Page 16 of Deadly Sins: Envy

Dean nodded. “Yeah. I just hope it’s legit and that once he gets his money, we’ll get Willow back.”

“What else can you remember about him?”

“He seemed taller than most guys. I’d say six foot four or five, and he was big, built like an offensive lineman. I didn’t get a good look at his face because he wore a bandana over it. But he looked to the side once, and I could have sworn I saw a nickel-sized birthmark or tattoo on the side of his neck. Could have even been bigger. I couldn’t see it all.”

“Any other details you recall?”

Dean shrugged. “I was more focused on the gun pointed at us than anything else.”

“Which hand did the guy hold the gun in?” Coop asked.

Dean considered the question. “The left. No, wait. He was facing me. The right.”

Even though Dean had corrected himself, he still seemed unsure.

“How old?” Coop asked.

“Hard to say.”

“What about his tone of voice?”

“It was deep, but it could have been because he was grunting instead of talking. It took me a few seconds to understand what he was saying most of the time. It was like he was trying to make himself sound different.”

“Anything else I should know?”

Dean shook his head.

“What’s the last thing you remember about last night?” Coop asked.

“He shot me a couple of times, and I must have passed out. When I woke up, I was here. I keep telling myself Willow’s okay, that once the ransom’s paid, this lunatic will let her go. But he murdered Blake. If he’s capable of murdering one person, he’s capable of two.”

“What can you remember about the man shooting Blake?”

“I assume she heard him come in. She came running down the hall with a pan in her hand, intending to smack him with it, I guess. The man seemed surprised, like he couldn’t believe she saw the gun in his hand and kept charging toward him.”

“Do you think if she would have stopped, he wouldn’t have shot her?”

“Who knows?”

Coop patted Dean’s arm and said, “We’ll hope for the best and do everything we can to find her.”

It was the first time we’d worked a case together where Coop had a personal investment. He seemed different because of it. His edges were still rough, but there was a softness to him, a vulnerability I’d always thought was there but had never seen.

“I blew it, you know ... with Willow?” Dean said.

“How?” I asked.

“When we broke up, I should have fought for her. I let her go and let her down. I texted her last night knowing she was in the area and hoping to make amends, even though I worried she had moved on with someone else.”

“And had she moved on?”

He shook his head. “We talked for a bit and had just agreed to give our relationship a second chance when we were interrupted.”

“We’ll do everything we can to get her back, so you can have your second chance.”

He nodded. “Right before the guy had busted in, I’d reached into my pant’s pocket. I had a ring in there, one I’d purchased before the breakup. I’d lost her once. I wasn’t about to a second time. Five minutes longer, and I would have proposed.”

Gina entered the room just in time to hear Dean’s last remark. Her eyes widened and she said, “You what? I can’t believe it. Willow would have been so happy.”