But they weren’t looking for Henry. No, they were looking for someone else here.

  Maybe even Delilah herself.

  “My voice is for the people!” Henry announced, and the crowd clapped again.

  Nicky and Ken scanned the crowd, searching for any sign of Delilah. But there was nothing—just a sea of faces that had come out to support Henry Minns.

  But they weren’t going to give up that easily; they needed to keep looking until they found something that could help lead them closer to finding Delilah. With renewed determination, Nicky and Ken made their way back through the crowd, determined to keep searching until they got the answers they were looking for. It was a long shot, but maybe someone in the crowd would recognize Delilah.

  Nicky pulled up a photo and went up to the first person she saw, showing the phone to a woman. “Have you seen this girl?” Nicky asked.

  The woman shook her head and dismissed Nicky, saying she hadn’t seen anyone like that.

  Nicky sighed as she walked away, feeling a bit defeated. But she knew they had to keep looking; this could be their only chance of finding Delilah before it was too late. She glanced up at the sky, feeling a gentle breeze on her face. They had to press on and find her—for Delilah’s sake and for their own.

  Nicky went on to the next person, repeating the process of showing the photo of Delilah. The next person, a man, shushed her before she could even get out her question, so she darted to the next. Ken was doing the same, moving through the crowd and asking people about Delilah.

  “Shh, we’re trying to listen!” one man said to her, and Nicky could see how into Henry’s speech people were.

  It was no use.

  No one had seen Delilah, and if they had, they weren’t giving Nicky the time of day to even think about it.

  Nicky’s shoulders slumped as she realized they were back to square one. She had been so sure that this rally was the answer, but it seemed like they had reached a dead end. With a heavy heart, she trudged back to Ken and met him within the crowd—they were no closer to finding Delilah than before.

  They both stood in silence, feeling lost and discouraged. They had come so close, yet the answer still eluded them. It seemed like their mission was doomed before it even began.

  Nicky walked off to the outskirts of the crowd, and Ken followed, his hands in the pockets of his slacks. They were overdressed for the Bahamas heat, and Nicky’s clothes stuck to her back. She realized she hadn’t had a glass of water in hours.

  Ken sighed and looked around the crowd. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. Maybe she was never here, Lyons.”

  “Someone was,” Nicky said. “We heard a woman crying in the recording.”

  “Maybe it was at another beach. Nothing seems off here.”

  Nicky agreed; the crowd was peaceful and friendly, but nothing seemed out of place. Still, Nicky couldn’t shake the feeling in her gut that there was more to this.

  “We can’t give up,” she told Ken. “There could be something we’re missing here.”

  Suddenly, they heard a loud scream from the docks.

  The two of them snapped their heads up in surprise and fear. What could have caused that? They looked toward the docks, and Nicky could feel her heart start to race as she realized it must be Delilah. Without another thought, they took off running. The crowd had stopped and were looking around in confusion at the scream, so Nicky and Ken darted between them, heading straight for the docks. Nicky’s pulse raced faster than her feet could keep up with—that scream.

  It could be her.

  Delilah.

  As they reached the docks, they saw a figure standing there—a woman, looking down at the water. But it was a woman Nicky had never seen before, an older lady, and Nicky’s heart sank.

  “Ma’am, are you okay?” Nicky asked as she and Ken charged down the docks, the sound of their feet on the wood echoing in the air.

  With a pale face, the woman pointed down at the docks.

  “Look,” she said, her voice trembling.

  Nicky and Ken looked down at the water and saw a body floating there—a body of a woman.

  For a moment, Nicky’s body froze. Her worst fears flashed before her eyes.

  Delilah’s body, floating here, dead.

  She’d failed again.

  She thought of all the girls on the list so far, the ones she hadn’t been able to save. She saw their faces in her dreams sometimes, along with Rosie’s.

  All her failures flashed before her eyes. Now, Delilah would be added to that long list of tragedies.

  The people Nicky couldn’t save.

  It felt like the world was crashing down on her head.

  The panic attack began to take hold. Nicky felt her heart pounding, her palms getting sweaty and tears streaming down her face as she collapsed onto the dock. She was shaking uncontrollably, unable to process what was happening.

  She felt her throat tighten. Her stomach churned and she felt like she might be sick. It was too much—all the pain, all the suffering she’d seen, all the people she had failed to save. Her breathing quickened. She felt a tightness in her chest, like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand. Her head spun and she felt dizzy and lightheaded.

  “Lyons,” Ken said, and at his voice, Nicky snapped out of it. He pointed down at the body.

  As she looked closer, Nicky realized that it wasn’t Delilah. She felt her heart sink with relief, and yet a wave of sadness washed over her. This woman was someone’s daughter, someone’s sister—and here she was, dead in the water.

  Her life mattered. But it wasn’t Delilah’s, and Nicky couldn’t resist the wave of relief, as guilty as that made her feel.

  But who was this woman? She had ginger hair, like Delilah, and couldn’t have been much older than thirty. She was older than Delilah, and their only shared feature was their hair, so was she really connected to the case?

