The Last Shadow (Shadows and Strings #3)

Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

Frankie

The next morning, I’m still shaken by the dream and my focus is shot to hell. Every blink brings with it that haunting image of Damien with his eyes stabbed out and his guts spilling out of his lifeless body. Damien held me all night, whispering reassuring words in my ear until I fell asleep in his arms.

“Come on, DeMarco. We’re going on a field trip.” Jay’s wearing one of his shit-eating grins, which means he’s got something.

My brows shoot up at the similarities from the dream. “It’s not a crime scene, is it?”

“Hell no,” he scoffs. “I managed to track down a very important witness who might give us some valuable information.”

I frown, thinking about another thought I had in the nightmare. “That’s properly vague. Why?”

His brows dip and he stares at me. “Why do you sound so suspicious? You used to like it when I surprised you with important case information.” He laughs. “Now that you got that big rock on your finger, us plebs no longer amuse you?”

“Plebs?” I bark out a laugh. “What in the hell does that mean?”

“It means that you’re about to be Mrs. Billionaire and suddenly you’re suspicious.” His lips pinch together as we weave through traffic. “You don’t trust me now?”

I could let it go, but now is as good a time as any to clear the air. “It’s not that I don’t trust you I mean geez, you’re my partner. it’s because you’ve been acting weird lately.”

“How so?”

“Well, you run off at the most inopportune times, like when Laurel Kinney was at the precinct. You haven’t seen Cassandra in weeks, and I just think something’s going on. That’s all.”

“Hang on, now. I’m entitled to my secrets.”

“You are,” I agree. “Of course you are, but if you’re sick or dying, I don’t want to find out after you’re already dead. I can’t deal with that shit again, Jay.”

He’s quiet for a long time before he lays one of his hands on top of mine. “I’d never do that to you, Frankie. Not in a million years.”

“Good.” We finish the ride in silence before pulling up to what looks like a seaside college town. “Serenity House. Why are we here?”

“Because while you were busy living out your fairy tale life, I was doing actual work.” His eyes are full of amusement, which is the only thing that stops me from giving him a smart-ass comment. “While you were busy tracking down the other boys in those photos, I figured I might look into more of the girls, see what they remember.”

I shake my head. “I knew you were chasing down leads without me.”

He shrugs off my annoyance. “You were busy doing your thing and you know, dealing with your entire life burning to the fucking ground. Figured you wouldn’t want the case to go the same route.”

He’s right. “Okay, and who’s are we seeing here?”

He blinks rapidly and slowly his expression shifts to shock. “Seriously?”

My brows tug down. “Should I know? Laurel says she lives in Santa Monica, so I know it’s not her. Who lives here?”

“Olivia Jane Wolfe. Your soon to be sister-in-law.” The weight of his stare should piss me off, but I’m embarrassed because I’m marrying Damien, and I don’t know where his sister lives.

Because he didn’t tell me. “Right.”

“You didn’t know?” There’s no judgment in his tone, which only makes it worse.

“No. I didn’t know. I haven’t met her yet.”

“Yeah well,” he says and pushes the driver’s side door open and steps out with an exaggerated grunt. “Things with you and Damien have moved pretty fast.”

“You think I’m making a mistake?” I step out of the car and stare at him over the roof. “Everyone else has an opinion yet I haven’t heard yours.”

His shoulders rise and fall, his expression is thoughtfully bland. “Anything I say gonna change your mind?”

“Probably not, but when have you ever held your tongue?”

“Lots of times,” he jokes as we head to the entrance. “That’s why you still love me.”

“Funny. So?”

He stops right before the massive wooden doors that look as if they lead to a castle rather than an ocean side rehabilitation facility for the ultra-wealthy. “So, do you love this guy? I mean do you really fucking love him or is this infatuation with his good looks and money?”

I give myself a moment to consider his question, but I don’t need much time. “I love him. He’s not intimidated by my job or overly interested in it. He doesn’t think that because I handle murders every day at work that he shouldn’t treat me like a woman. He cares about me and my work. I love him.”

“Then I’m happy for you, kid. That’s all I ever wanted for you and if Richie Rich is what makes you happy, I’m on board. But they’ll never find his body if he hurts you.”

His words help release the tension in my body and warmth spreads throughout. “Thanks, Jay.”

“Of course. But make sure you give him hell about me introducing you to his sister before he did.”

My lips pull into the semblance of a grin that I don’t feel because I should’ve met his sister by now, shouldn’t I? She’s going to be family, sure, but more than that Damien has to know that we’d eventually find her in the course of our investigation. “I will,” I answer, and then we step inside.

