hands on her hips and fire shooting from her eyes.

“I don’t have a full report, but the short answer is that he didn’t start off as a serial killer. Something happened,” Emmett said. “Perhaps he became involved with another woman who cheated. Or he saw something that triggered that memory. Or drugs. Or any number of things that could have set this in motion.” Emmett inched closer, wrapping an arm around Trinity. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but your father lived under the radar for years. We don’t have a good handle on who he was or how he lived. We’re trying to do that. We have contacts in the homeless community asking questions about him, trying to paint a picture, but it’s going to take time.”

“I have no idea who my father was.” She rubbed her temples. “And yet I know in my heart of hearts that he didn’t do this.”

“We’re going to find the truth, one way or another,” Emmett said. “I won’t rest until we do. I promise.” And he meant it. When he caught her gaze, it sucker punched him right in the gut.

“I’m going to keep doing deep-dives on Robash and Cotania,” Rhett said.

“I’ve got to get back on patrol,” Emmerson chimed in. “However, I’ll officially request certain reports. I’ve found two unsolved deaths in our county in the last twenty years. They aren’t close matches, but close enough that I can bullshit my way through pretending I want to see if I can attach them to your father.”

“I don’t want more deaths associated with him,” Trinity said as the oxygen in her lungs flew out like a seagull diving into the salty water for a tasty fish.

“That’s not what I’m trying to do,” Emmerson attempted to reassure her, but Emmett knew he wasn’t doing that great of a job based on how she scrunched her nose.

“The more we can keep Robash on the hook, the more likely it is we can get her to trip up. And if we can get her office to open an investigation into how she handled your father’s case, then we can poke deeper holes into it and maybe find the real killer.” Emmett ran a hand up and down her back, giving her neck a good squeeze every once in a while.

“You believe he was innocent?” Her dark lashes lowered over her blue eyes. It mesmerized him, holding him captive.

He couldn’t tear his gaze away if he tried. She carried a deep sense of sadness and loss in those blue pools, and he wanted to ease that pain for her and protect her from any future sorrow. She deserved to know the truth, even if it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. She needed those answers, and he wanted to be the one to give them to her.

“You all do?” she asked as if she couldn’t believe that any of them were on her side.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but this isn’t about guilt or innocence right now. This is about justice and due diligence, and they didn’t give your dad a fair shake,” Emmett said.

“I know he didn’t do this,” she pleaded with him. “I get that I sound like a broken record and have no real evidence, and I’ve only met my father once, but something deep in my core is telling me that the feds have this all wrong. I wish I had reached out to him when the PI I hired had found him.”

“What exactly did he find? Did he leave you with paperwork? Pictures?” Rhett asked.

She nodded. “I didn’t use the information. I guess I only wanted to know he was alive.”

“You should have told me this sooner,” Emmett said softly, reining in his frustration. On the surface, there wasn’t a reason for her to tell him, but the devil was in the details, and he couldn’t let anything fall through the cracks.

“Can I have the name of the man you hired? I’d like to speak to him,” Rhett said.

“Of course.” She nodded.

“I need you to trust me. I need you to tell me everything going forward. Can you do that?” Emmett palmed her cheek, totally forgetting about his brothers. Forgetting about his surroundings. He put all his focus and energy on Trinity. “If I’m going to help you, we can’t have any secrets between us. Not one. Okay?”

She curled her fingers around his wrist. “Why are you so willing to help me? You met him for what? Less than half an hour, and it was your people—”

He brushed his lips tenderly across hers in a short kiss. “Because when I looked into your father’s eyes, I saw a man who wanted his daughter to know the truth. And so do I.”

“I’ve really got to run,” his brother Emmerson said, slapping him on the back.

Emmett closed his eyes for a brief moment. He always had bad timing when it came to kissing women. “See you later.”

“Have a good one.” Rhett waved as he took off toward the parking lot. Laughing.

Emmett tucked the folder under his arm. “Sorry.” He took her hand and tugged her toward his vehicle. “I probably shouldn’t have done that.”

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