Page 40 of Mine to Save

Not that his infertility was a joking matter, but ever since Melinda had gotten married, she’d made it her life’s mission to find Emmett a woman.

“Only that—”

Tap. Tap.

Rhett banged on the window.

She gasped.

He jerked. “Guess we’d better get out of this car and find out what Rhett learned while he was in Miami and what Emmerson has to report.”

The warm, salty air hit his face as the ocean breeze kicked in. He pressed his hand against the small of Trinity’s back and guided her to an empty picnic table where Emmerson had already made himself comfortable.

“It’s so pretty here.” Trinity climbed up onto the table and tilted her nose to the sky. “I’ve lived in North Florida for most of my life, and I love it there, but nothing is as spectacular as this.”

“We like it.” Rhett straddled the bench. “Not to be rude, but I have three other cases I’m working.”

“And with Mom and Emmett both taking a personal day, I’m busy as hell,” Emmerson said. “So, let’s get this party started.”

Rhett set a folder on the table and tapped it with his fingers. “Cotania was blindsided by Robash’s request to take over the case. He was all set to work jointly with the Fort Lauderdale office when she found tiny discrepancies in his evidence collection for three of the cases.” Rhett opened the folder. “And not even anything that would hurt the case. But here’s the thing. The evidence points away from Jeff Allen.”

“Wheredoesit point?” Trinity yanked the piece of paper closer and held it up. “What am I looking at?”

“First things first,” Rhett said. “There was no note with the first three kills. But all three menwerecheating on their wives. They were all brutally murdered with a knife. But the pattern was slightly different, though Cotania thinks they were the same guy based on the cuts to the neck. Every victim has the same slash on the left side of their necks under the ear and down to the throat. That doesn’t change.”

“All that tells me is that our killer decided his message wasn’t loud enough to be heard,” Emmett said.

“Agreed.” Rhett nodded. “But here is where it gets really interesting.” Rhett licked his fingers, thumbed through a couple of pieces of paper, and then handed Emmett a report. “Trinity is holding the reports from the three murders before the notes started showing up on the victims. What I just gave you are murders that have no notes but are similar. And they happenedafterJeff Allen migrated to Fort Lauderdale.”

“Are you saying you have proof that our killer is still out there?” Emmerson asked as he leaned over Emmett’s shoulder.

“Not proof. But a working theory.” Rhett ran a hand over the top of his head. “Cotania has a man in custody who claims he killed these six men. He’s given them enough details they didn’t release to the media that even Cotania’s boss is listening. But that still leaves a lot of other dead bodies that Jeff could be responsible for.”

“All with a note pinned to them with Paul’s name on it. But there’s more,” Rhett said. “Cotania shared with me that he believes Robash not only lied to get the case but that she also sabotaged him.”

“How?” Emmerson asked.

“It’s all in that folder. But to summarize, she formally accused him of sexual harassment.”

“When the fuck did she do that?” Emmett asked.

“Three months before they officially assigned her the case. But she was already working it, at least from what I can tell,” Rhett said. “There was no basis for the charges, but it’s a stain on Cotania’s record.”

“We have to believe the victim,” Emmerson said. “If she said he did something, even if she’s a lying sack of shit, he might have made her feel uncomfortable somehow.”

“All agreed,” Rhett said. “However, witnesses signed statements that what she said happened, didn’t.” Rhett held up a finger. “They were all women. All who stated that Robash would do anything to get ahead.” He looked between the three of them. “This woman is not well-liked.”

“She’s why victim-shaming exists,” Trinity mumbled under her breath. “But we still always have to listen.”

“That’s the truth of the matter.” Emmett would always take the word of a potential victim. As an officer of the law, he had to. If the world were to change, it was his duty as a man who generally had the power to ensure it.

However, Trinity was right. Robash muddied the waters. When someone like Robash, a woman in power, took advantage of her position, all it did was make it even harder to make progress.

“But you all have to understand that while Cotania can’t stand Robash and would love to see her fail, hedoesbelieve Jeff is guilty of some of these murders. He just thinks Robash wanted insurance, so she doctored a few things.”

“That’s illegal.” Trinity tossed the paper across the table. “No offense, but you wonder why so many people don’t trust the cops.”

“I don’t ponder that.” Rhett chuckled. “I’ve sent copies of all of this to Mom, Dad, Seth, and all of you. I’ll keep digging, as well. “

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