A friendly nurse wearing a name tag that says Tara greets Jay with a smile. “Detective, you’re back.”

“Yep. Needed to do things the right way. Think we can talk to Miss Wolfe today?”

She nods. “Miss Wolfe doesn’t speak. Her brother comes a few times a week and she’s getting better, but I really don’t think she can tell you anything. So don’t get your hopes up.”

“Never do,” Jay assures her and motions for her to lead the way. “Does she have any other visitors?”

“No, just her brother and the doctors. He’s very devoted to her.”

I step inside the room and shock pulses through me at the sight of the woman with thick blonde hair and when she turns, big blue eyes that are nothing at all like Damien’s dark looks.

Olivia looks me and then Jay, her gaze wary and her expression stiff. She doesn’t say a word, but her body language is speaking loud and clear about her obvious discomfort.

“There’s a call button right here if you need anything,” Tara says before leaving us alone.

“Hi Olivia, I’m Detective DeMarco and this is my partner, Detective Hawkins. We’d like to ask you a few questions about your time at Hope House, if that’s all right?”

Something flares in her blue eyes but it’s difficult to decipher because I haven’t gotten a good read on her yet.

Her gaze snaps to Jay. The change is instant and alarming.

Her breathing accelerates. Her fingers dig into the wheelchair’s armrests, tendons straining against skin. She leans forward, eyes wide and wild, darting between Jay and the door.

Jay shifts his weight. Olivia jerks back, her whole body tenses.

Fuck. She knows something.

I glance at Jay. He looks confused. Meanwhile, Olivia’s silent panic fills the room.

We’ve stumbled into something big here.

I sigh and stand up straight, staring at my partner. “Maybe this is a conversation that only requires us girls?” I’m trying to be subtle, but Jay is frowning and looking around as if I’m not addressing him directly.

“Why?”

“Because,” I say through clenched teeth. “She seems agitated by you. Maybe she’s uncomfortable.”

Jay snorts. “Maybe she’s upset because she’s in a loony bin.”

“Jay. Give us a minute.”

He throws his hands up, clearly annoyed. “Fine. I’ll go see if I can find anything else.”

When he’s gone, I take a seat on the windowsill, so Olivia and I are looking at one another. “Is that better? Can you answer some of my questions now?”

Her expression remains blank. I’ve seen my share of trauma victims, but something about Olivia’s reaction chills me to the bone. I wonder what horrors lie behind those big blue eyes.

“Olivia, I’m here to help you. If someone has hurt you or threatened you, I can help.”

Nothing.

“You and I haven’t met but I’m dating your brother Damien. In fact, we recently got engaged.” I show off the ring in hopes it’ll pull a reaction out of her.

Still nothing.

Dammit. “I’m worried about Damien. He’s in this picture, and so many of these men are now dead. I can’t bear the thought that he might next.” I don’t want to agitate her further, but I need her to understand the stakes here. “Anything you can tell me about that time would be great.”

With a small shake of her head, Olivia turns her gaze back to the ocean beyond her window, effectively dismissing me.

I stop trying. I can’t pressure her. “It was nice to meet you.” I get up and walk out the door toward Jay who’s standing by the exit.

“The all-girl chat session didn’t work as well as you’d hoped?”

“No,” I sigh. “I told her Damien and I are engaged, hoping it would spark something, but she’s not capable of telling us anything.” Still, I know her reaction to Jay wasn’t imagined but I put that thought aside for later scrutiny. “Did your digging unearth anything?”

“Hell no,” he growls. “I asked around about why she was in here and no one will tell me anything. I threatened to get a subpoena for her medical records, and they don’t have them. What the fuck kind of shit is that?” He shakes his head with a laugh. “Makes no sense.”

It doesn’t, actually. “Why would this place not have her medical records when she’s been here for such a long time?”

Jay perks up. “They have the records of her care here inside the facility, which are medical and mental. But she has an outside doctor for other things , but what that means I can’t tell ya because they wouldn’t tell me.”

My mind races with all the doctors a woman in her position might need. “Gynecologist. Internal medicine. Off the top of my head, those are things they might not handle in-house. But the chances of us getting those records without a clear legal reason are slim to fuck no.”

Jay grunts his disapproval. “Fucking red tape.”

I laugh. “I know, those pesky constitutional rights.”

“You know what I mean. Come on then, let’s see who else we can track down…unless you have a spa day or something you can’t miss?”

I smack his arm. “Shut up. Let’s go.” I spend most of the drive trying to figure out what all this means while Jay grumbles at the baseball game on the radio.

Things almost feel normal and if I don’t think about it too hard, about my house and my engagement, it’s as if things are as they’ve always been.