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“Among other things, yeah,” I muttered, lips hovering over the plastic lid.

“Listen.” A creak came from the chair’s joints as Slade shifted his weight forward. “I’ll be real honest with you right now.” My heart sank into my stomach.Fuck, I knew he would agree with me. How could he not?“You’re being fucking dumb.” My head popped up. “You have a basic profile, which is a shit ton more than I had before you got here. Caucasian female, late-twenties to-early-thirties, lives in or around Santa Coasta. Smart, educated on how to not leave evidence at a crime scene, so either a crime show addict or has worked with police or forensics before. Just because we haven’t found her yet doesn’t mean you’re failing. It just means we work that much harder to be as smart as she thinks she is.”

“I hate those damn forensics shows. Educating criminals on what not to leave behind.”

Slade smirked. “Thank fuck that them learning what to not do or leave behind and actually following through are two very different things.”

I lifted my cup in the air and tipped my head. “True that.”

The chime of my cell pulled our attention to the device. Tapping the green circle, I then hit the speaker icon. “Hey, Charlie. Please tell me you have something that can break this damn case wide open. I need something, anything.”

“That’s a big ask, but I might have just that.” I flicked a hopeful expression to Slade before focusing back on the phone. “I did a deeper dive like you asked, and something came up for the second victim. At seventeen, he was accused of sexual assault by a woman with prior arrests for solicitation.His name was mentioned in her statement, but it doesn’t look like it moved past her accusation.”

The cup crumpled beneath Slade’s tightening fist. “Because some old-school assholes don’t believe those women have the right to say no.” The obvious anger caused his voice to shake. “Tell me the idiot who took the statement still works here so I can go have a few words about ‘her body, her choice.’”

“I don’t know who said that, but I like you already.”

“Sorry, you’re on speakerphone,” I explained. “That was Detective Taylor. It’s just us two in the office. You’re good to talk freely.”

“Sorry to tell you, Detective, but that officer retired a while ago and passed away from health-related issues last year.” My shoulders deflated. “But they listed her name on the statement. Carly Rogers, and she still lives in Santa Coasta. From going through her bank account and work history, she moved on from that life and now works full-time at a small diner named Bec’s.”

My brows flew up my forehead. “Isn’t that where you took me that first day I was here?” Slade nodded. “I know the place, so just send me her home address and—”

My phone lit up with an incoming text.

“Already done. But that’s not all I have.” My jaw snapped shut at that. “There was a second assailant she accused, but I couldn’t find a name. Her statement just said there was another present during the assault.” My stomach dropped. “And I’m not done. Your first murder victim was named as a person of interest in a date rape case but never charged. There wasn’t any evidence. The victim came in days after the assault, and it looks like they swept it under the rug before anything official was filed.”

“Are there recordings from either the accused being interviewed or the original report from the victim?” Slade asked. “Depending on those, we could get lucky. Video recordings are now required for statements and interviews.”

“I don’t see anything, but the recordings library is massive. I’ll search through those next. But that woman’s name is Pam Chase. I’m sending you her work and home address.” He paused, but I knew he wasn’t done. “Bend, when you interview these two, stay alert and be careful.”

“What about me?” Slade chuffed.

“I don’t know you. You’re on your own. Bend’s boss is my partner. A lot more rides on his safety than yours.” Humor laced Charlie’s tone, making me smirk. “Just kidding. I guess you matter too.”

“Thanks,” Slade groused. “You’re thinking either of these two could be our unsub?”

“Maybe,” I offered instead of waiting for Charlie to respond. “Though if that’s the case, it still leaves us with a major question left unanswered.”

Slade’s brow furrowed, working through my words. I knew the moment he figured out what I meant. “How would she know the other murder victims if she only went after the man who attacked her?”

I dipped my chin in a firm nod. We had more questions, but at least now there was a warm lead to investigate. Better than I’d started the day with.

“Thanks, Charlie. These are solid leads to look into. I’ll let you know what we have after meeting with those women.” After hitting the red dot to end the call, I stood and stretched both arms over my head, grumbling at the ache from my bullet wound. “Are you coming with me or sticking around here to work other cases?”

Slade slowly stood. “Coming.”

At the door, I paused and sent a concerned expression over my shoulder. “This time, let me ask the questions. Their past trauma mixed with your size and demeanor—”

“I take offense to that. I’m all fucking sunshine and roses.”

A snort escaped as I pushed open the door. “Right. You keep thinking that in your alternate reality, but here in the real world, you’re unapproachable and could scare these women. Let me take the lead, and if we sense they’re uncomfortable, we back off immediately.”

“Should we call Rain, then? The women might feel more comfortable with her there with us. I don’t want to cause them any additional pain just to work this angle of the case.”

I started to agree but stopped. “If one of these two women is our unsub, I don’t want Rain anywhere near them. Is there someone else we could reach out to?” The female detective from last night immediately popped into my head. “Call that detective who came by Rain’s place—Detective Gray, I think. See if she’s free. I can easily prep her if the women aren’t comfortable with me conducting the interview and she needs to ask the questions.”

Outside, the warm afternoon sun made a rare appearance, breaking through the gloom and amping up the heat index. Thankfully, I’d dressed down today in just a pair of navy slacks and a white button-up, no tie or vest. It felt amazing, not nearly as constricting as my full suit, but I hated looking less professional, especially when conducting interviews. Though somehow Slade pulled off this look daily, always forgoing a tie and most of the time a jacket as well.

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