Page 2 of Let Her Live

"Jane," Chris said.

"I mean, it's one thing to get bug bites all over me, but I'm covered in—"

"Jane!"

Jane spun around at Chris's serious tone. She looked back to see her husband frozen, staring past her, pointing ahead. Nerves gnawed at Jane's stomach, and slowly, she turned, following Chris's finger.

What she saw made her blood run cold: hanging from the tree ahead was a man with a blindfold over his eyes, his flesh in a severe state of decay. That was when the smell hit her—the thick, rotten, putrid smell.

A scream grated Jane's throat, and she jumped back.

The man was completely still. Lifeless. Dead. And his throat had clearly been slit.

CHAPTER ONE

FBI forensic specialist and entomologist Fiona Red parked her car outside of the pharmacy, and watched through the window at the woman who worked inside. Marissa Johnson. That was the name she'd been given by Margot, Julia Rowe's sister.

Fiona watched as Marissa worked, wearing a white lab coat, a completely innocuous scene. But Fiona wondered if Marissa could be the one to point her in the right direction after all this time.

The sun glared off the glass, and Fiona sank deeper into the seat, doubting herself. When had she become so bold as to approach strangers about old cases? Cases she technically had no official clearance to be investigating. It made her more of a journalist, a private investigator; she was not here on official FBI business. No, this was personal.

Julia Rowe had been found murdered thirteen years ago on a beach here in Portland. A few years later, Fiona's sister, Joslyn, disappeared from that same beach. Both were cold cases, both with no answers—and there was no official connection.

But Fiona felt it in her core that Julia's murder had something to do with Joslyn's disappearance.

There were many strange things about Julia's case. For one, she had disappeared from a mall, leaving behind a sandal that had a strange caterpillar on it. Anyone might assume it to be unrelated, but as an entomologist, Fiona was always looking for ways to connect insects to crimes.

It turned out that the caterpillar was a rare species not native to the area—in fact, they came from a unique spot in the Caribbean—but there were some at the butterfly conservatory here in town. Fiona used to go there as a child, sometimes with Joslyn. She wanted to know if Julia had ever been there, but there had been no record of it.

Until Fiona went to see Julia's family, only to have Julia's sister, Margot, tell her that Julia did go to the conservatory, and she often went with one specific person: Marissa Johnson, Julia's childhood best friend. That was why Fiona was here now.

Marissa worked as a pharmacist, and Fiona was waiting for the right time to catch her alone, maybe on a lunch break, to confront her. In the reports her childhood friend, Erica, had given her from the police station, Marissa was briefly spoken to by the police, but she had told them she knew nothing. Since Marissa was a teenager, Fiona assumed the police didn’t look further into her.

But still, if the conservatory was Marissa's "secret meeting spot" with Julia, according to Margot, then there could be a connection that the police missed. Margot could know something. Had they been there together earlier that day before Julia went missing? Fiona wasn't sure, but she wanted to find out.

Fiona took a deep breath and got out of the car. She smoothed down her hair and walked towards the pharmacy, her heart pounding in her chest.

As she entered, she saw Marissa standing behind the counter, talking to a customer. Fiona stood at the end of the aisle, waiting for her chance to approach Marissa. Finally, the customer left, and Marissa turned around, looking at Fiona curiously.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked in a voice that was polite but guarded. She was a tall woman, with dark brown hair and matching eyes, and a slightly built frame.

Fiona took a step forward. "Marissa Johnson?"

"Yes, that's me... can I help you?"

Fiona glanced around. The store was empty, and Marissa's coworkers were far in the back, out of earshot. She leaned in and said, "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about Julia Rowe."

Marissa sucked in a breath, confusion flitting all over her face. "I'm sorry… what?”

Fiona stepped closer, then said in a low voice, "Margot told me that you and Julia used to go to the butterfly conservatory together. Do you remember that?"

Marissa's face paled, and her hands shook slightly. "How do you know about that?" she asked.

One of Marissa's coworkers sped by, reading off a clipboard. Marissa glanced at them, then back at Fiona. Fiona tried to look strong, even though her nerves were peaking. It wasn't easy to approach a stranger and bring up something traumatic from their past, but Fiona had to know the truth.

"I'm on break in five," Marissa said. "Just… give me a minute, and we can talk somewhere private."

Fiona nodded, grateful for the opportunity. She stepped back and watched as Marissa hurried off to the back of the store.

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