Page 39 of Crossing Lines

Maybe she sensed that Holden had some urgent and private business, or maybe she wasn’t comfortable around him. Whatever the reason, Bridget stood and brushed off the back of her dress. “I have to check on dinner. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

Jo listened for the door to shut then turned to Holden. “What’s up?”

“I stopped by the station. Wyatt told me about one of your leads. Ricky Webster.”

“The boyfriend. He’s a strong lead with a sketchy past.”

“I know. I remember that case back in Pennsylvania. I think it was about five years ago.”

Jo got a bad feeling. If Holden was bringing that up, it could have something to do with Tammy. “Was that case related to our killer?”

“Sort of. Not those cases, but I found a tentative link from that case to another case in Ohio that had the same beech tree markings our killer likes to use.”

“What are you saying? They knew each other, or that they are the same killer but changed the way they do things by not stripping the bark from the trees?”

“I don’t think it’s the same killer, but the connection is scary. They could have known each other.”

“Great, now I’m envisioning a ring of serial killers all comparing notes. What happened in the Ohio case?”

“Unsolved. Actually, the Pennsylvania one is unsolved too.”

“That only makes Ricky a more viable suspect.”

Holden nodded. “For Kirsten Stillwater’s murder, but not your sister. Ricky is too young.”

He had a point. Ricky was only in his mid to late twenties. He wouldn’t have been born yet when Tammy was taken. “Ricky lives with his grandmother. His mom is dead, but I wonder where his father is.”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Maybe killing runs in the family.”

* * *

Bridget held the small flake of fish food over the water of the fish tank. Finn swirled below in a flash of gold, then swam up and grabbed the food. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but the presence of the FBI man made her nervous, and the subtle bubbling of the tank didn’t drown out the voices outside.

Her first thought had been that he’d come for her. She’d done things in her past. Things she wasn’t proud of. Things she could be prosecuted for. And she couldn’t let that happen, not now when she’d finally gotten clean and had a fresh start in front of her. She didn’t want Jo to lose faith in her. Right now, she had nowhere else to go.

Then she thought Holden might be Jo’s boyfriend. Except she didn’t picture Jo with Holden; she pictured her with Sam. They’d make a cute couple, and she could tell there was some chemistry there even though she was sure neither of them would admit it. She also sensed some tension between them, as if they had some unresolved issue. No idea what that was about, and it was none of her business.

Holden’s visit hadn’t been about her, and he wasn’t Jo’s boyfriend. The reason he was here was a total shock. He and Jo were looking into the abduction of her sister Tammy. She couldn’t hear every word they’d said, but apparently they were working a case unofficially to find the person who had taken Tammy.

And if that was true, Bridget wanted in.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Sam stared at the octopus pet toy that lay unclaimed in the middle of the squad room. It was odd that neither Lucy or Major had it, but he had bigger things to worry about. They weren’t making the progress he wanted on the case, and every minute brought them a minute closer to the killer grabbing someone else.

He was convinced that it was just a matter of time before this person struck again, and Sam was determined not to let him claim another victim on his watch. The safety of White Rock was his responsibility, and it weighed heavily.

The best lead he had was Ricky Webster, and his story was full of cracks. Sam needed to find the chisel that would wedge one of those cracks wide open and supply him with some hard proof. Unfortunately, he hadn’t heard from Jo last night after she’d talked to Kaylee Summers. That likely meant that Kaylee hadn’t provided anything useful.

Jo was due in any minute. Good time to get a coffee. He picked out his usual blue-and-white WRPD mug from the rack. Major was in his spot on top of the filing cabinet, just a little higher than eye level with Sam.

Sam met the cat’s gaze as his coffee brewed. “So what’s with the toy? Is this some kind of trick?”

Lucy snorted as if that was exactly what she was thinking too.

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