  No, she had to be. The recording sent to Nicky’s phone had come from this rally, on this shore.

  And here was a woman, dead.

  Was it a message?

  A message that soon, the killer would kill Delilah too?

  What game was he playing?

  Nicky turned to the witness, who was staring at them in horror. Nicky flashed her FBI badge.

  “Please, ma’am, go wait over there while we get the police in here,” Nicky said softly.

  The woman nodded and ran off, leaving Nicky and Ken to the body.

  Nicky shook her head and turned back to the corpse, her mind whirling with questions and suspicions. Who was this woman? Was she connected to the case? Was the killer sending another message?

  Nicky and Ken exchanged a look, both knowing that this was far from over.

  “Who do you think she is?” Ken asked.

  “I don’t know,” Nicky told him. “But I don’t believe she’s here by accident. The killer put her here. He had to have.”

  “You really think this has to do with Delilah?” Ken asked.

  “It has to,” Nicky replied.

  She looked back down at the body and tried to piece together what was happening. She knew the killer was trying to send a message, but what was it? What did this woman have to do with Delilah?

  Nicky’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of sirens in the distance. The police were here, and Nicky and Ken had to start piecing together who this woman was—and how she fit into their case.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The rally had been cleared, leaving the beach open for the police to come in and do their work. Nicky stood off to the side of the docks, a queasy feeling in her stomach as she watched the Bahamas police pull the body out of the water. The woman’s clothes were soaking wet, and her skin was definitely waterlogged, but the kill looked fresh.

  Nicky bit down on her thumb as she watched them place the woman carefully on the dock, getting ready to transport her.

  That crying voice on the recording…

  It wasn’t Delilah.

  It was this woman.

  But who was she, and how did her voice end up on Nicky’s phone? She scanned the area, taking in the faces of the officers as they worked, then glanced back at the town, where the people looked on in the distance, curious about what was going on.

  The witness—the woman who had found the body—stood back from the dock, speaking with Ken. Taking her eyes off the officers, Nicky went over to talk to them.

  “And you saw nothing beforehand?” Ken was in the middle of asking the woman.

  The woman shook her head, her eyes wide. “No, nothing. I was just standing there, looking out at the water, and then I looked over and saw the body. It was so sudden, it scared me.”

  Nicky felt a chill go through her as she heard the woman’s words. It was so sudden. Just like the recording.

  “I knew she was dead right away,” the woman said. “That’s when I screamed, and you two arrived shortly after…” The woman shivered. “Do you think someone murdered her?”

  Nicky looked over at the docks, where the officers had finished extracting the body from the water. Nicky couldn’t see a clear cause of death yet.

  “We can’t be sure,” she told the woman, even though she was pretty damn sure. “What’s your name, ma’am?”

  “Angela,” the woman replied. “Angela Green.”

  “Do you live here in the Bahamas?” Nicky asked, her mind spinning with questions.

  Angela nodded. “Yes, I live here in Wahoe Bay. I come down to the docks every day to watch the boats come in.”

  “And do you know anyone who would want to hurt this woman?” Ken asked. “Any history of violence in this area?”

  Angela shook her head. “No, no one I can think of. It’s such a tragedy, I can’t imagine why anyone would do this. We don’t have a lot of violence here at all.”

  “Do you know who she is?” Nicky asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

  The woman shook her head again. “No, I don’t. I’ve never seen her before.”

  Nicky nodded, her mind racing. So, the body had been dumped here, but who had put it here? And what did it have to do with Delilah?

  Suddenly, Nicky heard a voice from behind her.

  “You two should come with me,” a gruff voice said.

  Nicky and Ken turned to see a man dressed in a police uniform, a determined expression on his face.

  “I need to talk to you about something,” the man said.

  Nicky and Ken exchanged a look, both feeling a wave of dread come over them.

  “What is it?” Nicky asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

  The man cleared his throat and gestured for them to follow. Nicky nodded at Angela before following the officer. They moved toward the docks, then stopped right before them. The officer sighed as he met Nicky’s eyes. She wondered what he was so hesitant to say and held her breath, awaiting his response.

  “The victim—she’s known to us,” he said.

  Nicky’s stomach dropped. She exchanged a look with Ken.

  “What? How?” Ken asked.

  “Her name is June, and she’s been known to prostitute downtown,” the officer explained. “She’s been in and out of trouble with the law for years, but no one knows much about her. We think she was living on the streets and had recently become involved with a gang.” He shook his head sadly. “It’s a shame—she was so young.”

  Nicky’s heart sank for June. This wasn’t fair for anyone.

  “Do you know who could have done this?” Nicky asked, her voice strained.

  The officer shook his head. “No, we don’t. We’ll be searching the area and talking to the locals, but right now, we don’t have any leads. We’ll look into June’s clients too, if we can track any of them.”

  Nicky nodded, then glanced over at June, now on the dock, drying under the afternoon sun. “I’d like to take a look at the body,” she said.

  The officer nodded. “Go ahead,” he said, gesturing to the body.

