Page 9 of Just Hide

She was a very special woman. Tough, resilient, artistic, and creative in a way he knew he could never be. She understood the pressures of his job, and at the same time, he was in awe of the success she'd made of her career.

This weekend, they were off to a shelter to adopt a cat, having both agreed that they were ready, and that living together meant there'd always be someone home to care for the cat, even when one of them was traveling. He had an inkling that this trip might involve coming home with more than one animal. Connor had a strong feeling they were going to become two-cat parents pretty soon.

He glanced affectionately at her photo before taking the case file off the shelf. Back to business again. Personal thoughts could not intrude now.

"There have been two women found dead so far," he said. "Antoinette Carr and Rosalind Asher."

He glanced through the pages, taking in the new details, and then passed the file to Cami, feeling her focus sharpen.

"As you can see, both are so similar they could be sisters."

The women were both in their mid-twenties, exquisitely beautiful with narrow faces, huge eyes, and dark, brunette hair.

"Antoinette Carr was a model. She was found in her living room this morning. Her throat was slashed, and she had multiple stab wounds in her torso inflicted after death. Her housemate is on the scene, so we can interview her and see if there’s any available camera footage."

"Right."

"Rosalind Asher was an influencer, and she was found on Monday. She lives alone, and the housemaid found her in the morning. Exactly the same MO. It looks as if she might have been overpowered just after arriving home, also, as the front door was open, and there was no sign of forced entry."

There were photos of the body, from Monday’s crime scene, and Connor watched Cami as she paged through them. She swallowed as she viewed the photos but kept calm. He was impressed by that. Especially when he remembered how hard she'd found this at first.

"So, someone knew both of them? Someone tracked them both? And these kills were only two days apart?" Cami asked.

"Correct," Connor nodded. "That's where the evidence is pointing. The second crime was reported two hours ago, and police then realized it was a serial, so it landed on my desk just now."

"Do we have any of the victims’ devices in police custody?" Cami sounded keen to get to those, but Connor had other ideas.

"I believe the phones are available, but before we look at them, we need to get personal testimonial. That's always the first direction to move in."

"But the phones might tell us a lot," Cami protested.

"I'm sure they will, but getting to them is second on our list," Connor said, firmly now, because he placed great stock in getting an overview from people before devices. "We have an important witness, Antoinette’s housemate Petra Brink, who was home at the time of the crime, and who might have known her well and known what was happening in her life. She might have seen the killer without realizing it if he was casing out the place beforehand. Let’s find out," he said.

CHAPTER FIVE

Cami's fingers were itching to open the victims' devices. She longed to know what information, what secrets, might be hidden away there. But she accepted that the human factor, which Connor prioritized, could give them leads they wouldn't find on the phone.

Speaking to Petra might uncover secrets of a different kind. And although the first crime scene had been well described, and there were photos and diagrams in the file, she guessed it would be important to see the second.

There could be cameras there or other information that could only be picked up at the scene. At any rate, it was time to go and see what had happened.

She headed downstairs again with Connor, unable to stop herself from glancing suspiciously into the neighboring offices as she passed by. Had Ethan been investigating someone else within the Boston FBI office? Was this related to people who were still working here?

Who could she trust? Who had fired the gun that night, who had seen him there, and who had given those orders?

The thoughts whirled in her mind as she headed downstairs and got into the car, with Connor at the wheel. She had to stay focused, she reminded herself. She was here to do a job, and that was all that mattered. Apart from watching her back as best as she could, she couldn’t allow her worries to consume her.

***

Antoinette's apartment was in a trendy suburb just outside of downtown Boston. Cami thought, as Connor pulled up outside the apartment block, that it looked like an expensive and well-kept area. Gracious oak trees lined the sidewalk. A few police cars were parked in their shade.

Cami climbed out. She couldn't help it, but already, her stomach was churning with dread. Even though she knew that by now the body would have been removed and all that would be left were the bloody traces of the crime scene, it was still a challenge for her to approach it, knowing what she had to face and what had happened.

The apartment was on the second floor, and when Cami walked up the stairs behind Connor, she immediately saw the tape stretched across the front door and heard the sound of voices and the crackle of radios from inside.

Although she’d been looking carefully as they walked, she hadn’t seen any security cameras visible so far, which was disappointing.

One of the forensic techs came out of the living room as they arrived at the door. He was wiping his forehead, which had gotten sweaty under the head covering, even though it was a chilly day.

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