  Nicky and Ken both stepped closer to the body, their eyes widening in shock as they took in the horrific sight. June’s skin was pale and lifeless, her eyes still open with a look of terror frozen on her face. Her clothes were tattered and torn, evidence of a struggle that had taken place before her death. They could see bruises on her arms and legs as well, further proof that she had been brutally attacked. The cause of death, from what Nicky could tell, was multiple stab wounds to her torso.

  Nicky felt a wave of sadness wash over her as she stared at June’s lifeless body. She could only imagine what kind of person would do something so cruel and heartless—to take someone’s life away in such an abrupt and violent way. Nicky glanced up at the sky for a moment before turning back to Ken, who looked equally as distraught by what they were seeing.

  Suddenly, Nicky noticed something glinting from June’s pocket. She put a latex glove on, then bent down and carefully pulled out a small wallet.

  Inside the wallet, Nicky found a few pictures of June, smiling and happy. There was also a bus ticket, an ID card, and some cash. But what caught her attention most was a small piece of paper with a phone number scribbled on it. The paper was wet, but the digits were still legible, probably because the paper had been folded and tucked way inside the wallet. Nicky furrowed her brow as she stared at the number, wondering who it belonged to and if it could have anything to do with June’s death.

  Nicky glanced up at Ken, her expression grim. “We need to find out who this number belongs to,” she said. Ken took out his phone and programmed it into it. Once they had the number, Nicky dropped the wallet into an evidence bag and handed it to one of the officers standing by.

  “Make sure forensics does a full sweep of everything she has,” Nicky said.

  The officer nodded and took the bag.

  Nicky and Ken looked at each other, both knowing what they had to do next. They needed to find a private spot where they could call the number without anyone overhearing them. With a silent agreement, they set off down the dock, looking for a secluded area away from prying eyes and ears. They stopped under the shade of a tree.

  “Well, let’s call it,” Nicky said to Ken.

  Ken nodded and took out his phone and dialed the number, then put it on speaker. He held his breath as the phone began to ring, expecting a voicemail or some automated response. But instead, a man answered on the other end.

  “Hello?”

  Nicky and Ken paused, exchanging a glance. That voice was familiar.

  “Hello?” Nicky said.

  A pause. “Who is this? How did you get this number?”

  The voice sounded familiar, and as Nicky listened, she suddenly realized who it was.

  “Henry Minns,” she said quietly. “It’s you.”

  “Yes, this is my personal cell… so again, how did you get this number?”

  Nicky’s stomach bottomed out. Henry Minns, the same guy who had held the rally here. The mayor of Wahoe Bay, who was running for reelection.

  His number was in a dead woman’s wallet.

  Ken gave Nicky a look, as if asking her what to do. On a whim, she reached out and ended the call.

  “Hey, why’d you do that?” Ken asked.

  “Ken, it’s Henry Minns,” Nicky said. “His number was in June’s wallet. We have to figure out how to handle this.”

  Ken placed his finger on his chin in thought. “Do you think he was one of her clients? He was soliciting sex from her?”

  Nicky shook her head. “I don’t know, but that’s what we have to find out. We need to talk to him first and see what he knows.”

  Nicky and Ken looked at each other, both knowing they had to confront Henry Minns and get some answers. They had to find out why June had his number and if he had anything to do with her death.

  But they needed a game plan. Henry should be back at his office after the rally, and Nicky knew he would have all of his confidants around too, and his staff. They should talk to them first and see if Henry had any history of violence or creepy behavior toward women.

  It didn’t quite add up for him to be the one to send the recording, since he was making a speech at the time. But he could have had someone else do it for him. He also could have killed June before he got on stage, leaving her in the water to be found.

  Nicky nodded. “We’ll have to be careful when we confront him,” she said. “We don’t know what he’s capable of yet. We might learn more if we interrogate his staff before him.”

  Ken nodded in agreement. “Let’s get going then,” he said. “We don’t have much time.”

  They set off, jogging toward the rental car. As they did, Nicky’s mind swam with possibilities. If Henry was the killer—and kidnapper—then it would be a huge scandal for Wahoe Bay. A beloved mayor turned killer… Nicky could see the headlines now.

  But there was no time to think of that right now. They had to find June’s killer before it was too late. As far as they knew, Delilah was with the same man who had killed June.

  If Nicky didn’t act soon, Delilah would be next.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Nicky and Ken drove to Henry’s office, both of them tense and quiet as Nicky drove. Nicky was trying to put together a plan in her head, but her thoughts were jumbled and chaotic. What if Henry was the killer? Or what if he had hired someone else to do it? If so—why?

  Most vexing of all—how and why was the killer contacting Nicky?

  He knew her personal address. And her personal cell.

  This was a sick, twisted game he was playing, and if Henry was the culprit, then Nicky would lock him behind bars for a long, long time.

  Before the drive, Nicky had done some quick recon on Henry Minns. He was born in Wahoe Bay and had a wife with two children. He had been in politics his whole life, but he was only forty years old and became mayor in his late thirties.

  He was known for his charm and charisma, which made it all the more disturbing if he was the killer. How could someone so charming and likable be capable of such a heinous crime?

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17